Doctors do not recommend stopping treatments, but increasing patient monitoring.
Many medications have side effects, but some may be more worrying than others. Scottish and British researchers show that treatment for prostate adenoma increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. In their results, published in the British Medical Journalthey do not call on patients to change treatment but on doctors to reinforce their surveillance.
Medicines used to reduce the size of the prostate
Prostate adenoma, or benign hypertrophy, refers to a condition that mainly affects men over 50 years of age. With age, the size of their prostate increases and compresses the urethra. Ultimately, this causes discomfort while urinating, the main symptom of the disease.
Many affected men take 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors: these drugs reduce the volume of the prostate. One of the known side effects is the appearance of erectile dysfunction. Previous studies have shown that they can also decrease the body’s response to insulin, which is one of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes.
About 30% more risk
In this research, researchers analyzed health data from around 55,000 men taking 5-alpla-reductase inhibitors in the UK over an 11-year period. According to their conclusions, taking these drugs increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by a third. “These results should not be a cause for concern for men taking 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors”, reassures Laurence Stewart, one of the authors of the study. On the contrary, according to him, it is up to caregivers and doctors to be extra vigilant when they prescribe them and afterwards, when monitoring their patients.
80% of men over 80 have benign prostatic hyperplasia. Two million men in France would have some symptoms.
.
