After the age of 60, half of men will suffer from this disease, so you must take it seriously!

As the global population ages, the incidence of prostate hyperplasia is also increasing. According to statistics, the incidence of prostate hyperplasia in middle-aged and elderly men around 60 years old is about 50%, and the incidence is nearly 100% around 80 years old.

Today is Father's Day. Caring for your father starts with his health. So what is prostate hyperplasia? What are the clinical symptoms? How to treat it? Let's answer them one by one!

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Prostate hyperplasia and its symptoms

Prostatic hyperplasia is a benign disease that occurs frequently in middle-aged and elderly men. It is one of the diseases that causes urination disorders in middle-aged and elderly men, and it can easily cause complications such as bladder stones, hematuria or urinary tract infections, seriously affecting the patient's physical health and quality of life.

The prostate gland of men gradually enlarges after the age of 40, and symptoms usually begin to appear when men are 60 to 70 years old.

Prostatic hyperplasia is generally manifested by increased nocturia, difficulty urinating, thinner urine stream, weak urine flow, and incomplete urination.

Storage symptoms mainly include urinary urgency, frequent urination, and urge incontinence. As the disease progresses, the obstruction worsens, causing bladder muscle dysfunction, increasing the amount of residual urine in the bladder, reducing bladder capacity, and shortening the urination interval. If the patient has bladder stones or infection, the symptoms of frequent urination, urgency, and pain will be more obvious.

The main symptoms of urination are dysuria, bifurcated urine stream and incomplete urination. As the obstruction worsens, dysuria will also increase from mild to severe, and urinary retention will occur. In simple terms, the patient's urination time is prolonged, the range is shortened, and the patient cannot urinate or cannot urinate completely.

In severe cases, there may also be hematuria, hydronephrosis, bladder stones, hemorrhoids or worsening hernia.

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How to treat prostate hyperplasia

So, how to treat prostate hyperplasia? Do you need to take medicine or have surgery? The treatment plan should be selected according to the severity of the patient's condition. The treatment methods include observation and waiting, drug treatment and surgical treatment.

1. Watchful waiting

If the patient's current symptoms are not serious but mild, then further progression of the disease can be prevented by observing and waiting, adjusting lifestyle, changing diet structure, etc. For example, eating less spicy and irritating foods, doing regular health checks, optimizing one's urination habits, and taking a reasonable amount of fluid.

2. Medication

Patients with moderate to severe prostatic hyperplasia need to choose appropriate drugs according to different urination symptoms and should use them under the guidance of a doctor. Drugs for the treatment of prostatic hyperplasia are specifically divided into the following categories:

· Alpha-blockers

α-receptor blockers can relax urethral smooth muscle and relieve bladder outlet obstruction. They are mostly used for patients with symptoms of frequent urination, urgency or incomplete urination.

5α-reductase inhibitors

5α-reductase inhibitors can reduce the content of dihydrotestosterone in the prostate, thereby reducing the size of the prostate. They are suitable for patients with large prostate and lower urinary tract symptoms.

M receptor antagonists

It can relieve excessive detrusor contraction, reduce bladder sensitivity, and improve symptoms of frequent urination, urgency, and urge incontinence in patients with prostatic hyperplasia. It is suitable for patients with small prostate and mild urinary tract obstruction.

3. Surgery

For patients with moderate to severe disease, if lower urinary tract symptoms significantly affect the quality of life, especially when drug treatment is ineffective or urinary retention occurs at least once, and long-term complications such as recurrent urinary tract infections, hematuria, bladder stones, upper urinary tract effusion, and renal function impairment occur, surgical treatment is required.

The surgical methods include transurethral transurethral resection of the prostate, transurethral plasma prostatectomy, transurethral laser prostate vaporization, etc. The following mainly introduces the first two.

· Transurethral resection of the prostate

This procedure involves inserting an electrosurgical resectoscope through the urethra to remove the prostate gland. The frequency of urination will increase significantly after the operation, which can quickly improve the patient's dysuria problem.

· Transurethral plasma prostatectomy

This procedure can remove the prostate within the capsule, which is more complete than electrosurgical resection, with less bleeding during the operation, less damage to the patient, faster recovery, and a low postoperative recurrence rate.

4. Other treatment measures

Transurethral microwave therapy

This method causes necrosis of prostate tissue through heating, thereby reducing urinary tract obstruction. It is suitable for patients who are unwilling to take long-term medication or undergo surgery.

Prostate stent implantation

This method implants a metal stent in the prostate area of ​​the urethra to relieve the lower urinary tract symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia. It is only used for high-risk patients who have recurrent urinary retention but are unwilling to undergo surgical surgery.

In short, a good lifestyle is very beneficial for prostate patients, and proper exercise is conducive to the normal emptying of the bladder. Prostate patients should maintain a healthy lifestyle, conduct regular prostate examinations, and learn more about relevant knowledge to keep themselves healthy.

Note: This article is only for health science popularization. If you have related diseases, please go to a regular medical institution for treatment in time and follow the doctor's advice. The content of this article is not used as a basis for medical diagnosis.

References

[1] Na Yanqun, Ye Zhangqun, Sun Guang. Chinese Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Urological Diseases. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2019.

Author: Qi Jinchun, Chief Physician, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University

Review丨Liu Guihua, Chief Physician, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University