Prostatitis:
Men's Urological Disorder
“Prostatitis” is a
general term for inflammation of the prostate gland. According to
statistics from the National Institutes of Health, prostatitis accounts
for 25% of all office visits that involve the genitourinary system
by young and middle-aged men. As the most common urological disorder
in men over fifty years of age, and the third most common in men
younger than fifty, prostatitis can affect men of any age. Experts
estimate it will affect approximately 50% of all men at some point
in their lifetimes.
To understand prostatitis,
we must first understand some things about the prostate gland itself.
It is a walnut-sized organ in
a man that is located behind his pubic bone and in front of his
rectum. It consists of smooth muscle, spongy tissue, tiny ducts,
and glands. The prostate gland works mostly to produce semen, which
is the fluid that transports sperm.
The prostate gland begins like
the man himself begins—very small. It is only the size of
a pea when he is born, and it grows only slightly during childhood.
When a man reaches puberty, however, the prostate undertakes a rapid
growth spurt and reaches its full size at the age of maturity—usually
around the age of 20. Although it is not technically a part of a
man’s urinary system, the prostate gland contributes a great
deal to urinary health because of the way it surrounds the top part
of the urethra, which is the tube that carries urine from the bladder.
After a man reaches 45
years in age, cells in the central portion of the gland may begin
to reproduce at an abnormally rapid rate.
This can lead to infection, inflammation,
and swelling that squeezes the urethra and inhibits the man’s
ability to urinate. This is one possible symptom of prostatitis.
Other symptoms of the condition may include:
- Frequent and urgent need to urinate.
- Nighttime urinations known as nocturia
- Pain or burning when urinating.
- Pelvic, groin, or low back pain.
A diagnosis of prostatitis may be
problematic at first because the signs and symptoms of prostatitis
often resemble those of other conditions.
For example, a bladder infection
or urethral infection can cause an intense urge to urinate, a burning
sensation, and sometimes even produce blood in the urine, thus mimicking
the signs and symptoms of prostatitis.
Once a doctor conclusively
makes a diagnosis of prostatitis, the condition then falls into
one of four categories that every man needs to be aware of before
pursuing the best medical and natural
treatments available for his particular condition. These four
categories are as follows:
Acute Non-bacterial Prostatitis
This is the least common form of prostatitis bust also the most
severe form that may require hospitalization. It is not always curable,
but in many cases symptoms can be controlled.
Acute Bacterial Prostatitis
Naturally resident bacteria in the urinary tract or large intestine
can overpopulate the urinary tract and cause this type of prostatitis.
Most often it begins in the prostate gland itself, but it can also
be caused by a bladder or urethral infection spreading to the prostate
gland.
Chronic
Bacterial Prostatitis
Experts remain uncertain as to what exactly causes a chronic bacterial
infection. Sometimes bacteria remain in the prostate following the
acute condition. Sometimes catheters that are used to drain the
bladder for other conditions, physical trauma to the urinary system,
or even infections in other parts of the body, can function as a
contributing cause of bacterial infection.
Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis
Researchers have not discovered the exact cause of the two types
of chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, although they have a number
of theories about possible triggers for the conditions. These factors
include but are not limited to placing strain on the prostate gland
with a full bladder with certain occupational activities or exercises
whose strenuous activity could possibly push urine back into the
prostate gland.
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