Presiding over Prostate Problems

Healthy Living
Men’s Health

Prostate problems are becoming more common than ever. However, increased awareness can help in managing or even preventing many prostate problems.

Prostate problems and symptoms

1. Prostratitis – Increased number of inflammatory cells within the prostate gland. This can be caused by an infection or an inflammation, and the severity varies from patient to patient.

Symptoms – Inflammation of the gland characterized by swelling, redness and irritation.

2. Enlarged Prostate – Non-cancerous growth that occurs when the cells in the centre of the prostate gland that surrounds the urethra start reproducing rapidly, resulting in the enlargement of the prostate gland. As tissues in the area enlarge, they compress the urethra and partially block the urine flow. Men between the ages of 60 and 80 often suffer from this issue.

Symptoms – Weak urinary system, frequent need to urinate, difficulty in passing urine, inability to empty the bladder, urinary tract infection, blood in the urine and involuntary discharge of urine.

3. Acute Prostatitis – An acute urinary tract infection in adult men. Though not very common, it is easy to detect because of its visible clinical symptoms.

Symptoms –Infection coupled with spurts of high fever and a burning sensation while urinating.

4. Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis – Similar to Acute Bacterial Prostatitis, but with a gradual onset that may be fairly mild. Some men may not have any symptoms, yet bacteria can be cultured from prostatic secretions and urine samples.

Symptoms – Recurrent urinary tract infections due to the organism’s presence in the prostatic fluid. The symptoms are similar to acute prostatitis, but are less severe and can vary in intensity from patient to patient.

5. Prostate Cancer – One of the most common cancers in adult men. Prostate Cancer occurs when cells of the prostate mutate and begin to multiply out of control. These cells may spread (metastasise) from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes.

Symptoms – There are no early symptoms. The symptoms surface only as the disease progresses and the tumour enlarges. By this time, the tumour compresses and narrows the urethra, thereby obstructing urine flow. The patient notices weak and irregular urine flow and requires the exertion of force while urinating. On completion, he may still feel that the bladder is not empty. Such symptoms are not specific to prostate cancer, and can be commonly found in non-cancerous enlargements of the gland. Blood in the semen may also be a sign of prostate cancer, but is not usually related to malignancy. If a tumour has spread to the bones, it may cause pain where the spine is usually affected.

What causes prostate illnesses?

You might be surprised to find our how many factors can influence the advent of prostate illness. Here is a list of the most common causes of prostate troubles:

Age: One of the main causes of prostate problems is aging. Men over 40 are prone to such diseases, and those over 60 are at an even greater risk.

Unsafe sex: Tests have revealed that some prostate-related diseases are sexually transmitted.

Heredity: If it runs in the family, the chances of you inheriting prostate illnesses are higher.

Surgery: A urinary catheter insertion during a surgery can cause prostate illnesses.

Infection: Urinary or bladder infections can cause prostate illnesses.

Prostate cells: Normal male hormones, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), are known to contribute to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). When 5α-reductase – a hormone – converts testosterone into DHT in the prostate gland it can cause an enlargement of the prostate.

Race: Studies have revealed that men of American and European decent are more prone to prostate illnesses than Asian men.

Diet: Excessive cholesterol levels, lack of fatty acids and zinc in the diet can lead to an enlarged prostate.

Prevention

Thankfully, there are many things you can do in order to reduce the likelihood of you ever having to deal with prostate illness. Although none of these will guarantee the future health of your prostate, they will certainly improve your chances.

• Eat a zinc rich diet, including of eggs, seafood, lean meat and supplements.

• Avoid junk/fried foods.

• Control or reduce alcohol intake, as alcohol prevents proper absorption of zinc into the body.

• Avoid spicy food.

• If you have a history of enlarged prostates in your family, avoid physical exercises like cycling as that may cause excessive strain on the gland.

• Reduce caffeine intake. Limit tea and coffee to about two cups a day.

• Drink plenty of water in order to keep your bladder functioning and to flush the toxins from your body.

• Take your applicable medications regularly and correctly, making sure to not miss a dose. Complete the course as prescribed by the doctor. Even if you feel better, the infection may not have gone away completely.

