Are all prostates created equal?

The simple answer is No. Many criteria go into evaluating health risk outcomes for different people, but it has been increasingly accepted that different racial/ethnic origins can be a factor in specific health and wellness outcomes. Prostate health is one of these areas where it’s recognized that a man’s prostate health can vary according to the racial origin. A higher incidence of serious prostate health issues occurs both at a younger age, and by a significantly higher percentage, in Black men. Thus the recommendation that Black men seek prostate health screening earlier than generally recommended for White men. But what about Asian men?

Because California is home to approximately one-third of all Asian Americans, this high population concentration made possible a study to segregate and examine certain prostate health parameters in men from the six largest Asian racial/ethnic groups found in California: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and South Asian. The study from 2014[1] looked at data from 90,845 Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Asian-American men diagnosed with prostate health issues between 2004 and 2010.

The study examined a variety of causal and contributory factors and circumstances, but in very general terms, it concluded that Asian men may have biological differences that predispose them to develop more serious prostate health concerns. The six specific Asian-American groups were found more likely to have unfavorable clinical risk profiles than NH Whites; although it also pointed out that the unfavorable risk profile seen in many of the Asian-American groups could partly be the result of differences in prostate health screening by the men in those groups. The Asian-American men had less prostate screening than Non-Hispanic White men in California. For more detail, read the study or a summary can be found on PubMed.[2]

Listen, guys. There’s no substitute for prostate screening and the annual DRE by your doctor. Start 2019 off right. Schedule an appointment. Get it done!