What Are The Symptoms Of Prostate Problems

Symptoms For Acute Bacterial Prostatitis

If you have acute bacterial prostatitis the symptoms usually develop very quickly. They include:

• a high temperature , feeling feverish, sweating, chills and shivering
• pain in the area between your testicles and back passage , the skin around your testicles , your penis, lower back, muscles or joints in your pelvic area, inner thighs, and sometimes in your back passage
• needing to urinate more often, especially at night
• a sudden urge to urinate
• pain when urinating
• difficulty urinating.

About 1 in 10 men with this type of prostatitis find they suddenly and painfully cant urinate. This is called acute urine retention. It needs treating straight away, usually at a hospital. The doctor or nurse will pass a thin, flexible tube called a catheter up your penis into your bladder to drain the urine. Or they might pass the catheter through the wall of your stomach area . This will help drain urine from your bladder.

Dont wait

It is very important to seek medical advice immediately if you think you might have acute bacterial prostatitis and have a high temperature. It needs treating straight away.

What Are The Risk Factors For Prostate Cancer

Some of the greatest risk factors for prostate cancer include:

• Age. Prostate cancer is very rare in men younger than 40 years of age. In contrast, approximately 60% of prostate cancer cases occur in men that are older than 65.
• Race. African-American men tend to be at greater risk for prostate cancer compared to non-Hispanic whites, whereas Asian-Americans and Hispanic/Latino men are less susceptible to this disease.
• Location. Prostate cancer is most common in North America, Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean. It is rarer in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. This may be because of more intensive screening procedures for the disease in certain countries, although lifestyle factors such as diet could also play a key role in the difference.
• Family history. In many cases, there is a strong hereditary factor associated with the emergence of prostate cancer. In fact, men who have a father or brother with prostate cancer have a much higher risk of developing it themselves.

Other possible risk factors could include a dairy-rich diet, obesity, smoking, and exposure to harmful chemicals.

How Will Your Doctor Diagnose A Prostate Infection

A prostate infection diagnosis is based on your medical history, a physical exam, and medical tests. Your doctor can also rule out other serious conditions such as prostate cancer during the exam. During a physical exam, your doctor will conduct a digital rectal exam to test your prostate and will look for:

• discharge
• enlarged or tender lymph nodes in the groin
• swollen or tender scrotum

Your doctor may also ask about your symptoms, recent UTIs, and medications or supplements youre taking. Other medical tests that can help your diagnosis and treatment plan include:

• urinalysis or semen analysis, to look for infections
• a prostate biopsy or a blood test for prostate-specific antigen
• urodynamic tests, to see how your bladder and urethra store urine
• cystoscopy, to look inside the urethra and bladder for blockage

Your doctor may also order an ultrasound to get a closer look. The cause will help determine the correct course of treatment.

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Prostate Disease And Ageing

Around 25 per cent of men aged 55 years and over have a prostate condition. This increases to 50 per cent by the age of 70 years. Early stages of prostate disease may have no symptoms.

If you are a man and you are in your 50s or 60s, talk to your doctor about whether you need to have your prostate gland checked and, if so, how often. If you have a family history of prostate disease , talk to your doctor earlier about when prostate checks might be suitable for you.

What Are The Symptoms Of Prostatitis

Each type of prostatitis has a range of symptoms that vary depending on the cause and may not be the same for every man. Many symptoms are similar to those of other conditions.

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. The main symptoms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome can include pain or discomfort lasting 3 or more months in one or more of the following areas:

• between the scrotum and anus
• the central lower abdomen
• the scrotum
• the lower back

Pain during or after ejaculation is another common symptom. A man with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome may have pain spread out around the pelvic area or may have pain in one or more areas at the same time. The pain may come and go and appear suddenly or gradually. Other symptoms may include

• pain in the urethra during or after urination.
• pain in the penis during or after urination.
• urinary frequencyurination eight or more times a day. The bladder begins to contract even when it contains small amounts of urine, causing more frequent urination.
• urinary urgencythe inability to delay urination.
• a weak or an interrupted urine stream.

Acute bacterial prostatitis. The symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis come on suddenly and are severe. Men should seek immediate medical care. Symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis may include

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Natural Ways To Improve Prostate Health

While genetics and age are risk factors beyond your control, there are some natural ways to boost prostate health over the course of your lifetime.

As with many other health conditions, regular exercise may be beneficial to prostate health. Arecent study of 30,000 men found an inverse relationship between regular exercise and BPH symptoms, which means the more active men in the study suffered less from BPH.

And while there is no magic food that will prevent prostate cancer, healthy eating can certainly improve prostate health. Experts recommend eating five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, limiting consumption of red meat, sugar, and salt, and choosing whole grains and healthy fats over less healthy ones, such as trans fats.

