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Do You Awaken Often to Go to the Bathroom?
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.
What Can You Do to Help Relieve BPH Discomfort?
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.
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