A natural sign of ageing, an enlarged prostate eventually shows up in most men. The good news is that it doesn't signal prostate cancer, if doesn't lead to cancer and you only need to treat it if you are bothered by frequent trips to the bathroom.
There's no cause no panic if your doctor just told you that your prostate is enlarged and that ye ou have a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasis or BPH. For starters, 'bengin' means that your prostate is not cancerous. 'Prostatic' refers to your prostate, the walnut-sized gland nestled below your bladder that supplies fluid for your
sperm. 'Hyperplasia' means an 'excessive formation of cells'. In short, you have a noncancerous enlargement of your prostate gland, the most common prostate problem found in men. Like grey hair and sagging skin, BPH is simply part of the male ageing process.
BPH symptoms occur because the tube that drains urine from your bladder, called the urethera, passes through the prostate enlarges but it typically happens after about age 50.The main culprit seems to be the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which the body converts from the male hormone testostertone at an increasingly higher rate as you age. The increase in DHT is thought to trigger the proliferation of prostate cells, leading to BPH.
Because researchers are not positive about its cause, doctors are unable to prevent BPH or eradicate it completely once it becomes a nuisance. And although it's often very irksome and inconvenient, an enlarged prostate is not life threatening. Symptoms--which include a frequent, urgent need to urinate day and night, a 'stop-ping and starting ' urine flow, difficulty starting urination, dribbling or a feeling you can't fully empty your bladder--need to be treated only if they become so bothersome that they intefere with your quality of life. BPH symptoms are common in about one in four men by age 55. And if you make it to your eightieth birthday, 9 out of 10 of your contemporaries will have the ailment to some degree too.
LIKELY FIRST STEPS
Researchers are currently testing a new minimally invasive treatment that uses specially prepared alcohol injections to shrink the bulk of the prostate. This facilitates the flow of urine and allows the bladder to empty more quickly and completely. Even through it's still considered experimental, this novel approach could one day prove to be a cost-effective option for those men who do not experience any improvement in their lower urinary tract symptoms after trying traditional medical therapy.
What is happening
There's no cause no panic if your doctor just told you that your prostate is enlarged and that ye ou have a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasis or BPH. For starters, 'bengin' means that your prostate is not cancerous. 'Prostatic' refers to your prostate, the walnut-sized gland nestled below your bladder that supplies fluid for your
sperm. 'Hyperplasia' means an 'excessive formation of cells'. In short, you have a noncancerous enlargement of your prostate gland, the most common prostate problem found in men. Like grey hair and sagging skin, BPH is simply part of the male ageing process.
BPH symptoms occur because the tube that drains urine from your bladder, called the urethera, passes through the prostate enlarges but it typically happens after about age 50.The main culprit seems to be the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which the body converts from the male hormone testostertone at an increasingly higher rate as you age. The increase in DHT is thought to trigger the proliferation of prostate cells, leading to BPH.
Because researchers are not positive about its cause, doctors are unable to prevent BPH or eradicate it completely once it becomes a nuisance. And although it's often very irksome and inconvenient, an enlarged prostate is not life threatening. Symptoms--which include a frequent, urgent need to urinate day and night, a 'stop-ping and starting ' urine flow, difficulty starting urination, dribbling or a feeling you can't fully empty your bladder--need to be treated only if they become so bothersome that they intefere with your quality of life. BPH symptoms are common in about one in four men by age 55. And if you make it to your eightieth birthday, 9 out of 10 of your contemporaries will have the ailment to some degree too.
- Wait and watch. with mild symptoms, this may be the least bothersome approach.
- Consider saw palmetto. After getting the okay from your doctor, give this herb a try for several months.
- Take medications to help relieve your discomfort.
- Investigate minimally invasive procedures. Problems could be solved in less than 30 minutes.
- Use TURP surgery as the last resort. Ask your doctor if this procedure would be good for you.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- What are the chances my symptoms will improve with or without therapy?
- How long will the effects of the treatment last?
- What are the risks of complications for this therapy?
Treatments
The goals of BPH treatment are to improve your urinary flow and reduce your symptoms. There actually couldn't be a better time to have BPH since urologists have never before had so many effective treatment options at their disposal. Whether or not you want to deal with your BPH is entirely up to you. The most important question you can ask yourself is: are the symptoms caused by my BPH so annoying that I want to take medication every day or undergo a minimally invasive procedure to lessen them? Discuss your options with your urologist and then decide for yourself. Your decision should be based on your medical history and how much you are bothered by those annoying daily symptoms.
