Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia - Symptoms, Causes and Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common cause of prostate symptoms, and occurs under the action of a derivative of the male hormone, testosterone, which stimulates growth of the gland.

Signs and Symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

The symptoms experienced by sufferers are divided into two distinct categories.

• Firstly, irritation of the bladder leads to symptoms of passing urine frequently, having to get up more than once at night (nocturia), having to dash to the toilet (urgency), and sometimes a degree of incontinence.
• Secondly, symptoms caused by obstruction of the bladder outlet include poor stream, difficulty starting to pass urine (hesitancy) and incomplete emptying of the bladder with dribbling.

Men who experience these symptoms may require surgery. Sometimes, the symptoms can be so severe that the whole of a man's day to-day existence is disrupted. Poor sleep, often also affecting his partner, leads to daytime drowsiness. Car journeys are interrupted, business meetings are faced with dread, and simple social pleasures cannot be enjoyed without careful planning of trips around the local public conveniences. Many men accept this as normal, but if you suspect you have BPH, see your doctor.

Diagnosis of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Diagnosis depends on going through the symptoms and examining the prostate gland by rectal examination. Usually, a urine sample is analysed to rule out infection, and a blood test is performed to check the function of the kidney sand to detect a chemical produced by the prostate gland called prostatic specific antigen (PSA), used to screen for prostate cancer.

If the symptoms are mild, then no treatment may be necessary. However, medication can help either by relaxing the muscular part of the prostate gland and allowing better flow rates and reducing obstruction, or by reducing the size of the gland by blocking the effect of testosterone derivatives. More rarely nowadays, with the advent of more effective drug therapy, an operation might be necessary to remove part of the prostate gland.