Obesity has many health risks that are obvious but a more recent one has emerged namely that obese men may not get correct PSA readings when going for a prostate check up. Research has shown that men with a high BMI reading may not be getting the right PSA information from their doctors due to the excess fat that they carry and this is extremely dangerous as PSA readings are the main indicator of the incidence of prostate cancer.

The research carried out by the Oregon Health & Science University was presented at the 2006 AGM of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and is especially important as it has been shown that obese and overweight men are in ahigher risk category for prostate cancer. In fact it has been shown that obese males tend to have bigger prostates and they also have lower PSA readings due to the protein being spread over a larger body weight. The obese men therefore may have a normal prostate reading but in fact be at risk of developing cancer of the prostate.

The researchers said that some sort of recalculation or tool should be used when measuring PSA levels in obese men so that it can be possible to get accurate PSA readings in those with high body mass index levels.

The researchers looked at 647 men at analysed all the different PSA readings that came up and they found that man's PSA density reduced when his BMI level rose. However the biggest indicator of the liklihood of prostate cancer was PSA density and not obesity.

An efficient and standardised way to adjust for BMI levels and PSA readings would be an important step in the fight against cancer of the prostate and would also lessen the chances of a biopsy having to be performed.