ENLARGED PROSTATE
WHAT IS AN ENLARGED PROSTATE?
Enlarged Prostate or BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) is a natural condition where the prostate gland slowly grows, causing pressure on the urethra, similar to a clamp on a garden hose. As the prostate grows it presses against and narrows the urethra making it difficult to urinate.
Common Symptoms of enlarged prostate include:
- Frequent urination, especially at night
- Sudden need to urinate
- Difficulty beginning urination
- Pain or burning
- Feeling that your bladder never completely empties
- Dribbling or leaking
- Weak urine stream
WHO GETS AN ENLARGED PROSTATE?
Enlarged Prostate or BPH is the most common disorder of the prostate and is the most common diagnosis by urologists for male patients age 45-74. Half of all men in their 50s and 80 percent in their 80s, have some symptoms of BPH.
Approximately 8.4 million men over age 50 in the United States are candidates for treatment of BPH
- 3.0 million age 50 to 59
- 2.6 million age 60 to 69
- 2.8 million age 70 to 79
In eight out of ten cases, symptoms relating to changes or problems with urination – including frequent urination; urgency, leaking or dribbling; and a hesitant, interrupted or weak urine stream – suggest the presence of BPH.
WHAT ARE MY TREATMENT OPTIONS?
Removing substances that can cause frequent urination often times will help symptoms to a moderate degree. Caffiene, carbonated beverages and alcohol can all cause worsening symptoms.
The most commonly used treatment of BPH are alpha-blockers (Flomax) and 5-alpha reductase inhibitor medications (Proscar and Avodart). These medicines each work on the prostate in different ways. Most of the time, men will need to continue taking these medications for the rest of their lives because they treat the symptoms and not the cause.
There are many options for treatment, ranging from minimally invasive to TURP.
Options include radio frequency ablation and microwave treatments of the prostate. The upside to these treatments is that they are usually done as an office procedure and have a low side effect profile. The downside of these treatments are that they usually only work for men with mild to moderate symptoms.
This is a procedure where the prostate tissue is removed with laser energy. This is done on an outpatient basis and the patient typically does not need to wear a catheter.
The “Gold Standard” of surgical treatments. This surgery will usually require an overnight hospital stay and the risk of bleeding and incontinence are greater with TURP. TURP has been proven to have the best correction of symptoms.
