PROSTATE HEALTH
PROSTATE HEALTH
 |
| PROSTATE HEALTH |
the most frequent prostate condition
in men over 50.
If you don’t know what your prostate is or
what it does, you’re certainly not alone. Most men don’t. But you really should.
Over 30 million men suffer from prostate conditions that negatively affect their
quality of life. And every year over 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate
cancer and about 30,000 will die of it.
WHAT IS THE PROSTATE?
Te c h n i c a l l y, the prostate is a part
of your sex organs, producing
fluid that contributes to the production
of sperm. It’s a small
gland, about the size of a walnut,
that surrounds your urethra, a
tube that takes urine from the
bladder to the penis. The urethra
also carries semen during ejaculation.
The prostate gland grows
quite a lot during puberty and
then doesn’t change much until
about age 40, when it slowly begins
growing again and, in many men, continues to grow as they age. Half of men
a r e n ’t bothered by their growing prostate. But the others will develop one of
three prostate diseases, or may have more than one.
PROSTATITIS
Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate that may be caused by an infection.
I t ’s the most common prostate problem for men under 50—so common that
about half of adult men will be treated for it during their lifetime.
There are three major types of prostatitis:
• Bacterial prostatitis • Prostatodynia
• Nonbacterial prostatitis
Bacterial prostatitis. There are actually two types of bacterial prostatitis: acute
(meaning it develops suddenly) and chronic (meaning it develops slowly over
several years). Both types can be treated with antibiotics. Each type affects about
1 in 10 men with prostatitis. Symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis are often
severe, and therefore are usually quickly diagnosed. These symptoms include:
• Fever • Aching muscles • Pain in lower back
• Chills • Fatigue • Frequent and/or painful
u r i n a t i o n
Chronic bacterial prostatitis may involve few symptoms other than those of a
recurring urinary tract infection (frequent and painful urination), and the condition
keeps returning even after the initial infection has been treated and symptoms
have disappeared.
Nonbacterial prostatitis occurs in about 6 out of 10 men with prostatitis.
A lthough the causes are unknown, the inflammation may be related to organisms
other than bacteria, like a reaction to the urine or substances in the urine. For
example, men with a history of allergies and asthma sometimes develop nonbacterial
prostatitis. However, doctors cannot be sure exactly how these conditions
are related. Doctors know that nonbacterial prostatitis is not found in men with
recurrent bladder infections. Symptoms include:
• Occasional discomfort in the testicles, urethra, lower abdomen, and back.
• Discharge from the urethra, especially during the first bowel movement of
the day.
• Blood or urine in ejaculate.
• Low sperm count.
• Sexual difficulties.
• Frequent urination.
P r o s t a t o d y n i a (pain in the area of the prostate gland) occurs in about 3 out of
10 men with prostate irritation. Unfortunately, tests used to diagnose infection
and other problems affecting the prostate gland are not useful in detecting the
cause of this pain. In some instances, the pain may be caused by a muscle spasm
(an involuntary sudden movement or contraction) in the bladder or the urethra.
U s u a l l y, though,the cause of prostatodynia is unknown. Symptoms include pain
and discomfort in the prostate gland, testicles, penis, and urethra, and may
include difficulty urinating.
Certain activities increase your risk of developing prostatitis. These include:
• Having had a recent bladder infection.
• Having benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, see next section).
• Having gonorrhea, chlamydia or another sexually transmitted disease.
• Having frequent, unprotected sex or unprotected sex with multiple partners.
• Excessive alcohol consumption.
• Eating a lot of spicy, marinated foods.
• Injury to the lower pelvis (often as a result of cycling, lifting weights, etc.).
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