What is the prostate?

The glands in the human body play extremelyan important function - they are organs of internal secretion and are necessary to ensure the vital activity of all systems. Iron in the body a lot, and they are located in different places. In this article, we will describe what the prostate is, or the prostate gland, what diseases can be associated with it and how to treat them.

Term meaning

The prostate is a complex tubular-alveolarendocrine gland, an important component of the male reproductive system. The function of the prostate, or prostate gland, is to develop a special weakly alkaline secret - one of the main components of sperm. It is no less important component of the male reproductive system than the genitals, but care for it for some reason is given much less attention.

Hyperplasia of the prostate

One of the most common diseasesis an enlarged prostate. Hyperplasia of the prostate, as this disease is now correctly called, (formerly the name of prostate adenoma was used) is a benign prostatic enlargement that is accompanied by the following symptoms:

frequent urination, including during night hours;
the need to make efforts to start the process of urination;
weakening of the pressure of the jet, because of which the process of urination can often be interrupted and there is a feeling of not fully emptied bladder;
difficultly restrained urge to urinate throughout the day.

Symptoms of the disease

Symptoms of prostatic hyperplasia coincide withsymptoms of prostate cancer, but this disease is not as dangerous to health as cancer. This disease develops in men with age and according to statistics it affects half of men aged 51 to 60 years, and 90% of men after 80 years. If this disease is not treated, it can lead to complications such as inflammation of the urogenital tract, kidney failure, and promote the formation of stones in the kidney and bladder.

Treatment

At the initial stages of the development of the disease, whenthe symptoms are still too weak, the doctor may suggest that you observe the development of the symptoms of the disease before proceeding directly to treatment. You will be prescribed to drink as much liquid as possible, especially in the evening hours, a special diet, as well as appropriate medications.
The basis of drug treatment of hyperplasiaThe prostate gland consists of alpha-blockers. However, often patients prefer to immediately resort to invasive procedures, such as transurethral microwave therapy, laser therapy and transurethral resection of the prostate. Such procedures allow you to get rid of the disease once and for all and have significantly fewer side effects compared to medications.
And, finally, in the most neglected cases, surgical intervention may be required.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor, which means that such a tumor can develop, affecting other, neighboring organs.

As a rule, prostate cancer in men appearsalso in old age. However, other risk factors include malnutrition, poor heredity and ecology, as well as pre-existing hyperplasia of the prostate.

Symptoms of prostate cancer, as we already mentioned above, coincide with the symptoms with enlarged prostate.

Treatment of prostate cancer is carried out by the same methods as treatment of any other malignant tumor:

Initially, the patient is diagnosed, which includes a visit to the urologist, blood test for prostate specific antigen, and biopsy.
Based on the diagnosis madedecision to choose one of the types of treatment: surgical, medicament (using hormonal drugs) or treatment through radiation therapy.
In some cases, a decision is made to combine radiotherapy with medical treatment in order to maximize the effectiveness of the treatment course.

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