If you are over 50 years old and your doctor told you that have a benign enlargement of your prostate, please don’t worry. It is not a serious illness. This is a very common finding when we get older, and it will not increase your risk for prostate cancer.

The prostate is located between the male organ and the bladder. Its main function is to produce a fluid. When that fluid is combined with the sperm from the testicles, it will make up the semen. Also, the muscles in the prostate help during ejaculation.

We really don’t know why the prostate get enlarged when we get older, but it is very important for doctors to check the patients to distinguish between prostate enlargement from older age and enlargement from prostate cancer, because the symptoms are
The same.

What are the symptoms? As you may know, the urethra is the tube to empty the urine from to bladder to the male’s organ, passing through the prostate. So, any enlargement in the prostate, can cause pressure on the urethra and obstruct the urine flow.

These symptoms can range between frequent urination during the day, to waking up several times at night. Sometimes, the urine flow may have a weak stream with difficulties starting to pee, with the urine dribble at the end.

To confirm the diagnosis of prostate enlargement, the Dr might do a rectal exam, and a blood test called total PSA. The normal level should be between 0 to 4 ng/ml depending on the age.
In the benign enlargement, the PSA is slightly elevated. On the other hand, the result will be much higher in the prostate cancer. So, the next step to confirm the diagnosis, is to do an ultrasound which might distinguish between the 2 conditions.

Occasionally, if the ultrasound showed a suspicious abnormality, then the biopsy can confirm the presence of cancer which I will talk about it, in a future video.

What about the treatment?
Most of the time, there is no need for treatment for mild symptoms. If the symptoms are bad, we recommend reducing alcohol & caffeine intake as well as drinking less fluids in the evening. Some medications can help reducing the symptoms by reducing the size of the prostate.
There is no cure for this condition but if the symptoms are very bad and the patient is not responding to medications, then surgery might help.

My final note for patients with enlarged prost is to avoid taking some over the counter medications without consulting a doctor. for example, taking cold medications or cough syrup which contain decongestant might cause urine retention. Patients will not be able to urinate without placing a temporary catheter to empty the bladder.

https://www.amerhelbaoui.com

video shot and edited by: Fadi Helbaoui