Obesity affects test of prostate
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The PSA test used to check for prostate cancer may give abnormally low results in obese men, fooling doctors into thinking that the men are disease-free, researchers reported Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
Obese men have more blood in their bodies, thereby diluting the concentration of the PSA protein, the researchers said. The most obese men had concentrations of PSA (prostate-specific antigens) 11% to 21% lower than men of normal weight, they said.
