"ALARM CLOCK HASN'T GONE OFF YET HARRY"
"PERHAPS NOT MAGGIE, BUT THERE'S ANOTHER ALARM JUST AS URGENT !"
If you are male and over forty it is almost inevitable that sooner or later you will suffer from some kind of prostate disorder. Indeed the older you get the more likely your chances are of experiencing some kind of discomfort. This can range from having to get up several times during the night to visit the toilet, (once in the night could be your only symptom) to impotence or even prostate cancer.
For some reason, possibly because the prostate gland is identified with sexuality, a considerable number of men are reluctant to talk about this problem let alone admit that there could be something wrong and that they are getting old.
Incidentally, if you are looking for a rapid painless cure that can be administered by anyone, forget it. You might just as well try looking for an abortionist in the Vatican.
However, having said that, you may well find that things may not be quite as bad as you feared, and even if they are, at least you will know what to do about it and when.
Before going any further the following analogy might help you understand what I'm driving at. Any motor mechanic who is worth his salt can often identify certain malfunctions of a car simply by listening to the sounds of the engine.
Although his diagnosis might entail major and costly repairs, such as a new engine and so on, this may not always be necessary immediately. You could for instance get away with plugging a leak in a radiator for quite a long time before having to incur the cost of a replacement.
By the same token, although your particular prostate disorder might ultimately require some form of surgery, it could be years before it actually becomes necessary. In the meantime it may be possible for you to alleviate some discomfort by paying more attention to what you drink. If for example you can cut out caffeine beverages or drinking three or more pints of beer during the evening, this alone could reduce the number of times you would need to 'spend-a-penny'.
Just before moving on to the symptoms and ramifications of this subject, I think this is a most opportune moment to establish exactly where the prostate is. If you care to study this illustration . . .
You will notice that the prostate is situated under the bladder. The bladder is a store for urine produced in the kidneys. From the bladder to the penis is a tube called the urethra which passes through the middle of the prostate, rather like a core through an apple.
Most men's prostates, for some unknown reason, begin to enlarge usually after they reach fifty but sometimes before. Although this enlargement in its initial stages might not cause any discomfort, as this growth gets bigger with increasing age it can gradually squeeze the urethra to such an extent that the force and size of the urine stream is reduced. This by the way is know in medical terminology as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia but sometimes called Hypertrophy, however it is usually referred to as B.P.H.
I don't wish to alarm you at this early stage but it should be pertinently pointed out that when B.P.H. remains untreated it can lead to a total closure of the urethra making it impossible to urinate. This can result in a very serious illness and even death, so if you discover that you have the symptoms of B.P.H., which will be outlined presently, do not waste time, get in touch with your doctor immediately, it could save your life.
By the way, a benign growth simply means that it is not cancerous and does not attack other tissues or cells or spread to other parts of the body. A malignant growth, as in cancer of the prostate, would spread to other parts of the body attacking and destroying other cells or tissue in the process.
The size of the prostate in an average adult male is about that of a walnut or chestnut, and it is both a muscle and a gland, it is called musculoglandular. It is a very complex organ and is made up of fibrous tissues as well as muscles and glands, and the fluid which is emptied into the prostatic urethra is produced in many of these small glands. In addition to this the tube responsible for bringing the spermatozoa from the testis also injects its product into the urethra.
The spasmodic contractions of the surrounding muscles of the urethra enables these two fluids, with the addition of a third one from the seminal vesicles, to be ejaculated.
In short, the prostate plays an extremely important part in a man's ability to fulfil his role during sexual intercourse. Consequently some men are, quite understandably, terrified that any prostatic malfunction might diminish their sexual ability. Once again I feel that this is an ideal moment to point out that this is only true in certain cases and these will be covered in due course. In the meantime your next important step is to find out whether you have enough symptoms to warrant calling your doctor, or discover that you could be worrying over nothing and this will be explained in the following pages...