Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or benign prostatic hypertrophy is the medical term for prostate enlargement. It is characterized by a proliferation of cellular elements of the prostate gland accompanied by lower urinary tract symptoms.
Ageing is a significant risk factor for the development of BPH. The symptoms can include urinary urgency, increased urinary frequency, urinary hesitancy, decreased or intermittent force of stream, incomplete voiding, urinary dribbling, and nocturia. All of them can cause a significant negative impact on quality of life. In addition to the physical discomfort, moderate-to-severe lower urinary tract symptoms often go hand-in-hand with clinically relevant depressive symptoms and erectile dysfunction. For these reasons, it is important that all men over the age of 40 assess the health of their prostate on a yearly basis as part of their routine health assessment.
Common assessment areas include:
- Urinary quantity (the urine volume per urination) – Have you released the full bladder? Do you need to go to the toilet multiple times to empty your bladder properly?
- Urinary flow – Is there any dribbling or difficulty passing the stream?
- Urinary urgency – How urgent is the need to urinate?
- Urinary incontinence – Can you hold urine to make it to the toilet? Is there any release on underwear?
- Pain – Do you experience any pain when waiting to release urine or do you experience any pain whilst urinating?
- Colour– What colour is the urine? Is it heavily concentrated or pale?
- Odour– Is there any accompanying odour?
- Other– Is there any discharge, redness or other sign of infection?
If you would like to learn more, get in touch with Real Old Remedies Inc at www.realoldremedies.com, and we will be happy to offer our support.