In fact, there is no need to worry. Although BPH and prostate cancer are both related to the prostate, they are not two stages of a disease, but two different diseases with no direct relationship between them.
About BPH
As an important accessory gonadal organ unique to men, the role of the prostate is beyond doubt. It is located below the bladder in the interior of the pelvic cavity. The prostate can be divided into peripheral zone, central zone and transitional zone according to the tissue anatomy. Benign prostatic hyperplasia occurs in the transitional zone, which is a benign proliferative nodule in pathological examination, so it is also called benign prostatic tumor.
The common diseases that men are prone to after the age of 40 include benign prostatic hyperplasia. Although the speed of hyperplasia is different for everyone, the overall change is very slow. Patients generally begin to have symptoms at the age of 60 to 70, such as long urination time, weak urination, thinning of urine line, etc.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia does not directly threaten men’s lives, but it can not be ignored. Because serious hyperplasia will affect the quality of life of patients, so patients should not only actively cooperate with the examination and treatment, but also pay attention to self-care, prevent cold, avoid excessive drinking, eat less spicy food, moderate drinking water.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia ≠ prostate cancer
Benign prostatic hyperplasia occurs mostly in the transitional zone, and prostate cancer occurs mostly in the peripheral zone near the capsule. The location of the two is different, there is no difference between who happens first and who happens later, and there is no inevitable association between one and the other, but the two can exist at the same time, but early prostate cancer is not as easy to diagnose as benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Early prostate cancer has no specific clinical sign and symptom and presents the same symptoms as benign prostatic hyperplasia. If it does not rely on early screening of tumors, it is easy to be misdiagnosed.
Prostate cancer can be preliminarily estimated by detecting the concentration of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. In addition, digital rectal examination and prostate biopsy can also be performed, the latter is the most effective means to diagnose prostate cancer, but the doctor should judge whether the patient needs prostate biopsy according to the specific situation.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a benign tumor that neither metastasizes nor becomes malignant. The reason why prostate cancer indicators (such as PSA) still need to be monitored after BPH surgery is that the operation only removes the transitional zone, while the remaining peripheral zone still has the possibility of prostate cancer.
Whether it is benign prostatic hyperplasia or prostate cancer, the common treatment of the two lies in early detection and early intervention to avoid greater harm.
Therefore, regular physical examination must not be neglected, especially for men with family history or high morbidity.
Harm of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a common disease in men, and its main hazards are as follows:
1. It is easy to cause infection
When benign prostatic hyperplasia occurs, patients often have different degrees of urinary retention because urine is difficult to discharge or is not clean. The residual urine in the bladder is like a “pool of stagnant water”, which is easy to breed bacteria, and once the bacteria multiply in it, the patient will suffer from various infections.
2. Urinary incontinence
Excessive residual urine can make the bladder lose the ability to contract, and the urine retained in the bladder will gradually increase, which can easily lead to overflow urinary incontinence, so patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia need more understanding and care, sometimes they do not want to control, but the disease is not their own.
3. Forming bladder stones
When the urinary tract is unobstructed, stones generally do not grow in the bladder, and even if stones fall from the ureter into the bladder, they may be excreted with urine. But when the prostate has hyperplasia, it will lead to obstruction of urine flow and easy to form bladder stones.
4. Inducing hernia (small intestine) gas and other diseases
Some patients often need to exert themselves and hold their breath to urinate because of dysuria. In the long run, it is easy for the intestines to protrude from the weak part of the abdomen, forming hernia (small intestine) gas.
5. Damage to the kidneys
Hyperplastic prostate oppresses the urethra, and the urine accumulated in the bladder may slowly reflux into the ureter and renal pelvis, causing hydronephrosis, and then develop into nephritis, or even uremia in severe cases.
Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
At present, doctors mainly judge the condition of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia according to the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) scale and the Quality of Life (QOL) scale, and choose the treatment according to them.
IPSS scale is internationally recognized as the best means to judge the severity of BPH symptoms, which is divided into three grades according to the scoring results, namely, mild symptoms, moderate symptoms and severe symptoms. Generally, mild symptoms do not require treatment, moderate symptoms can be treated with drugs, and severe symptoms require surgery.
The QOL scale is to understand the patient’s subjective feelings about their current urination symptoms, which can reflect the degree of suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms and whether the patient can endure them. The higher the score, the more serious the suffering is, and the more intolerable it is.
In addition to these two scales, targeted treatment can also be given according to the individual differences of patients. In the course of drug treatment, if the patient’s IPSS scale and (or) QOL scale results show that the patient’s condition is further aggravated, reaching a severe level, or even complications such as urinary retention, repeated urinary tract infections, bladder stones, renal function damage and so on, surgery is needed.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is not difficult to treat, but it is difficult to treat correctly.
Both the patient himself and the people around him should realize that BPH is neither an incurable disease nor a natural aging of the body without treatment. In addition to regular physical examination, if there are related subjective symptoms, men must go to the hospital for relevant examination, and the doctor will judge whether further treatment is needed.