Elevated fasting blood sugar is a risk factor for prostate enlargement

Summary: in this study prostate size correlated with fasting blood sugar. Elevated fasting glucose is a risk factor for prostate disease.A study recently published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science offers further evidence for the association between blood glucose regulation and prostate disease. The authors state:

"We evaluated the correlations between BMI, fasting glucose, insulin, testosterone level, insulin resistance, and prostate size in non-diabetic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients with normal testosterone levels."

They examined ata from 212 non-diabetic BPH patients with normal testosterone levels, excluding those with diabetes or serum testosterone levels less than 3.50 ng/mL. Their data showed that...

"Prostate size correlated positively with age, PSA , and fasting glucose level, but not with BMI, testosterone, insulin level, or HOMA-IR.Testosterone level inversely correlated with BMI, insulin level, and HOMA-IR [insulin resistance], but not with age, prostate size, PSA, or fasting glucose. HOMA-IR significantly correlated with BMI, fasting glucose, and insulin level, but not with age, PSA, or prostate size."

There seems to be a disconnect here regarding the association of prostate size with fasting glucose but not the calculated insulin resistance that requires further investigation. The authors, however, are clear in their conclusion regarding blood sugar and prostate hypertrophy:

"In non-DM BPH patients with normal testosterone levels, fasting glucose level is an independent risk factor for prostate hyperplasia."