- Isn't it time
you got your prostate examined? Ask Your Doctor!
The prostate is a walnut-shaped glandular organ located around the neck of
the urinary bladder and is only found in males. It weighs only few grams
at birth, but grows significantly during puberty and reaches the adult size of
about 20g by age 20. It remains relatively stable in size until the fifth decade
of life when another growth spurt begins in most men. Because of this second
growth spurt, enlarged prostate is common among men over 45 years old and
increases in frequency thereafter, such that by the eight decade, about 90 percent of men
have enlarged prostate. The prostate gland produces about 20% of seminal fluid.
It principally stores and secretes a milky alkaline fluid which contains the
semen, spermatozoa and seminal fluid. The alkaline nature of the fluid helps
neutralize the acidic fluid in the vaginal tract.
The prostate also
contains smooth muscle.
The prostate surrounds the urethra, and an enlarged prostate is the commonest
cause of obstruction to outflow of urine in men. Enlarged prostate can be
benign or malignant, and most of the causes can be treated without
adversely affecting sexual function. Prostate enlargement can also be caused by
infections, commonly called prostatitis.
It is advisable that men who are age 50 and older, should have digital rectal
exam and Prostate-Specific Antigen test as part of their annual physical exam,
to enable early detection of enlarged prostate gland. This will increase the
chances of a possible cure.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia is
a medical terminology for a non cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland,
which is particularly common in older men. As men grow older,
the prostate also continues to grow and may compress on the
surrounding organs such as the bladder and the urethra,
thereby impeding the free flow of urine. In fact Benign
prostatic hyperplasia is the most common cause to
obstruction of urinary outflow in men .
Prostate
cancer is the most common type of malignancy in men in the
United States and is also one of the most common causes of
cancer related deaths in men over the age of 55 yrs. Even
though, there is extensive investigation being carried out,
the cause of this cancer has remained unknown. But there are
several factors that could play major roles. Most prostate
cancers arise from the peripheral zone of the prostate which
is felt of rectal examination . This cancer is more common
in African Americans than Caucasians.
Prostatitis describes the inflammation of the prostate gland, generally caused by infections ( either acute or chronic), but such inflammation may also exist without necessarily having a causative organism.. Prostatitis can cause urinary symptoms and impaired ejaculation.
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