Enlarged prostate, also known as Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a noncancerous condition.
Last week, the BBC reported that King Charles had been treated for an enlarged prostate after being admitted to hospital on Friday morning.
According to the BBC, the procedure was carried out at the London Clinic private hospital.
The BBC further noted that King Charles had made his health problem public as a way of sending a message to other men to get their prostates checked.
But how well do you understand the enlarged prostate condition?
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) says an enlarged prostate is a condition that can affect how you urinate.
Enlarged prostate, also known as Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a noncancerous condition common in men aged above 50 years.
Since it is non-cancerous, it is not a serious threat to health.
“Many men worry that having an enlarged prostate means they have an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. This is not the case,” NHS says on their website.
“The risk of prostate cancer is no greater for men with an enlarged prostate than it is for men without an enlarged prostate,” it adds.
According to online medical site Mayo Clinic, the prostate often gets bigger as you get older.
When the prostate gets bigger, it starts to block urine flow.
“An enlarged prostate can cause symptoms that may bother you, such as blocking the flow of urine out of the bladder. It also can cause bladder, urinary tract, or kidney problems,” it says.
The website lists frequent or urgent need to pee, peeing more often at night, and trouble starting to pee as some of the common symptoms of BPH.
Weak urine stream, or a stream that stops and starts, dribbling at the end of urination and not being able to fully empty the bladder are other listed symptoms.
However, other people might experience less common symptoms such as urinary tract infections, not being able to pee, or blood in the urine.
The site says that the size of the prostate doesn’t always determine how serious the symptoms are, adding that some people with slightly enlarged prostates can have major symptoms.
“Others who have very enlarged prostates can have minor problems. And some people with enlarged prostates don’t have any symptoms at all,” it says.
Johns Hopkins Medicine on the other hand notes that surgery was the only option until the recent approval of minimally invasive procedures that open the prostatic urethra.
Some drugs can relieve symptoms either by shrinking the prostate or by relaxing the prostate muscle tissue that constricts the urethra.
It notes that if worsening urethral obstruction is left untreated, possible complications are a thickened, irritable bladder with reduced capacity for urine.
It can also lead to infected residual urine or bladder stones and a backup of pressure that damages the kidneys.
