Statins may raise prostate cancer risk in obese men

If you are an obese man, using statins to help lower cholesterol may not be the safest method to employ, a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology reports.

In a population-based, case-control study, researchers discovered that the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, especially long-term use, appears to raise the risk of prostate cancer among obese men (defined as a body mass index of 30 greater)..

Speaking to Reuters Health, a lead investigator in the study stated that "Among obese men, current use of a statin was associated with a 50 percent increase in risk of prostate cancer; and use for 5 or more years was associated with an 80 percent increase in risk of the disease; both of these risk estimates were statistically significant."