God Bless You Dear Readers.
In my last post, I touched on 11 functions of the Prostate Gland and the need to keep it healthy by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
In today's post, I are going to discuss. ENLARGED PROSTATE.
I will start this series by saying that Enlarged Prostate affects ONLY MEN, while Fibroid affects ONLY WOMEN.
About 50% of men, about 30 years and above, develop Enlarged Prostate. While about 90% of men who are over 80 years also develop it.
Most men do not have symptoms, but as they advance in age, the symptoms manifest.
If all men were to live long, a lot of them would develop the disease.
So what exactly is this ENLARGED PROSTATE? And what causes it?
In actual fact, the Prostate Gland is small from the onset, as described in Series 1. However, in most men, it gradually becomes enlarged, as they advance in age.
It gets to a stage when the gland becomes greatly enlarged. And this enlargement of the Prostate Gland is referred to as "Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)."
Report has it that the prostate has two stages of growth.
Every man, at puberty, experiences the first stage.
This first stage is nothing but an increase in size of the Prostate Gland, making it double.
This increase doesn't cause any pain. It causes no problem and is perfectly normal.
Now the second stage, starts when the person is about 30 years of age.
When this second stage starts, it doesn't stop. The process becomes continuous.
It is in this second stage that Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia occurs.
As the ailment advances, the Prostate which has become greatly enlarged, presses hard on the Urethra.
Remember, it is the Urethra which conveys urine from the Bladder, out through the Penis.
Therefore, the blockage of flow of urine through the Urethra causes a restricted flow of urine from the Bladder.
In other words, the patient can only urinate a little at a time. And since that is the case, he finds himself having to return to the bathroom within short intervals, to urinate.
Apart from frequent urination, other complications like urinary dribbling, urinary retention, urinary tract infection, etc, occurs.
However, please note that although Enlarged Prostate can be serious, it is not Prostate Cancer.
BUT, there is an increased risk of the patient developing Prostate Cancer if the ailment is not treated in time.
Apart from age, mentioned above, other possible causes of Enlarged Prostate are as follows:
1. Testosterone, a male hormone, and a little amount of Estrogen, a female hormone, are produced by men. As a man grows older, the amount of Testosterone active in his blood reduces, leaving a higher amount of Estrogen.
Thus the higher amount of Estrogen within the Prostate, according to some Studies, is likely to have increased the activity of some substance, consequently promoting Prostate cell growth. This is likened to women in their childbearing age, developing fibroid when the Estrogen hormone is dominant.
2. Also, there is a Second Theory, namely, that a male hormone known as Dihydrotestosterone plays a vital role in the development and growth of the Prostate.
According to some Research, older men produce and accumulate in the Prostate, high levels of Dihydrotestosterone, irrespective of reduction in levels of blood testosterone.
Unfortunately, the accumulation of Dihydrotestosterone encourages Prostate cells to grow.
Scientists report that some men do not produce Dihydrotestosterone, and so do not experience Prostate problems.
3. There is a third theory, namely, that changes usually occur in the cells of the testicles which could cause growth of the Prostate.
It is true that when the testicles of a man who has Enlarged Prostate are removed, this causes the Prostate to shrink in size.
Also, there are even cases of men who had their Testicles removed at a young age because they had Testicular Cancer.
These set of men do not experience Enlarged Prostate.
There is no doubt therefore, that the Testicles play a role in Prostate development.
Haven said that, I hope you are honestly not considering having your testicles removed?
That will be a terrible decision.
Now what about Prostate Cancer? What causes this deadly ailment in men?
Prostate Cancer is one of the most common cancers in men, from about the age of 50 years.
In some cases, growth may be initially slow, not causing any serious problem.
But in other cases, growth is rapid and aggressive.
It is opined that the aggressive type needs urgent medical attention, the slow type may not need much treatment.
I beg to disagree with that point of view.
On the contrary, I advise that both the slow and aggressive type be quickly nipped in the bud.
Anyway, not to worry. There are healthy options for PREVENTION and CURE
In the next series, I will touch on Prevention and Cure for Enlarged Prostate and Prostate Cancer.
You sure would like to take necessary precaution against this deadly ailment. So therefore look out for Series 3.
Till Then,
Stay Healthy Always And Remain Blessed. Love You All.
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