Home | Health & Fitness | Mens Issues
Health problems not surprisingly start to develop as we grow older and one problem that you are almost certain to experience if you live long enough is an enlarged prostate gland. Usually the problem is first seen in men once they pass the age of 45, though it can sometimes be seen at earlier ages, and you have about a 50 percent chance of developing the problem of an enlarged prostate gland by the time you reach 60 years of age. Once you have reached the age of 60 the odds of experiencing the condition increase considerably and, by the age of 80, your chances of having an enlarged prostate gland will be as high as 90 percent. The prostate, which sits just below the bladder and is a part of the male reproductive system, grows rapidly during puberty and by the time a man reaches maturity it weighs roughly one ounce and is roughly the same size as a walnut. What is often not appreciated however is that it does not stop growing at this point and that the prostate continues to grow very slowly throughout the remainder of a man's life. In middle age however cell growth characteristically starts to speed up in one particular section of the prostate gland that partially surrounds the urethra, which is the tube responsible for carrying urine from the bladder out of the body. Initially this acceleration in the growth of cells, that are non-cancerous, is reasonably slow and many men will not experience any symptoms at all from it, or any symptoms are so mild that they are dismissed as simply a case of 'growing old'. With time however, as the prostate continues to grow, it will start to pinch the urethra interfering with the flow of urine from the bladder and the symptoms of the problem will start to become evident. To start these will not be painful, or even especially uncomfortable, but they will get increasingly annoying as you start to develop difficulty in passing water, the need to get up in the night to visit the bathroom and perhaps the upsetting tendency to continue to dribble urine even after you have visited the bathroom. At this point you should talk to your doctor not merely to seek treatment for your enlarged prostate but also so that you can undergo screening for the possibility of any underlying and developing signs of prostate cancer.
Article Source: http://www.wowfreearticles.com
ProstateProblemCenter.com provides detailed information about theprostate gland and discusses the advisability of having a prostate exam
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
