Prostate Health Tips

Ladies and Gentlemen I am here to speak with you on Prostate.

Is it everyone that have prostate?

No, ONLY men have prostate but the healthcare enlightenment is for everyone.

There is no woman who does not know a man 40 years and above – father, uncle, brother, husband, son, friend, neighbour, colleague….

Essentially what I will be doing today is health promotion. Responsible health promotion must provide three things:

1. Information

2. Reassurance

3. A plan of action.

I will start with a background on the Prostate. Everyone has a pair of kidneys. The job of the kidney is to remove waste. It is the waste management company of your body. Everyday your blood passes through the kidney several times to be filtered. As the blood is filtered, urine is formed and stored in a temporary storage tank called the urinary bladder. If there were to be no urinary bladder, urine will be dropping as a man walks on the road.

Now think of the plumbing work in your house. Think of the urinary bladder as the overhead storage tank; a good plumber will run pipes to other parts of the house from the storage tank, including the kitchen. God in His wisdom ran pipes from our urinary bladder to the tip of the penis. This pipe is called the urethra. Just below the bladder and surrounding the urethra is a little organ called the prostate gland.

 Only men have prostate. When a man is born, the prostate starts out about the size of a pea then slowly grows to the size of a walnut.  Around the age of forty, the prostate starts to grow again or enlarge and this may cause problems for the man when passing urine.

The prostate gland is the size of a walnut and weighs about 20grams. Its job is to make the seminal fluid which is stored in the seminal vesicle. During sexual intercourse, seminal fluid comes down the urethra and mixes with the sperms produced in the testicles to form the semen. Semen technically is not sperm. It is sperm plus seminal fluid. The seminal fluid lubricates the sperm.

After age 40, for reasons that may be hormonal, the prostate gland begins to enlarge. It may grow from 20 grams to almost 100 grams. As it enlarges, it squeezes the urethra and the man begins to notice changes in the way he urinates.

If you have a son under 10, if he has a little mischief like all men did at that age, when he comes out to urinate, he can target the ceiling and the jet will hit target.

Call his father to do same, there’s trouble.

His urine stream is weak, cannot travel a long distance and sometimes may come straight down on his legs; so he may need to stand in awkward position to urinate.

Not many men will be worried that their urine stream cannot hit the ceiling, after all toilets are on the floor not on the ceiling.

Beyond this are other symptoms:

TERMINAL DRIPPLING:  The man begins to notice that after urinating and repacking, urine still drops on his pants. This is the reason why after an older man urinates, he has to ring bell. A younger man simply delivers to the last drop and walks away.  Sometimes when an older man is coming from the bathroom he has to clutch the newspaper closely to hide the urine stains, particularly on plain coloured trousers.

HESISTANCY:  At this point you wait longer for the urine flow to start. There are two (2) valves that must open for you to urinate – the internal and external sphincters. Both valves open but because of obstructions in the urethra, you wait long for the flow to start.

INCOMPLETE EMPTYING:  A feeling immediately after urinating that there is still something left.

As all these things happen, the bladder begins to work harder to compensate for the obstruction in the urethra. The frequency of urination goes up. Urgency sets in. sometimes you have to practically run into the toilet. Nocturnal also becomes common. You wake up more than 2 times at night to urinate. Your wife begins to complain.

Men being men may not talk to anyone even at this point and the more serious complications may set in. Stored urine gets infected and there may be burning sensation when urinating. Stored urine forms Crystals, crystals come together to form stone either in the bladder or in the kidney and stones may block the urethra. Chronic urinary retention sets in; the bladder stores more and more urine. Many men do not visit the hospital until there is acute urinary retention; the man wakes up one day and he is not able to pass urine.

The size of the bladder is 40- 60 cl.  As the bladder stores more urine it can enlarge up to 300cl. An overfilled bladder may leak and this leads to urinary incontinence (loss of bladder control).  Also the volume of the enlarged bladder may put pressure on the kidney leading to kidney damage.

Everything described above is associated with prostate enlargement, the medical term for which is benign prostatic hyperplasia.

There are other diseases of the Prostate like:

1. Prostatitis – inflammation of the prostate

2. Prostate cancer – cancer of the prostate.

This article is on Prostate Enlargement.

There is bad news and good news in it. The bad news is that everyman will have prostate enlargement if he lives long enough.

The good news is that there are life style changes that can help the man after 40 to maintain optimum prostate health, these are:

NUTRITION: Mind what you eat. Thirty three percent (33%) of all cancers, according to the US National Cancer Institute is related to what we eat.

Red meat everyday triples your chances of prostate disease. Milk everyday doubles your risk. Not taking fruits / vegetables daily quadruples your risk. Tomatoes are very good for men. If that is the only thing your wife can present in the evening, eat it with joy. It has loads of lycopene which is the most potent natural antioxidant.

Foods rich in zinc are also good for men. Zinc is about the most essential element for male sexuality and fertility. Men need more zinc than women. Every time a man ejaculates he loses 15mg of zinc. Zinc is also important for alcohol metabolism. Your liver needs zinc to metabolize alcohol.

                       

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: As men begin to have urinary symptoms associated with prostate enlargement, it is important they cut down alcohol consumption. More fluid in means more fluid out; drink less, drink slowly.

EXERCISE: Exercise helps build the muscle tone. Every man should exercise. Men over 40 should avoid high impact exercise like jogging. It puts pressure on the knees. Cycling is bad news for the prostate. We recommend brisk walking.

SITTING: When we sit, two-third of our weight rests on the pelvic bones. Men who sit longer are more prone to prostate symptoms. Do not sit for long hours. Walk around as often as you can. Sit on comfortable chairs. We recommend a divided saddle chair if you must sit long hours.

DRESSING: Men should avoid tight underwear. It impacts circulation around the groin and heats it up a bit. While the physiological temperature is 37 degrees, the groin has an optimal temperature of about 33 degrees. Pant is a no-no for men; Wear boxers.  Wear breathable clothing.

SMOKING: Avoid smoking. It affects blood vessels and impacts circulation around the groin.

SEX: Regular sex is good for the prostate. Celibates are more prone to prostate illness. While celibacy is a moral decision, it is not a biological adaptation. Your prostate gland is designed to empty its contents regularly.

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