Disrupted sleep and the risk of prostate cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates that 1 man in 8 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Following skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.

Researchers have found that factors such as age, race/ethnicity, genetics, or family history raise a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer. Other factors, such as diet, obesity, chemical exposure, and vasectomy, have been studied but the links are not clear. More research is needed.

Now, a recent study examined the relationship between sleep habits and prostate cancer risk.

Investigators used data from the UK Biobank. More than 213,000 individuals were included in the analysis.

Researchers found that people with insomnia had a higher risk of having prostate cancer. The researchers also observed that usually having a nap was associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer.

This is not the only study to suggest that men with sleep disorders are more likely to get prostate cancer.

A 2019 study out of Taiwan examined the health records of more than 41,000 patients and found that men with sleep disorders were more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Similarly, a 2013 study that included 2,425 men in Reykjavik, Iceland, explored the relationship between sleep disruption and prostate cancer risk. Men with problems falling asleep and staying asleep were at increased risk of prostate cancer compared to men without disrupted sleep. The authors found this to be true even when they excluded men who rose at night to empty their bladders, suggesting that the sleep disturbance was not caused by the need to void at night.

Better sleep, better health

So, what does this mean for men?

Sleep may be a modifiable factor that could have an impact on prostate cancer risk, but more research is needed to confirm the link.

The studies highlighted in this article have limitations. The results don’t confirm that poor sleep causes prostate cancer, but men who experience poor sleep may want to consider early testing for prostate cancer detection.

If you continue to experience sleep problems, get help from the sleep team at an AASM-accredited sleep center near you.

Medical review by Seema Khosla, MD

Related:

• How sleep disorders affect men’s health
• What keeps men from getting enough sleep?
• How can men sleep better?
• Sleep and breast cancer survival

Authored by:

Kate Robards

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The analysis involved more than 21,000 postmenopausal women who were diagnosed with cancer during the study follow-up period. They had reported their sleep habits at the beginning of the study.

Results show that women who had reported sleeping 6 hours or less per night and snoring 5 or more nights per week were 2 times more likely to die from breast cancer. They were compared with women who reported sleeping at least 7 hours nightly with no snoring.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adults should sleep 7 or more hours per night to stay healthy! Here are 10 tips to help you get more sleep:

• Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations.
• Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
• Go to bed when you feel sleepy, even if it’s before your bedtime.
• If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.
• Establish relaxing bedtime rituals.
• Make your bedroom quiet and relaxing. Keep the room at a comfortable, cool temperature.
• Limit exposure to light in the evenings.
• Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. If you are hungry at night, eat a light, healthy snack.
• Avoid consuming caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.
• Avoid consuming alcohol before bedtime.

Learn more about the study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine: Pre-diagnostic Sleep Duration and Sleep Quality in Relation to Subsequent Cancer Survival

The post Sleep and breast cancer survival appeared first on Sleep Education.

New research involved 97 women with advanced breast cancer. The women had an average age of 55 years.

They wore a wrist actigraph for three days. The device records activity patterns to identify sleep and wakefulness. Overall, participants spent about eight hours in bed at night, but slept for only 6.5 hours.

Results show that higher SE was significantly associated with lower death over the next six years. Average survival was 68.9 months for efficient sleepers. The average survival rate was 33.2 months for participants with poor SE. Further study found a 10 percent increase in SE reduced the risk of death by 32 percent.

“Good sleep seems to have a strongly protective effect, even with advanced breast cancer,” said Dr. Oxana Palesh.  She is assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and research director of the Stanford Cancer Survivorship.

The National Cancer Institute projects about 40,000 will die from breast cancer in the U.S. this year.

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The study, published in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, included a total of 143 male and 147 female childhood leukemia/lymphoma survivors and was comprised of a questionnaire, clinical examination and blood samples.

Chronic fatigue was three times more prevalent among the childhood leukemia/lymphoma survivors.

“Chronic fatigue in cancer survivors is often an under-appreciated complication of treatment,” says Editor-in-Chief Leonard S. Sender, MD, of the University of California, Irvine and CHOC Children’s Hospital. “There is a general belief that after successful treatment a survivor should be able to bounce back without lasting effects. Hamre and colleagues demonstrate that fatigue is a larger problem than generally appreciated.

Their findings put a spotlight on this key aspect of cancer survivorship and serve to encourage the medical community to communicate with cancer survivor patients about possible chronic fatigue.”

If you deal with chronic fatigue, you could have a more serious sleep problem and the AASM encourages you to talk to your doctors about sleep problems or visit www.sleepeducation.com for a searchable directory of sleep centers.

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“Physicians need to address the presence of sleep disturbance among their survivors, and modifiable risk factors, e.g., hot flashes, urinary urgency, and bowel complaints, should be addressed,” Dr. Shannon Westin from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston told Reuters Health by email.

Dr. Westin and her team presented their results March 9 at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology‘s annual meeting in Los Angeles.

Sleep disturbance has a huge impact on quality of life, work functioning, economic health, and psychosocial functioning. In addition, it can negatively impact a patient’s health and immune system, the researchers said.

Their survey of 1,018 patients found that 557, or 55%, had trouble sleeping – and 64% of those said sleep loss began during or after cancer treatment.

A few factors may coincide with the risk of sleep loss, the study found. Younger patients and patients with ovarian and cervical cancers were more likely to sleep poorly.

When the researchers analyzed data from more than one variable, they found other factors linked to sleep problems, including hot flashes, bowel and bladder issues and past treatment with chemotherapy, radiation or both.

The post Sleep disturbance common among gynecological cancer survivors appeared first on Sleep Education.

The study involved 1,240 patients scheduled for colonoscopies. The screening results found about 350 of the patients had colorectal adenomas.

Prior to the screening, each patient answered questions about sleep habits from the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. Patients reported their overall sleep quality during the past month, frequency of insomnia and other details related to sleep.

Study results show colorectal adenomas appeared more frequently among patients who said they slept fewer than six hours each night. The findings were adjusted for other risk factors for colon cancer, such as family history, smoking and obesity.

It’s still not known why short sleep duration may increase the risk for colon cancer. The lead author of the study speculates it may be because of the decrease in melatonin production or the increase in insulin resistance from sleep deprivation.

Colon cancer isn’t the only serious health risk related to sleeplessness. Short sleepers have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Last year a study found men with chronic insomnia have four times the risk of death compared to men who slept more than six hours per night.

The latest findings clearly demonstrate the importance of sleep to your overall health. Do your body a favor and make sleep a health priority, along with diet and exercise.

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