Okay boys, it’s time to talk about that one thing that none of you are looking forward to. Sometime in your middle agedness after you have gotten married, had children, and experienced your mid-life crisis that led to buying a motorcycle, you will sooner or later have to go to the doctor and have to hear them say “bend over and try to relax” as those gloved fingers slide up that one place that has always stayed between you and your alone time in the bathroom.

That’s right gents, I am talking about getting your prostate checked.

While you don’t have to worry about the whole doctor visit part just yet, you do need to realize that the way that you care for your body now will greatly affect what the doctor tells you after his gloved fingers are out of your butt.

In a recent study done by an international team of doctors led by Dr. Ricardo Ribeiro, they took fat from around the prostate from patients that were undergoing surgery for various prostate diseases including cancer to be analyzed.  The fat samples were taken by both men that were categorized as being lean (body mass index or BMI lower than 25) and those who were obese (BMI of higher than 25).

No matter what type or stage that the prostate cancer was found at, those who were overweight, their bodies were having a harder time responding to treatment because the fat surrounding the prostate was influencing the growth of the disease.  The study found that overweight men were far more likely to develop the cancer and an even more shocking development found that those men who were overweight in their early 20s to mid-30s are 60-percent more likely to have prostate cancer in their late 40s and early 50s.

So what are college guys suppose to do to avoid hearing those dreadful words, “You have prostate cancer?” Simple things like becoming a little bit more active will go a long way. If you are a guy who goes to the gym daily or at least a couple times a week, good for you—keep it up. But if you are one that tends to never go to the gym and hits up the cafeteria for those crispy chicken fingers and fries on a weekly basis then you need to change a few of your choices.

Another thing that you can do is keep track of your BMI and make sure that you are sitting in at least the average for your age and height.

“I never knew that my weight now would have such great of an effect on me later on; my grandfather died of prostate cancer so I knew I might someday have it but I never knew my weight could also be tied to it, I mean all of the men in my family are overweight” said a freshman communications major who wished to remain anonymous.

So Gentlemen, before your hairline ever begins to recede or you say the words “I Do,” take care of yourself and you might be able to avoid the stress and pain of prostate cancer.