What Are The Stages Of Prostate Cancer

Your healthcare provider uses the Gleason score and Grade Groups to stage prostate cancer based on its projected aggressiveness. To get this information, the pathologist:

• Assigns a grade to each type of cell in your sample. Cells are graded on a scale of three to five . Samples that test in the one to two range are considered normal tissue.
• Adds together the two most common grades to get your Gleason score .
• Uses the Gleason score to place you into a Grade Group ranging from one to five. A Gleason score of six puts you in Grade Group 1 . A score of nine or higher puts you in Grade Group five . Samples with a higher portion of more aggressive cells receive a higher Grade Group.

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What Are Prostate Cancer Treatment Side Effects

Some prostate cancer treatments can affect the bladder, erectile nerves and sphincter muscle, which controls urination. Potential problems include:

• Incontinence: Some men experience urinary incontinence. You may leak urine when you cough or laugh, or you may feel an urgent need to use the bathroom even when your bladder isnt full. This problem can improve over the first six to 12 months without treatment.
• Erectile dysfunction : Surgery, radiation and other treatments can damage the erectile nerves and affect your ability to get or maintain an erection. Some men regain erectile function within a year or two . In the meantime, medications like sildenafil or tadalafil can help by increasing blood flow to the penis.
• Infertility: Treatments can affect your ability to produce or ejaculate sperm, resulting in male infertility. If you think you might want children in the future, you can preserve sperm in a sperm bank before you start treatments. After treatments, you may undergo sperm extraction. This procedure involves removing sperm directly from testicular tissue and implanting it into a womans uterus.

Medication For Urinary Problems

Your doctor may suggest various medications to help ease your urinary problems, including:

• medications to reduce the tone of the muscles of the urethra and prostate to minimise any constriction to urine flow caused when these muscles contract
• medication to reduce the size of the prostate gland. These medications work by blocking the action of male hormones produced by the prostate gland
• medications to relax the bladder, making unwanted contractions less likely and reducing the symptoms of urgency and frequency of urination
• the over-the-counter preparation ‘saw palmetto’ is sometimes used. This may help some men, especially if frequent urination at night is a problem.

However, recent reviews of the evidence for using saw palmetto as a treatment for mild or moderate urinary symptoms did not show any improvement, compared to no treatment, in men with BPH.

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When To Seek Medical Care

A person may have urinary symptoms unrelated to prostatitis that are caused by bladder problems, UTIs, or benign prostatic hyperplasia. Symptoms of prostatitis also can signal more serious conditions, including prostate cancer.

Men with symptoms of prostatitis should see a health care provider.

Men with the following symptoms should seek immediate medical care:

• complete inability to urinate
• great discomfort or pain in the lower abdomen and urinary tract

About Half Of Men Older Than 50 Have An Enlarged Prostate Here Are Some Of The Basic Facts You Need To Know About This Common Condition

As men age, many experience prostate gland enlargement. This condition is known as benign prostatic hyperplasia .

The prostate gland surrounds the urethra, the hollow tube that carries urine out of the body. When the prostate gets bigger, it can squeeze or partially block the urethra, which leads to problems urinating.

BPH is quite common in older men. In fact, the condition impacts about 50% of men between the ages of 51 and 60. For men 80 and older, the prevalence of BPH is approximately 90%, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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Better Options Better Health

While there are several unfortunate conditions that can impact the health of your prostate, the good news is that treatments for conditions like prostate cancer and BPH are constantly improving.

Meanwhile, complications like urinary and sexual dysfunction are becoming more manageable, even preventable in some cases, meaning a better quality of life for more patients.

Physicians are constantly finding new ways to lower the risk of potential side effects of prostate treatment that are caused by the prostates anatomy and location within the body.

Inflammation Of The Prostate

While prostatitis can affect men of any age, it is more common in younger men, aged between 30 and 50 years. The main types of prostatitis are:

• bacterial prostatitis acute or chronic bacterial infection
• non-bacterial prostatitis inflamed prostate, also known as chronic pelvic pain syndrome .

In most cases, the cause of prostatitis is unknown. Bacterial prostatitis responds well to antibiotic drugs that can get into the prostate.

Non-bacterial prostatitis, or CPPS, is the most common form of prostatitis and is more difficult to manage. Symptoms vary from one man to another. There is no single test to diagnose CPPS, so your doctor will need to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms before making a diagnosis.Possible causes of CPPS include:

• a past bacterial prostatitis infection
• irritation from some chemicals
• chronic anxiety problems.

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Problems With Enlarged Prostate Gland

Benign enlargement of the prostate gland is more common as men get older. It can cause troublesome symptoms, although it doesnt always.

The urethra passes through the prostate gland, so men may have problems urinating if the enlarged gland restricts the flow of urine. If the flow stops completely, a catheter is required to empty the bladder. It is rare for this form of acute urinary retention to cause kidney damage.

