The prostate is a very small gland that can cause great big problems. Today, an estimated 30 million American men suffer from prostate problems. Prostate surgery is the second most common surgery for men over the age of 65. Second only to cataract surgery, more than 400,000 prostate surgeries are performed in the United States each year.Ninety-five percent of all men will have prostate problems at some time in their life. A part of the male reproductive system, the prostate gland surrounds the urethra and is located just below the bladder, next to the rectum.

This location is the cause of most of the complications that arise when the prostate gland becomes enlarged. As the gland swells, it pinches the urethra, restricting urine flow that can result in frequent urination and other prostate-related symptoms. At other times, bacteria can flow up the urethra, causing infection and painful urination.

Prostate enlargement is commonly known as BPH, or benign prostatic hypertrophy. As a man reaches middle age, his prostate begins to grow and continues to increase in size as long as he is alive. The prostate is about the size of a nickel in diameter in young adults, and can enlarge to the size of an orange, or larger, in older men.

The specific cause of BPH is still being debated, but most men over the age of 50 can tell you the symptoms: decrease in the force and magnitude of urinary flow, trouble initiating urinary flow (hesitancy), trouble shutting off the urine flow (dribbling), feeling of fullness in the bladder (even after urinating), waking frequently during the night to urinate (nocturia), inability to control urinary flow (incontinence), and inability to “hold it” also known as urgency.

A physician can diagnose enlarged prostate by performing a digital rectal exam. Often a doctor will order a blood test known as prostate specific antigen (PSA). PSA is a protein produced by the prostate gland, and it begins to rise whether you have simple enlargement, inflammation, or a cancerous growth of the prostate gland. Normal PSA range is 0-4 ng. A Range of 4-6 may suggest inflammation, and a level above 10 may indicate problems of a more serious nature, such as cancer.

There are several treatment options for BPH. One of the most invasive is a procedure called transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). In this procedure, a surgeon inserts a catheter into the urethra and then uses a tiny looped wire to shave off the inner portion of the prostate gland in order to increase the opening for urine flow. This procedure can be quite painful, bloody, and expensive and it has a number of undesirable effects, such as infection and impotence. Non-surgical options include medications, such as PROSCAR, Hytrin, Cardura, Flomax and some others. These drugs help improve the symptoms in some patients, but they do nothing at all to make the prostate healthier, which is why it usually continues to grow and eventually may need surgery. Other interventions include hypothermia, laser surgery, and prostatic stents. These procedures are used less frequently than the TURP.  So try Antiiva today to help support optimal prostate health

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