When a Man Has An Enlarged Prostate

An enlarged prostate is a common condition in older men. There are various symptoms that a man with an enlarged prostate may experience and all of the symptoms involve problems with or changes in urination.

Typically the prostate enlarges as a man ages and you may hear of several different terms to describe this condition including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), benign prostatic hypertrophy, or simply an enlarged prostate.

The prostate goes through two main periods of growth as a man matures. First of all when males reaches puberty, the first growth period occurs and the prostate doubles in size. At around age 25 the prostate will grow again, and in fact this growth period may result several years later in BPH. The prostate will continue to grow over most of the male’s lifetime and the enlarging prostate doesn’t usually present any problems until the man in his seventies or eighties when symptoms of BPH may occur.

It is rare for a man age 40 or younger to have prostate symptoms. Men in their sixties as many as half of them can have prostate problems. The expanding prostate presses against the urethra and acts like a clamp which causes the bladder wall to become irritated and to become thicker. The bladder weakens and loses the ability to empty. This causes the symptoms associated with urination that often brings the male into the doctor’s office.

The symptoms most often associated with an enlarged prostate include trouble starting or stopping a urine stream including dribbling, passing of urine during the night, feeling that the bladder is not fully emptied and having a strong and sudden urge to urinate. The urine stream many be weak or slow and the man may discover that his stream stops and then starts again several times while he is trying to pass urine. If he is having severe symptoms there may be a backflow of urine that causes a bladder or kidney infection, incontinence, or he may experience a complete block of urine flow and possibly kidney failure.

There are two types of medications used to treat enlarged prostate. The first medication used to treat enlarged prostate are alpha blockers and the second is finasteride. Alpha blockers are effective in approximately 75% of the men that are treated with them. They are used to relax the muscles at the neck of the bladder, which makes urination easier. Finasteride shrinks the prostate gland is is usually effective in treating enlarged prostate. It can take a long time to show improvement in symptoms, which can be frustrating. 

Tags: enlarged prostate, bph, prostate