LOL It has taken me almost 34 years to get my hubby's waist up to a 33 and
I'm a darn good cook!!! I think he was a 28-29 when we got married. He's a
meat and potatoes man and has always loved his desserts! He thinks salads
are for rabbits. His cholesterol, etc. are perfect. He's also put that last
inch on since he's had PC.
Bev

4.02.2005

Tell me the size of your waist and I will tell you if you are in risk of
prostate cancer

Visceral fat, which is the fat found around our organs, is associated
with increased danger of prostate cancer say scientists in today issue
of Obesity Research.

For a long time abdominal obesity has been associated with an increase
in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension and some types of
cancers. But until now, it has not been possible to establish a
relationship between prostate cancer and weight, even if evidence
supports the idea that environmental factors, such as western diet and
life style, affect the incidence of the disease.

A clear example of this relationship is the increase in prostate cancer
among Japanese men emigrating to the United States from Japan (where the
disease is still rare).

Pedro Von Hafe, Henrique Barros and colleagues from the Faculty of
Medicine of Porto and the Hospital of S?o Jo?o, Porto, Portugal
hypothesised that previous inconclusive results, found when studying the
relationship between fat and prostate cancer, were due to the fact that
the existence of different types of adipose tissue was never taken into
account. And different types of fat tissue, because they possess
different types of metabolism that produce different biochemical
substances, affect the body in very different ways.

Adipose tissue in the human body comes in two types: subcutaneous fat
which is located just below the skin, and visceral fat, which is
located, unnoticed, below the muscles surrounding our vital organs and
is much more harmful than subcutaneous adiposity. In fact, visceral fat
is known, for example, to predispose to cardiovascular and metabolic
problems although the mechanism(s) by which these complications appear
is still not known.
Von Hafe, Barros and colleagues in order to understand the contribution
of different types of adipose tissue to prostate cancer used
computerized axial tomography, a technique that employs advanced x-ray
technology and allows to distinguish, and individually measure,
different types of adipose tissue. The team of scientists compared
sixty-three prostate cancer male patients with sixty-three healthy
controls from the same sex and ethnical background and with similar age,
height and weight. Very interestingly, it was found that higher
quantities of visceral fat, but not of subcutaneous fat, were associated
with prostate cancer. This result corroborates the researchers '
hypothesis that different fat have different effects in prostate cancer
incidence. The quantity of visceral fat, however, did not correlate with
the disease stage, indicating that once established, other factors
contribute to the evolution of disease.

The different results found between visceral and subcutaneous fat,
probably result from different biochemical substances produced by each
of the adipose tissue, which will affect the body in different ways.
Furthermore, contributing for the harmful effect of visceral fat is the
fact that this type of adiposity tends to be metabolised by the liver
into fatty acids and released into the blood what will ultimately lead
to an increase of insulin in the blood. And insulin is known to be
capable of induce the growth of cancerigenous cells, including cells
from prostate tumours.
Von Hafe, Barros and colleagues' work is important because it alerts to
the importance of distinguish between different types of fat when
calculating individual obesity levels and their potential risk to
health. Furthermore, comprehension of the mechanisms leading to prostate
cancer is the first step for disease prevention.

Piece researched and written by: Catarina Amorim

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc