Benign Prostatic Enlargement.

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The prostate is a walnut sized gland of the male reproductive tract.  It normally acts to add a thin milky fluid to a man’s semen during ejaculation.  Unfortunately, the prostate can also continually enlarge throughout a man’s adult life.  With the continued growth of the prostate, this may cause obstruction of the bladder neck (see figure below) and significant urinary tract symptoms.  These symptoms include urinary urgency and frequency, blood in the urine, waking up at night to urinate, a weak and/or interrupted urinary flow, difficulty initiating urinary stream and even bladder stones.  Fortunately, there are numerous oral medications that can dramatically improve symptoms and even reduce the size of one’s prostate over time.  If you suffer from any of these symptoms, a thorough evaluation should be performed as many of these symptoms may be signs of other more serious conditions such as prostate, kidney or bladder cancer.