Prostate Diseases

What is Prostate?

The prostate is a small gland in the pelvis that is only found in men. It is located between the penis and the bladder, and surrounds the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis).

The main function of the prostate is to help with the production of semen. The prostate produces a thick, white fluid that is liquefied by a special protein known as prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The fluid is then mixed with sperm, produced by the testicles, to create semen.

There are three main diseases of prostate: BPH(Benign prostatic hyperplasi, prostate enlargement) , prostatitis, and prostate cancer.

What is BPH?

BPH is a common part of aging. As a man matures, the prostate goes through two main periods of growth. The first occurs early in puberty, when the prostate doubles in size. At around age 25, the gland begins to grow again. This second growth phase often results, years later, in BPH.

Though the prostate continues to grow during most of a man's life, the enlargement doesn't usually cause problems until late in life.

As the prostate enlarges, the layer of tissue surrounding it stops it from expanding, causing the gland to press against the urethra like a clamp on a garden hose. The bladder wall becomes thicker and irritable. The bladder begins to contract even when it contains small amounts of urine, causing more frequent urination. Eventually, the bladder weakens and loses the ability to empty itself, so some of the urine remains in the bladder. The narrowing of the urethra and partial emptying of the bladder cause many of the problems associated with BPH.

The cause of BPH is not well understood.

What is prostatitis?

Prostatitis is the general term used to describe prostate inflammation (-itis). Because the term is so general, it does not adequately describe the range of abnormalities that can be associated with prostate inflammation. The inflammation can be caused by infection or other factors. Therefore, four types of prostatitis are recognized: acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis.

What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. There are only a handful of factors that could put you at risk of developing prostate cancer:

· Age. 40 or over for men with a family history of prostate cancer and African Americans, 50 and above for other men. Most prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over 65, but it is becoming more common in men 55-65.

· Family history. Your risk of developing prostate cancer is doubled if your father, brother, or close male blood relative has or had the disease.

· Race. African Americans have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world, at least twice as high as white men.

· Diet. Eating a diet that’s low in fiber and high in fat and red meat, has been shown to increase prostate cancer risk.