Research shows that men who wake up for 30 minutes during the night are 20 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer
Men who wake up during the night are 20 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer, a study has found.
Researchers found that disturbed sleep patterns can pose a major risk for developing the disease.
But the analysis suggested no link between late nights and cancer – nor any link with difficulty falling asleep.
Yet the dangers increase for men who are constantly moving for at least half an hour after the lights go out.
Prostate cancer affects around 50,000 men in Britain every year and kills almost 12,000 men.
Men who wake up during the night are 20 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer, a study shows
Prostate cancer affects around 50,000 men in Britain every year and kills almost 12,000 men.
Major risk factors include growing older, a family history of the disease, obesity and ethnicity – with black men being about twice as likely to develop a tumor.
Disturbed sleep has previously been proposed as a cause of prostate cancer, but most tests relied on patients accurately recalling how well they slept – a generally unreliable research method.
Experts at the US National Cancer Institute in Maryland instead analyzed data from 30,000 British men who had taken part in studies where they wore a watch-like monitor to measure nighttime movements and sleep disruption.
None of the men had prostate cancer at the start of the study.
The results, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed that those who were awake for 30 minutes or more at night were 15 to 20 percent more likely to develop a prostate tumor later in life.
Scientists believe the danger comes from disruption of the circadian rhythm – the body’s internal clock – causing levels of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin to drop.
Previous studies have linked reduced levels to an increased risk of cancer.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer even lists sleep disturbance as a ‘probable’ carcinogen – or cause of cancer.
In a report on the findings, the scientists said: ‘These results suggest that frequent sleep disturbances may be a risk factor for prostate cancer.’