The prostate is a small gland, located beneath your bladder and just in front of your rectum. It is responsible for producing the semen which nourishes and transports sperm during ejaculation.
The tube which transports urine from the bladder to the penis (the urethra) passes straight through the prostate. When the prostate becomes enlarged due to various conditions, it can restrict the urethra and cause difficulty in urination.
A healthy adult prostate weighs around 20 to 25 grams and is approximately 4 cm wide, 3 cm high, and 2 cm thick.
Prostates can be measured on a size scale:
Conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia can increase the size and weight of the prostate by up to 5 times its normal size.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is an enlargement of the prostate gland which is not related to cancer. It is a common condition in older men, affecting around 1/3 of men over 50 and 60% of men over 60.
It occurs when the cells in your prostate gland start multiplying, which causes the gland to increase in size and squeeze the urethra.
It’s unclear exactly what causes an enlarged prostate, but it is a very common condition that most men can expect to experience, to some degree, as they get older.
It’s thought that changes in hormones, as a result of aging, play a key role in prostates growth.
Throughout their lives, men produce both testosterone and a small amount of estrogen. As they get older, their bodies produce less testosterone and the ratio of testosterone to estrogen begins to change, and there is a higher proportion of estrogen.
Studies have suggested that benign prostatic hyperplasia may occur due to increases in substances that promote prostate cell growth, which can be caused by higher proportions of estrogen.
When it comes to treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (and an enlarged prostate), there are a variety of treatment options available, depending on the severity of your symptoms.
Your first changes should be to your diet and lifestyle. As we discussed extensively in our blog these simple tips to improve prostate health are great for men suffering from BPH or older men looking to be more proactive.
If you are keen to make some changes to help relieve your symptoms, try the following:
For more details on lifestyle changes, check out our blog: Diet, Exercise & Stress Management - 3 Tips to Improve Prostate Health
For some men, lifestyle changes may not be enough. Symptoms may be severe enough that they require medication to help shrink their prostate.
These include Alpha-1 blockers that relax the neck of the bladder and allow urine to flow easier. They relax your muscles and open arteries, helping reduce blood pressure. Unfortunately, most alpha-blockers need to be taken for life. Common side effects include nausea and lightheadedness, dizziness and headaches.
Finally, some men will need intervention as a treatment. For some time now TURP has been considered the gold standard for treating BPH but since it is a surgical procedure there are serious consequences that need to be considered such as scarring, hospital admission and more.
Prostatic Artery Embolisation, known as PAE, has been used for nearly 20 years to treat BPH and is considered a minimally invasive treatment option. Studies have shown over 95% success rate in reducing symptoms and is almost identical to TURP, but with fewer side effects.
PAE is performed by placing a small tube, a catheter, inside your vein via a small incision in either the wrist or groin (we usually use the wrist as the healing process is significantly faster). The catheter is then directed to the prostate using imaging technology such as x-ray. Once at the problem area an embolising agent is deployed that will cut off the blood supply to the prostate, causing it to shrink over the coming weeks.
The entire process takes 2-3 hours, requires no overnight hospital stay and will have you back on your feet in no time!
Of course, PAE is not the right option for everyone. To learn more about this treatment option visit our Prostatic Artery Embolisation page.
At Northern Beaches Interventional Radiology we have over 15 years of experience helping patients improve their quality of life, get relief from symptoms and avoid the side effects of surgery. Request a consultation today and let’s discuss your treatment plan for BPH.