Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common benign (noncancerous) growth process in men. About one in four men experiences BPH-related symptoms by age 55; by age 75, half of men have BPH symptoms.
What triggers BPH is not well understood, but aging and testosterone (the predominant male sex hormone) are believed to be the primary influences on its development. Animal studies suggest that the female sex hormone estrogen (produced in small amounts in men) also may play a role, perhaps when a man's testosterone production declines and the balance of the two hormones is altered.
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Now there are new insights as to the causes of BPH. A study reported in The Journal of Urology (Volume 177, page 1395) found that men who are overweight -- especially those with excess fat around the middle -- are more likely to develop BPH than men of normal weight.
Researchers examined the risk of BPH among 5,667 men age 55 or older who were in the placebo group of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. They considered potential risk factors such as race, ethnicity, body mass index, and waist circumference. The researchers assessed the men for the development of BPH annually for seven years.
The study results revealed that the risk of developing BPH increased 4% for each additional year of age and that black and Hispanic men had a 41% higher risk of BPH than did white men. BPH risk was higher for all men with a body mass index greater than 25 (the cutoff point defining "overweight"), with the increased risk ranging from 13-29%. Men with abdominal obesity -- defined as a waist-to-hip ratio (waist measurement divided by hip measurement) of 0.95 or greater -- were also at higher risk. For men with a ratio of 1.05 or higher, the risk of developing severe BPH was increased by 45%.
Although the study was not designed to address the impact of weight loss on BPH, these findings suggest that if you're overweight, you might be able to reduce your risk by dropping excess pounds.
