Prostate Problems - The Signs To Look For

Basically, the prostate is a male sex gland is the size of a walnut, located below the bladder. It produces the fluid that carries sperm. The gland is composed of two lobes, or regions, wrapped in an outer fabric layer. The prostate also surrounds the urethra, the channel through which urine passes out of the body. The prostate problems are not uncommon for men over 50 years. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), more than 90 percent of men in their 70s and 80s have prostate problems. The American Foundation for Urologic Diseases says there are three main types of prostate problems - prostatitis or infection and inflammation, enlargement (also known as benign prostatic hypertrophy and benign prostatic hyperplasia) and cancer. Prostatitis Prostatitis may be responsible for more than a quarter of all medical office visits by young men and middle-aged by conditions that are associated with genital and urinary system, according to the National Coordinating Center about Diseases of Kidney and Urinary Tract (Clearinghouse). Clearinghouse says that prostatitis may fall into one of several categories Acute prostatitis is the least common of the categories but is easier to diagnose and treat. This form of prostatitis leads to a series of very uncomfortable and painful symptoms, including chills, fever, pain in lower back and genital area, frequency and urgency to urinate at night, pain or burning during urination and pain in the body. There is clearly an infection of the urinary tract, white cells and bacteria in urine. This infection is treated with antibiotics. Chronic prostatitis is another category. This form of prostatitis is associated with an underlying defect of the prostate. Symptoms may be similar to those of acute bacterial prostatitis, and there are signs of infection. Effective treatment usually requires identifying and correcting the defect and then responds to the infection with antibiotics. However, antibiotics often do not cure it. Chronic prostatitis / chronic pain syndrome in the pelvis is the most common, but least understood forms of prostatitis. Found in men of any age, the symptoms come and go without notice. Chronic prostatitis / chronic pain syndrome in the pelvis can be inflammatory or noninflammatory. In the inflammatory form, urine, semen and other fluids which may come from the prostate show no evidence of a known infecting organism but contain cells the body produces to fight infections. In the noninflammatory form, no evidence of inflammation or infection-fighting cells but no symptoms. Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis is the diagnosis when the patient complains of pain or discomfort but has infection-fighting cells in semen. Doctors usually find this form of prostatitis when looking for the causes of infertility or are tested in prostate cancer. If you have any symptoms of infection, you should consult your doctor.