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May 21st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — Statin drugs commonly used to
lower cholesterol levels may also slow the unhealthy growth of the
prostate in men with elevated blood levels of prostate-specific antigen,
a new study finds.
Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels are often elevated due to
cancer or other conditions involving the prostate, explained researchers
from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
The study authors noted that their findings are significant because an
enlarged prostate affects up to 90 percent of men older than 70 years and
can lead to bladder or kidney damage. Many of these men may already be
taking a statin, which include cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Crestor,
Lipitor, Pravachol or Zocor.
“Given that prostate enlargement is an important health problem in the
United States and elsewhere, and will be a larger problem as the
population ages, it’s important to understand and treat its causes,” the
study’s lead author, Dr. Roberto Muller, a urology fellow at Duke, said in
a medical center news release.
The study, which was funded by drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, is scheduled
to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Urological
Association in Atlanta.
In the research, Muller and his team sifted through data on more than
6,000 men involved in an unrelated GlaxoSmithKline trial for a prostate
cancer drug. The researchers identified over 1,000 men enrolled in the
study who also took a statin.
Although the men who took these cholesterol drugs tended to be older
and were expected to have enlarged prostates, the study revealed the
prostates of these men were similar in size to those who did not take
statins.
After two years, the researchers also found that the men who took
statins had reduced prostate growth regardless of whether or not they had
taken the prostate cancer drug as part of the larger study.
Specifically, prostate growth was an average 5 percent less in men who
took both a statin and the prostate cancer drug, compared to the men who
only took the cancer medication. For the men taking statins and an
inactive placebo pill, prostate growth was about 4 percent less than the
men taking only the dummy pill.
The researchers noted, however, the benefits of the drugs seemed to
fade after two years.
“We don’t yet understand the mechanisms that might be causing this,”
Muller said in the news release. “Some have suggested that statins may
have anti-inflammatory properties, and inflammation has been linked to
prostate growth, but this needs further study.”
One expert said the findings were interesting, but it’s too soon to
advise a statin as a preventive measure against enlarged prostate.
“Studies such as these are intriguing because we do not yet know the
reason prostates enlarge as men age,” said Dr. Warren Bromberg, chief of
the division of urology and director of the Prostate Cancer Program at
Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y. “There are
likely multiple factors that may lead to prostate growth, including
genetic, environmental, and as the article points out, dietary or
behavioral.”
The reduction in prostate growth linked to statin use was “small,”
Bromberg added, and it also seemed temporary.
“Because statins may be associated with significant side effects, I
would advise caution in taking such medications strictly to prevent
prostate growth,” he said.
The study authors noted that men’s lifestyles, including diet and
exercise, affect their prostate health as well as cholesterol levels. The
study was able to show an association between statin use and reduced
prostate growth, but it could not prove cause-and-effect.
Still, the findings do shed light on prostate health generally, Muller
said.
“Prostate enlargement was once considered an inexorable consequence of
aging and genetics, but there is growing awareness that prostate growth
can be influenced by modifiable risk factors,” he explained. “In this
context, the role of blood cholesterol levels and cholesterol-lowering
drugs such as statins warrants further study.”
Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about enlarged prostate.
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