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ENLARGED PROSTATE
BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERTROPHY (BPH) - THE FACTS
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Unfortunately, disorders caused by an enlarged prostate are quite common in men over 45.
Found only in men, the prostate is a walnut-sized gland located just below the bladder in front of the rectum. Despite its size, the prostate is one of the organs essential to the male reproductive system. The gland plays a vital role in the normal development of male sex organs. The prostate typically grows until men reach adulthood then stays roughly the same size until they stop producing testosterone.
In adults, the prostate gland’s function involves adding essential seminal fluids that nourish the sperm. Unfortunately, the prostate occasionally starts to grow again when men reach their 50s, after which the gland often continues to grow for the rest of their lives. The prostate puts pressure on a man’s urethra—the tube that carries semen and urine out of the body.
That increasing pressure around the urethra can result in a variety of troublesome urinary symptoms and difficulties … a condition that is known as BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia).
The Symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) May Include:
- Unusually frequent urination, especially during the night.
- Difficulty beginning to urinate.
- Chronic urgent or sudden urination
- Erectile dysfunction.
- Painful ejaculation.
- Dribbling, leaking or trouble stopping your urine flow.
- The chronic feeling that you have never completely emptied your bladder or that you always need to urinate.
Roughly fifty-percent of all American men over fifty years of age will develop benign prostatic hyperplasia (also known as benign prostatic hypertrophy) and by the time men reach their 70's to 80's, eighty-percent will have experienced debilitating urinary symptoms.
The most important thing to remember about BPH is that despite its affects on urine flow there is a greater risk of urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Its presence often represents a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate. That doesn’t mean that you won’t need treatment, but rather that you’ll have plenty of treatment options.
Those treatment options may seem confusing; there are standard surgical treatment options such as TURP or Trans-Uretheral Resection of the Prostate—a kind of “rotor-rooter” answer to BPH. Then there are newer, minimally invasive treatments, such as or Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate that can offer you more relief and fewer side effects. That’s why visiting a urologist should be your first step if experiencing symptoms. Your urologist will be able to estimate the size of your prostate, rule out prostate cancer and recommend a treatment for BPH suited to your particular circumstance.
If you’d you like to find out more about Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, please,
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103 East 80th Street (at Park Avenue)
New York, NY 10075
Tel: 212-535-0755
Fax: 212-744-4539
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