Controlling Your Enlarged Prostate--squidoo.com

A prostate is found in men only. It becomes active when a man reaches puberty and grows till it is about walnut size. The function of the prostate is to provide liquid and nourishment to the man's semen. The hormone that allows the prostate to function correctly is the male hormone testosterone. Unfortunately this is also the culprit that will cause the prostate to grow in later years.

The prostate can be found near the bladder and wrapped around the urethra tube.

The reason men develop an enlarged prostate is not fully under stood. But one theory is dihydrotestosterone or DHT.

In this theory an enlarged prostate is indirectly caused by testosterone. Testosterone interacts with enzyme, 5 alpha reductase, to form DHT (dihydrotestosterone). This DHT will then interact with the prostate gland to cause the the cells to grow. This will cause the gland to become enlarged.

Another theory is that as a man ages testosterone decreases and the female hormone estrogen increase triggering your prostate to grow in size.

An enlarged prostate is normally found during a normal physical. During this physical your Doctor will performed a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test on your blood. If you do not have an enlarged prostate, your PSA will be less than 4 ng/ml. Anything larger than this indicates an enlarged prostate or worse one that is cancerous.

To determine the difference, your Doctor will order a biopsy on your prostate. This procedure will take samples from your prostate to look for cancerous cells. Normally if your PSA is less than 10 ng/ml the chances are good it is not cancerous. But when the PSA gets above 10 ng/ml, the chances of having cancer of the prostate increase exponentially.

If you have an enlarged prostate you could encounter the following problems:

A Weak Urine Stream - As your prostate grows, it will compress the urethral canal. When this happens your urine stream will lack the robust strength it had before.

Frequent Night Time Urination - You will notice that you are up more frequently at night to urinate.

Hesitancy In Beginning To Urinate: Again, with the reduction in the urethral canal, there could be a slow response when attempting to urinate.

Dripping - You will notice that at the end of urination there will be some dripping, sometime causing embarrassing wet spots.

Intermittent Urination: During urination, you may develop some intermittent stream interruption.

Blood In Urine Stream - You could develop blood in your urine stream

One thing a doctor may not tell you once you are diagnosed with an enlarged prostate, is the complications that you could develop. I found this out the hard way. Several years after I was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate, I developed a urinary tract infection (UTI). I looked it up on the internet, before I went to the doctors, and it said to be sure to tell the doctor I had an enlarged prostate.

The reason is that UTI can be developed by an enlarged prostate. Curious, I looked to see if there was anything else I could develop. What I found is I could develop bladder stones, kidney damage, bladder damage, and kidney stones besides UTI. I was floored because nobody told me about these other complications.

Since then I has been taking Prostacet with good results. No further complications since. For further reading read Easy Prostate Treatments For Prostate Problems And Prostate Pain.

If you develop an enlarged prostate, you will want to control it, using the most proven means possible. Prostacet has many of the minerals and vitamins needed to keep your prostate healthy. It even has Saw Palmetto which has been shown to help control DHT, a hormone believed to cause your enlarged prostate.

I have been taking this and have reduced my PSA from 5.7 ng/ml to 4.8 ng/ml. Taking Prostacet has also improved my symptoms such as less frequent urination and stronger urination stream.