Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia – General Information

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia – Symptoms

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia – Treatment

Considered also a safe and prevention measure, after the diagnosis of the disease, patients should decrease fluid intake before sleeping, and should also moderate the consummation of alcohol and products which can contain caffeine, and must follow programmed voiding schedules. There are two ways to treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, by medications and surgical management. There are lots of medicines used in the medication treatment, but only two are more effective than all, and consist in alpha blockers, and 5α-reductase inhibitors. Alpha blockers, also called α1-adrenergic receptor antagonists, work by relieving the symptoms caused by the disease. In addition to this drug, there are also available drugs that can be prescribed by the doctor and include doxazosin, terazosin, alfuzosin and tamsulosin.

There are some drugs, including phenoxybenzamine and prazosin, which are not recommended for treatment of this condition. Alpha-blockers get the muscle in the prostate and the bladder neck to relax, and decrease the level of blockage of urine flow. Alpha-blockers can have even some side effects causing ejaculation back into the bladder, a process called retrograde ejaculation. The second medicine, the 5α-reductase inhibitors, which can be prescribed as finasteride and dutasteride, are another important treatment option. When the drug is used in combination with alpha blockers there can appear a small reduction of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia progression to an acute urinary retention and the surgical intervention is the main procedure in patients with larger prostates. The last studies on the efficacy of Serenoa repens, or saw palmetto, considered a fruit extract in relieving mild symptoms to moderate symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. A recent deep study didn’t demonstrate any greater improvement of the disease than that of a placebo with moderate symptoms to severe symptoms.

There are several herbal medicines that have a considerate support in systematic treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and include beta-sitosterol from Hypoxis rooperi, an African star grass, and pygeum which is  extracted from the bark of Prunus africana, and is a less significant support for the efficacy of Cucurbita pepo, such as pumpkin, seed and Urtica dioica, called stinging nettle root. In the end, also a study shown and supported the efficacy of rye flower pollen. Sildenafil drug has the effect of relieving the symptoms, in combination with a possible encountered etiology with an erectile dysfunction. The surgical procedure consists in the removal of parts of the enlarged prostate tissue. The most common surgical procedure is an endoscopic surgical operation where pieces of the enlarged tissue are peeled off. The operation is called transurethral resection of the prostate. If the prostate is only a little enlarged, it can be enough to make a short cut in the prostate, without removing any tissue, to minimize the constriction of the urethra and the operation is called transurethral incision. If the prostate is fully enlarged, it can be useful to make an incision in the lower abdomen area and try to do an open operation, and, in most of the cases this procedure is rarely done. The benefits of the surgical operation are on long term, but because only a part of the prostate is removed, some patients may need another operation.