Prostate Problems: Information all Men Should Know

The older you become, the more you will hear about prostate problems. If you don’t have prostate problems yourself, it is very likely that you will know men with prostate problems. After the age of 50, prostate problems are very common in men, and the likelihood of prostate ailments only increases as men age. Thankfully, most prostate problems are not cancer nor are they necessarily life-threatening; however, prostate problems must be taken seriously.

The first step in understanding prostate problems is learning about the prostate gland. The prostate gland is about the size of a walnut, but it is shaped like a doughnut, with an opening in the middle. Through the opening travels a man’s urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to exit the body. The main function of the prostate gland is to produce seminal fluid which becomes part of a man’s semen. Therefore, women do not have a prostate gland. While the prostate gland is technically part of a man’s reproductive organs, prostate problems typically are revealed when a man tries to urinate because of the prostate gland’s close location to a man’s urinary tract.

There are three major prostate problems that a man should watch for throughout his life, particularly after the age of 40. These prostate problems are prostatitis, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), and cancer. Prostatitis and BPH are more prevalent than prostate cancer, and neither is an indication of prostate cancer. Prostatitis is an infection or swelling of the prostate gland, while BPH is an enlargement of the prostate gland. It is believed that bacteria cause most prostatitis-related prostate problems, while the cause of BPH is not entirely clear. So far, it is believed that BPH prostate problems are due to hormonal changes which are triggered by a man’s aging process.