Could there actually be an upside to type 2 diabetes?
I can’t believe I’m actually writing this, but – strange as it may sound – there may be an upside to type 2 diabetes in men.
Obviously, no one is better off with a diabetes diagnosis, but researchers have observed lower prostate cancer rates among men with type 2 diabetes.
In a new Harvard University study that appears in the International Journal of Cancer, medical records for more than 46,000 non-diabetic men and about 1,600 diabetic men were followed for 18 years.
Results:
- Men who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for less than one year had the same risk of prostate cancer as non-diabetic men
- Men who had been diagnosed with diabetes for more than one year but less than six years were 18 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer compared to non-diabetic men
- Men diagnosed for 6 to 15 years were 25 percent less likely
- Men diagnosed for more than 15 years were 22 percent less likely
Obesity also played a curious role in the results. Men who were diabetic and obese had lower prostate cancer rates compared to men who were obese and non-diabetic, and men who were diabetic but not obese.
The authors note that further research is required to explore the hormonal and metabolic interaction between diabetes and prostate cancer.
Source:
“Diabetes Mellitus and Risk of Prostate Cancer in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study” International Journal of Cancer, Vol. 124, no. 6, 3/15/09, interscience.wiley.com
