Beer belly leads to a higher risk of cancer in men.

Men with beer belly are more likely to die from prostate cancer than slimmer men, according to a study published on The Times website on September 2nd, entitled "Beer belly leads to higher risk of cancer in men." Here's an excerpt:
12,000 people die each year from prostate cancer in the UK, the second most common cause of cancer death among men. One in six people will develop prostate cancer, but unless it spreads, their five-year survival rate is close to 100%.
researchers found that men with the largest waistline - more than 103cm - were 35 per cent more likely to die from prostate cancer than men with a waistline of less than 90cm. Similarly, the waist-to-hip ratio was 34 per cent higher than the lowest mortality rate.
usually used to diagnose obesity there is no link between body mass index (BMI) and death from prostate cancer.
study of more than 200,000 men was observational and could not prove causation. One explanation for the findings may be that waist fat is a better indicator of "visceral fat" than BMI, said Orola Perez-Kornago of the University of Oxford, who led the study.
fat is stored in the abdominal cavity and around some important internal organs.
Perez-Kornago said: "Visceral fats are more closely related to metabolic and hormonal dysfunctions, such as impaired insulin resistance and sugar metabolism, and may play a more important role in the progression of prostate cancer.
added: "High BMI increases the risk of other diseases, including other types of cancer, so people should consider the effects of excess body fat, no matter where it is in the body." Dr Perez-Kornago said future studies would look at the link between body fat and rapid prostate cancer.
the study will be presented to the European and International Obesity Conference online this week.
, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said: "While the link between obesity and cancer has been well established, its role in prostate cancer has been unclear. The uk's largest study shows that it is the fat around the waist, not the body fat, that affects the risk of dying from prostate cancer. However, BMI and waist circumference are not perfect as measures of body fat, so there is still a lot of work to be done to undo this complex relationship. The
based on 218,225 male cases in the UK Biomedical Library, followed by less than 11 years. The study looked at their BMI, body fat and waist and hip size and compared them with their health records. The final analysis attempts to take into account other factors such as their medical history and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors.
571 people died of prostate cancer during the study.
Hobbs, head of prostate cancer research UK, said the statistical analysis used in the study was "extremely complex" but better understood the link between obesity and prostate cancer.
know that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can prevent many diseases, including cancer, " he said. Keep in mind, however, that prostate cancer can affect men of all sizes and weights. (Compile/paint)
.