Physically active men less likely to wake up nights to urinate

A new study has suggested that men who exercise on a regular basis are at lower risk of nocturia i.e. waking up at night to urinate.

The study conducted by Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine analyzed the data from a large, ongoing clinical trial called the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO).

Nocturia is the most common and bothersome lower urinary tract symptom in men and it can be caused due to an enlarged prostate known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Kate Wolin, ScD, asserted that combined with other management strategies, physical activity may provide a strategy for the management of BPH-related outcomes, particularly nocturia.

Wolin's analysis included 28,404 men in the PLCO trial who had BPH outcomes before enrolling in the study (prevalent group) and 4,710 men who had newly developed BPH (incident group).

The research showed that among men in the incident group, those who were physically active one or more hours per week were 13 percent less likely to report nocturia and 34 percent less likely to report severe nocturia then men who reported no physical activity.

The study is published in journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.