When Do I Need to Go To the Doctor for my Enlarged Prostate?

Enlarging Prostate, or EP, also known as Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH) is a thickening of the prostate tissue surrounding the urethra in older men that is associated with problems with urination. It is a part of normal aging, and with time some men are affected more than others.

After 50 most men begin to experience some prostate problems. Fifty percent of men over 50 and 90% of men older than 80 have BPH. 6.4 million men visit a doctor for BPH every year. Half of those consider medication or surgery for treatment. The probability of eventually requiring surgery is 39%. The worst outcomes are a loss of sexual function with surgery, acute urinary retention (the sudden inability to urinate caused by untreated BPH) or damage to the kidneys and bladder. In half of cases BPH reduces quality of life for men. Thirty six percent of spouses of BPH men surveyed reported that BPH caused a lack of physical intimacy in their relationships.

The prostate is a walnut sized organ in males that is located just below the bladder. The prostate helps to create semen. Fluid created by the prostate is secreted into the urethra (the tube in the penis that is both the conduit for urine as well as semen) where it combines with and protects sperm from the testicles. Semen protects sperm and plays an important role in male fertility.

Fertility isn't a major priority for most men over 50 unless they are in a relationship with a younger woman still in her childbearing years who wants to have children. A more odious condition is BPH. The prostate wraps around the urethra where it exits from the bladder. As the prostate enlarges it squeezes off the urethra, resulted in problems urinating, creating the need to urinate frequently day and night, feelings of urgency to urinate, not allowing the bladder to empty completely, and creating weak urine flows that start and stop. BPH is diagnosed by a rectal exam by your doctor.

BPH is not cancer, or a precursor to cancer -- and it does not raise your risk for prostate cancer. The actual cause of prostate enlargement is unknown. Aside from some link to aging, the testicles may play a role in the growth of the gland. Men who have had their testicles removed at a young age as a result of testicular cancer or for another medical reason do not develop BPH, probably as a result of the removal of dihydrotestosterone, which has a stimulatory effect on prostate tissue. Similarly, if after developing BPH, a man has his testicles removed, the prostate begins to shrink in size.

Less than half of all men with BPH have symptoms of the disease, which include frequent urination and urgency, urinating at night, weak urine stream, straining to void, dribbling after urination, and incomplete urination. Frequency is caused by mechanical obstruction of the urethra, combined with a thickening of the smooth muscle in the bladder wall secondary to the increased resistance from the urethra. This causes the size of the bladder cavity to become smaller, shortening the times between urination, leading to numerous visits to the restroom.

Treatment is not necessary in the early stages of BPH. Once you regularly (several times a week) start urinating less then two hours after the last time you went, have a feeling like your bladder is not empty after urinating, stopped and started while urinating, had to push or strain, or had a weak stream, can't postpone urinating, and have to get up at night, it is time to do something about it. If you have these problems only once and a while, you won't necessarily benefit from treatment.

Learn more about treatments for EP and other disorders and hidden risks of prescription medications in 'Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May be Bad for Your Health: Risks and Side Effects You Won't Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed Drugs, Vitamins and Supplements', by researcher and physician J. Douglas Bremner, MD.

http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com