Enlarged Prostate or Gout–Your Choice

If you had to choose, would you pick enlarged prostate or gout?

This might not be an abstract question because a new study in The Aging Male reveals that a chemical that causes gout protects against enlarged prostate.

An enlarged prostate often leads to issues in the urinary tract, significantly impacting the quality of life of those affected. Instances of this prostate disorder have risen sharply in recent decades, so understanding its risk factors has become increasingly vital. While age, lifestyle, and genetic predispositions are known contributors, the role of metabolic factors, such as uric acid, has remained unclear.

Uric acid is a byproduct that is created when our bodies process purine, a substance in pork, beef, poultry, organ meat, anchovies, sardines, lentils, and soybeans among other things. High levels in our blood have previously been linked to conditions like metabolic syndrome and gout.

Intriguingly, previous studies have shown both positive and negative relationships between uric acid levels and prostate issues. As a result, the authors of this study decided to perform their own research to try to work it out.

Their study included 2,845 participants, out of which 531 had enlarged prostates. Their demographic, lifestyle, and health data were taken from the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, collected between 2005 and 2008.

They performed various statistical methods to explore the relationship between UA and enlarged prostate, while controlling for a range of potential influencing factors such as age, race, lifestyle factors, and various health conditions.

The findings were revealing.

1. With every 100 micromoles per liter increase in uric acid, the participants’ risk of developing enlarged prostate decreased by 18%.

2. Those with the highest uric acid in their blood were 39% less likely to have this prostate problem.

Analyses of Subgroups further shed light on this relationship. The protective effect of high uric acid levels against enlarged prostate was particularly notable in specific groups. These included men younger than 60 years, non-Hispanic whites, former smokers, heavy drinkers, individuals without diabetes, and those with hypertension.

This is a significant finding given the widespread prevalence of enlarged prostate among older men and the impact it has on their health and well-being. The study suggests that higher levels of uric acid, commonly associated with negative health outcomes, might play a protective role in the context of prostate health.

Since it can have negative health effects, however, it is definitely not appropriate to overload your diet with purine-rich food as you age. The best approach is simply to ensure that you obtain enough of it, which is almost never a problem with a healthy diet.

The only problem is that high uric acid levels can lead to gout. If you already suffer from gout, you’ll be happy to hear that it’s easy to reverse it using the simple, natural approach explained here…

If you’re already suffering from an enlarged prostate, loading up on uric acid is not going to help. Instead, take the simple steps thousands of readers have successfully used…