Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate which occurs commonly after the age of 60 years.   The prevalence increases from 3% at age 45 years to nearly 50% at the age of 80 years.

Risk Factors

• Family history
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Ageing
• Medications such as heart or anticholinergics

Symptoms

• Urgent or frequent need to pass urine
• Difficulty to start urination
• Inability to completely empty the bladder (feeling of fullness)
• Need to get up at night to pass urine
• Dribbling or poor urine stream
• Incontinence or involuntary passing urine
• Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection

Diagnosis

• Examination of the prostate by putting a finger through your anus
• Urine and blood tests (kidney function and PSA)
• Urinary Flow Test
• Urodynamic Study
• MRI or Ultrasound scan
• Cystoscopy
• Prostate tissue biopsy

Treatment Options

There are many different options which you can discuss with your urology specialist depending on your age, health, symptoms and size of the prostate. 

A. Medications

These medications can help to reduce the size of the prostate if they are small

1. Alpha Blockers workby relaxing the smooth muscle of the prostate and bladder neck to improve urine flow and reduce bladder outlet obstruction. They usually do not reduce the size of the prostate.

• Terazosin (Hytrin)
• Doxazosin (Cardura)
• Tamsulosin (Harnal OCAS)

2. Tadalafil (Cialis 5mg) increases the levels of a chemical called cyclic guanosine monophosphate, or cGMP which increases blood flow to the penis (to treat erectile dysfunction) as well as relaxing the muscle cells in the bladder and prostate to improve urine flow.

3. 5-alpha Reductase Inhibitors work lowering the amount of dihydrotestosterone thereby shrinking the size of enlarged prostate.

• Finasteride (Proscar)
• Dutasteride (Avodart)

B. Surgery

Surgery or laser treatment is recommended when the prostate is too large or causing severe symptoms

• Trans Urethral Resection of Prostate (TURP)
• Trans Urethral Incision of Prostate (TUIP)
• Laser Treatment of Prostate
• Robotic Resection of Prostate

See a Urologist if you have difficulty passing urine or have prostate issues

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