Exercise vs Prostate Cancer: Impact of Skin Color

Last month, someone wrote in and asked if exercise was good for an enlarged prostate.  At that time, I was not aware of a direct link although some studies have suggested that men are more likely to die from heart disease than from prostate cancer.  So I found it interesting that a prospective study was published earlier this week in Cancer, the American Cancer Society's journal, in which the authors noted that more exercise was associated with lower risk of prostate cancer in white men but not black.

Prior to their prostate biopsies, the authors asked 307 men (164 white & 143 black) how much they exercised using a validated survey.  Among white men, those who exercised more than 9 metabolic equivalent (MET) hours/week were 53% less likely to have a biopsy turn up positive for prostate cancer.  However, no relationship was noted in black men between exercise & prostate cancer.

So in the process of recommending exercise as a means to affect prostate health, we've just opened Pandora's box because we can't explain the ethnic difference.  Regardless, we should still be exercising for heart health, stroke prevention & weight maintenance (if not fat loss).  So don't just sit there, do something!

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