An enlarged prostate doesn’t always cause urinary problems. Studies indicate that the size of a man’s prostate gland has little influence on the type or severity of his urination problems. BPH is just one possible cause of urinary symptoms.

Another cause of urinary symptoms can be changes to the muscular wall of the bladder, which may cause spasms of the bladder or weaken the bladder, causing problems passing urine.

Painful Or Burning Urination

Prostate cancer causes the gland to enlarge in size, affecting the normal flow of urine. Impedance to urine flow is the reason for painful micturition. It is also possible that painful urination occurs due to cancer spreading to surrounding structures. Prostate cancer is notorious for its nature of local invasion of surrounding structures like the urethra, bladder, and rectum. Burning during urination can be due to suppurative infection or side effects of the treatment of prostate cancer. The enlargement of the gland causes urinary obstruction and retention. Undue retention of urine inside the bladder can lead to infection of urethra and bladder leading to burning during urination.

Antibiotics can relieve the situation for a while, but the doctor needs to start treating prostate cancer to avoid further risks and complications. Discussing this problem with your doctor is the best possible choice to ward off the complications of undiagnosed prostate cancer. Family history and genetics are major risk factors of prostate cancer, but lifestyle changes and diet can make these warning signs more conspicuous as obesity can worsen your condition of painful micturition.

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How Is Prostate Cancer Diagnosed

Screenings are the most effective way to catch prostate cancer early. If you are at average cancer risk, youll probably have your first prostate screening at age 55. Your healthcare provider may start testing earlier if you have a family history of the disease or are Black. Screening is generally stopped after age 70, but may be continued in certain circumstances.

Screening tests for prostate cancer include:

• Digital rectal exam: Your provider inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum and feels the prostate gland, which sits in front of the rectum. Bumps or hard areas could indicate cancer.
• Prostate-specific antigen blood test: The prostate gland makes a protein called protein-specific antigen . Elevated PSA levels may indicate cancer. Levels also rise if you have BPH or prostatitis.
• Biopsy: A needle biopsy to sample tissue for cancer cells is the only sure way to diagnose prostate cancer. During an MRI-guided prostate biopsy, magnetic resonance imaging technology provides detailed images of the prostate.

What Is An Enlarged Prostate

The prostate is an essential gland in the male reproductive system. It contributes to the semen volume and synthesizes a substance that supports sperm cells.

This gland is below the urinary bladder, surrounding the urethra. In the bladder neck. Thus, as it grows, it can put pressure over the urethra or the urinary bladder. However, what is an enlarged prostate? Is it the same as prostate cancer?

An enlarged prostate is simply a gland that increased in size. It is not caused by cancer. Another medical term is benign prostatic enlargement, where benign means theres no cancer. Another name is benign prostatic hyperplasia .

When we talk about hyperplasia, we refer to an increase in number and not size. Thus, in prostatic hyperplasia, there are more prostate cells . However, they remain the same size as normal prostate tissue. Such an increase in the number of cells causes an enlarged prostate. It usually starts in men after the age of 40. But they typically find out when they are near their 50s .

In some cases, an enlarged prostate grows evenly. In other instances, prostate growth is more irregular. When the overgrowth is near the center, it presses the urethra on the outside.

As a result, the urethra becomes narrow, compromising the urine flow. As a result, 1 out of 3 men over 50 years old report urinary symptoms. In the majority of cases, they are caused by an enlarged prostate gland .

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What Are The First Signs Of Prostate Problems

The first signs and symptoms of prostate disorder usually include problems with urination. These problems can cause you to:

• Have the urge to rush to the washroom to pass urine
• Have urine that dribbles in drops
• Have a weak urine stream
• Have the urge to pass urine more often during the night
• Have difficulty or pain while passing urine
• Feel that the bladder has not been emptied properly even after urinating
• Get frequent pain or discomfort in your lower abdomen
• Erectile dysfunction

Depending on the underlying prostate problems, you may have other symptoms.

• If you have prostatitis, your symptoms may cause long-lasting pain or discomfort in your penis or scrotum, your belly, or your lower back.
• If you have bacterial prostatitis, you may not be able to evacuate your bladder completely. Signs of infection, such as fever, chills, or body aches, may be present.
• If you have Benign prostatic hyperplasia , you may feel the urge to urinate often during your nights sleep. You may have urine with an abnormal color or odor. Urination or ejaculation may be painful.

Please consult your doctor if you experience any of the signs and symptoms to avoid the worsening of the prostate problems.

Symptoms Of Prostate Disease

In its earliest stages, prostate disease may or may not be associated with symptoms. The symptoms of prostate disease depend on the condition, but may include:

• difficulties urinating, such as trouble starting the flow of urine
• the urge to urinate often, particularly at night
• feeling as though the bladder can’t be fully emptied
• painful urination
• blood in the urine or blood coming from the urethra independent of urination.

Blood in the urine is often due to causes not related to the prostate. Always see your doctor if you find blood in your urine.

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