The goals of BPH treatment are to improve your urinary flow and reduce your symptoms. There actually couldn't be a better time to have BPH since urologists have never before had so many effective treatment options at their disposal. Whether or not you want to deal with your BPH is entirely up to you. The most important question you can ask yourself is: are the symptoms caused by my BPH so annoying that I want to take medication every day or undergo a minimally invasive procedure to lessen them? Discuss your options with your urologist and then decide for yourself. Your decision should be based on your medical history and how much you are bothered by those annoying daily symptoms.
Treatment Options
LIFESTYLE CHANGES
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Watchful waiting Have annual checkup; monitor symptoms.
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Avoid caffeine It promotes frequent urination.
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Reduce evening fluids May help you sleep through the night.
NATURAL METHODS
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Saw palmetto Give it 2 to 3 months, try different brands.
MEDICATIONS
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Alpha-blocker Quit-acting, but may cause dizziness.
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5-alpha reductaase inhibitor Only for large (40+ g) prostates.
PROCEDURES
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Heat therapies Outpatient procedures to vaporise BPH tissue.
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Surgery TURP, reserved for major obstruction.
When it comes to evaluating how well a treatment is working, it is a good idea to list your symptoms and rate them prior to treatment, then again a few months later. Recording how many times you have to go to the toilet overnight, or how many times over the course of the month you've had to push or strain to start urination will often provide an indication of whether the treatment is succeeding. The International Prostate Symptom Score is just such a self-assessment and can be found at www.urologix.com/html/selfasses.htm.
Lifestyle changes
If you find your symptoms are relatively mild, you may want to simply monitor your condition and see if the course of your BPH stays the same, improves or worsens. This no-drug, no-procedure course of action, widely called watchful waiting, is not designed to see how long you can go without a treatment that you really should have (see on shortly). Rather, it's an admission that your symptoms aren't all that bad and that you're still better off taking a hands-off approach. Be sure to check with your doctor at least once a year to make sure you're not developing any complications that may harm your kidneys or bladder. In the meantime, some actions you can take to improve your symptoms include:
LIFESTYLE CHANGES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watchful waiting Have annual checkup; monitor symptoms.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avoid caffeine It promotes frequent urination.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reduce evening fluids May help you sleep through the night.
NATURAL METHODS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saw palmetto Give it 2 to 3 months, try different brands.
MEDICATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alpha-blocker Quit-acting, but may cause dizziness.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5-alpha reductaase inhibitor Only for large (40+ g) prostates.
PROCEDURES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heat therapies Outpatient procedures to vaporise BPH tissue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surgery TURP, reserved for major obstruction.
When it comes to evaluating how well a treatment is working, it is a good idea to list your symptoms and rate them prior to treatment, then again a few months later. Recording how many times you have to go to the toilet overnight, or how many times over the course of the month you've had to push or strain to start urination will often provide an indication of whether the treatment is succeeding. The International Prostate Symptom Score is just such a self-assessment and can be found at www.urologix.com/html/selfasses.htm.
Lifestyle changes
If you find your symptoms are relatively mild, you may want to simply monitor your condition and see if the course of your BPH stays the same, improves or worsens. This no-drug, no-procedure course of action, widely called watchful waiting, is not designed to see how long you can go without a treatment that you really should have (see on shortly). Rather, it's an admission that your symptoms aren't all that bad and that you're still better off taking a hands-off approach. Be sure to check with your doctor at least once a year to make sure you're not developing any complications that may harm your kidneys or bladder. In the meantime, some actions you can take to improve your symptoms include:
- No caffeinated drinks after 5 p.m. Caffeine causes you to urinate, which can be very annoying in the middle of the night.
- Limit or eliminate all evening fluid intake, especially between dinner and bedtime.
- Go to a specialist. To benefit from the latest treatments, see a urologist. Urologists specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of BPH and other prostate disorders.
- Say 'no' to zinc. There is no evidence that supports the use of zinc in the management of BPH. But this message has not really sunk in with many men who are fooled by marketing hype for various over-the-counter prostate products. Countless men take zinc supplements in the hope of getting relief from their BPH symptoms, even though zinc is not absorbed by the prostate gland and is quickly excreted.
Researchers are currently testing a new minimally invasive treatment that uses specially prepared alcohol injections to shrink the bulk of the prostate. This facilitates the flow of urine and allows the bladder to empty more quickly and completely. Even through it's still considered experimental, this novel approach could one day prove to be a cost-effective option for those men who do not experience any improvement in their lower urinary tract symptoms after trying traditional medical therapy.
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