High blood pressure has long been recognised as a significant risk factor for heart attacks or strokes. But an additional risk for men has now been identified – with new research showing that high blood pressure increases a man’s chances of dying from prostate cancer.
Around 40% of the worlds population are thought to be affected by raised blood pressure, and it is responsible for an estimated 7.5 million deaths – roughly 12.8% of the total of all deaths. Blood pressure indicates how strongly blood presses against the walls of arteries as it is pumped around the body, so if this pressure is too high, increased strain is put upon the arteries and heart. Known as the ”silent killer”, high blood pressure rarely has obvious external symptoms, but if left untreated can greatly increase the risk of a stroke, kidney disease or coronary heart disease.
This new study, published in the American Cancer Society journal Cancer, has identified a link between blood pressure and prostate cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death after lung cancer. Research showed that men with the highest blood pressure levels were 62% more likely to die from the disease than those with the lowest.
The Metabolic Syndrome and Cancer (MeCan) project looked at almost 300,000 men from Sweden, Norway and Austria over a period of 12 years to investigate factors influencing prostate cancer incidence and death rates. The scientists assessed a range of risk factors, including high body mass index (BMI), high blood pressure, and high levels of sugar and fats in the blood, collectively known as metabolic syndrome.
Of all the participants, 6,673 were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 961 died from the disease. Lead researcher Dr Christel Haggstrom, from Umea University, Sweden, said: “Not much is known about the association between metabolic factors and prostate cancer, but the high incidence in Western Europe and North America suggests a link to the lifestyles or environment in developed countries. When we looked to see if the metabolic factors are related to an increased risk of getting or dying from prostate cancer, we found a relationship with death from the disease and high blood pressure.
She concluded: “I can’t speculate on the reasons for the association between having high blood pressure and dying from prostate cancer. More research is needed to find out why this is the case, but the results add further evidence to the hypothesis that high levels of metabolic factors separately or combined are related to an increased risk of dying from the disease.”
Additionally, the study also demonstrated a weaker association between prostate cancer and obesity, and a combination of other different factors, including blood sugar and cholesterol.
Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science at the World Cancer Research Fund, which supported the study, said: “This research shows a direct link between metabolic factors and death from prostate cancer, and adds to the limited amount of information we have on the effect metabolic syndrome has on cancer.”
It is generally advised that all adults should have their blood pressure checked at least every five years. If concerned about high blood pressure, preventative steps can be taken by exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, stopping smoking and cutting back on alcohol consumption. As obesity can be a factor, it is recommended overweight individuals also seek to lose weight in order to lower their blood pressure.
Sources – Huffington Post 23 Oct 12, NHS UK, World Health Organisation