• Take vitamins regularly. Two dietary supplements, vitamin E and selenium, may help prevent prostate cancer when taken daily.

• Estrogens from soybeans and other plant sources (called phytoestrogens) may also help prevent prostate cancer.

• Two medications which block the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, finasteride and dutasteride have also shown some promise. However, these medications are still in the testing phase. However, these medications may preferentially block the development of lower-grade prostate tumours, leading to a relatively greater chance of higher grade cancers, and negating any overall survival improvement.

• Green tea may be beneficial (due to its polyphenol content), though current research is inconclusive. A recent study of green tea derivatives demonstrated promising prostate cancer prevention in patients at high risk for the disease.

Screening and diagnosis

If you are worried about the health of your prostate, or you have recently had reason to suspect something is not right, here is a list of what you should do and what you should expect:

1. Visit your doctor – Be ready to recount the relevant symptoms including:

• When the problem first started

• Any changes/complaints relating to the gland area

• If you have had a family history of prostate illnesses

• If you are allergic to any medication

2. Digital Rectal Exam

Get a physical examination by a doctor. The doctor will apply a lubricant to a surgical glove and insert a finger into the rectum to feel the end wall of the gland. This helps in diagnosing an enlarged prostate gland and ruling out prostate cancer.

3. Have a Urine Test – This is conducted to check for any infections.

4. Ultra Sound – Helps in providing images of the seminal vesicles and tissues around the gland. An ultra sound is performed to identify the type of infection and whether it is malignant or not.

5. Biopsy – Conducted at the time of the ultra sound. The biopsy reports are further analysed till the correct diagnosis is arrived at.

6. Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test – The PSA is naturally produced in the prostate gland to liquefy the semen, and a small amount of this PSA circulates in the blood too. A PSA specific blood test can reveal if the PSA levels are beyond the normal limits. This test can detect the type of prostatitis and prostate cancer.

7. Urodynamic Tests – Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between problems with the prostate and problems with the bladder. In such cases, the patient may have to undergo a test that will measure the internal bladder pressure.

8. Gleason Grading and Gleason Scores – Consists of grading five separate patterns that prostate tumour cells tend to go through. This scale runs from 1 to 5, where 1 stands for nearly normal range and 5 stands for cells that don’t have any characteristics of prostate cells.

9. Cystoscopy – Allows the doctor to see inside the urethra and bladder. This procedure can detect problems like enlarged prostate, obstruction of urethra/ bladder tube, stones or any other abnormalities.

10. Intravenous Pyelogram –An x-ray image of the urinary tract to help detect any abnormality or obstruction.

11. Other tests – Bone scan to check if the tumour has infected a bone, MRI and CT scans are also performed for detailed analysis of the prostate gland.

Treatment

Treatment for prostate-related illnesses varies from patient to patient. Treatments entail medication, therapies, and surgical and non-surgical options. Depending upon the degree of illness, the doctor will resort to any medical procedures. Some of the treatments are:

[Note - It is always advisable to ask the doctor for possible side effects for any medication or treatment]

1. Medication – This is by far the most common form of remedy used to control the initial stages of prostate illnesses.

2. Observation – The prostate illness is carefully monitored over a period of time so that timely action can be taken. This option is tried out for men suffering from early stages of prostate cancer.

3. Non-surgical therapy – For example, heat therapy is used to destroy extra prostate tissue by sending heat energy through the urethra. This is mostly performed as an out-patient procedure.

4. Prostatectomy – Involves a surgery where the cancer is removed from all parts of the prostate. In the initial stages when cancer is limited only to the gland or some surrounding area, patients are usually advised to undergo prostatectomy.

5. Radiation – Involves killing the cancer cells in the prostate gland through radioactive exposure.

6. Hormone Therapy – Since testosterone hormones act as a catalyst for the growth of prostate cancer, this therapy is used to prevent the release of testosterone.

7. Surgery – This is mainly used for severe stages of prostate illnesses. Other contributory factors that may call for surgery are bleeding of the urethra, kidney stones, urinary tract infections and damage of the kidney due to urine retention. However, given the present day advanced medication and non-surgical remedies, the quantity of surgical treatments performed today are reducing considerably.