Disease of the PROSTATE GLAND can produce symptoms by interfering with the flow of URINE.
This can be either ACUTE or a CHRONIC DISORDER. Acute prostatitis is caused by a bacterial infection, while chronic prostatitis may follow on from an acute attack, arise insidiously, or be non-bacterial in origin.
Pain in the PERINEUM, groins, or supra pubic region, and pain on EJACULATION, sometimes with urinary frequency, and urgency.
may be offered with of antibiotics, or anti-inflammatory drugs.
This is the result of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) whose exact cause is unknown, but it affects 50 per cent of men between 40 and 59 years and 95 per cent of men over 70 years.
Hesitancy in initiating urination, poor urinary stream, terminal dribbling, frequency and urgency of urination and the need to pass urine at night (nocturia). The diagnosis is made from the patient's history; a digital examination of the prostate gland via the rectum to assess enlargement; and analysis of the urinary flow rate. Ultrasound can confirm the findings.
This can be with tablets, which either shrink the prostate – an anti-androgen drug such as finasteride – or amsulosin and alfuzosin, ALPHA ADRENERGIC BLOCKERS which relax the urinary sphincter muscle during urination. For more severe symptoms prostatic tissue can be vaporised by the use of a laser system or can be removed surgically, by transurethral resection of prostate (TURP).
Cancer of the prostate is diagnosed in about 48,000 men annually in the UK, where it is the second most common cause of death from cancer, mostly in men over 65 years.
There may be no symptoms at all in the early stages. Later, these are similar to those resulting from benign prostatic hypertrophy (see above) and also blood in the urine or semen may be a sign. Spread of the cancer to bones can cause pain. The use of a blood test measuring the amount of an ANTIGEN called PROSTATE SPECIFIC ANTIGEN (PSA) can be helpful in making the diagnosis – as can a transrectal ULTRASOUND scan of the prostate. Ultimately, diagnosis is confirmed by BIOPSY.
This depends on the stage the cancer has reached at the point of diagnosis. In some cases, no treatment is required other than keeping the person under review; in others, treatment is surgical, with removal of the prostate (often by robotic-assisted surgery), or could be by proton beam or other form of radiotherapy. In more advanced cancers, treatment with anti-androgen drugs, such as cyprotexone acetate or certain oestrogens, is used to inhibit the growth of the cancer. Newer treatment options include high-intensity focussed ULTRASOUND and various types of CHEMOTHERAPY.