Ninety Percent Of Men Will Suffer From A Swollen Prostate Gland

Health problems inevitably begin to occur as we get older and one problem which you are almost certain to experience if you live long enough is an enlarged prostate gland.

Commonly this problem is first seen in men once they pass the age of 45, though it can sometimes appear at younger ages, and you have about a 50 percent chance of developing an enlarged prostate by the age of 60.

Once passed 60 the odds of experiencing the condition increase considerably and, by the time you reach the age of 80, your chances of suffering from an enlarged prostate will be a staggering 90 percent.

The prostate, which sits just under the bladder and forms part of the male reproductive system, grows rapidly during puberty and by the time a man reaches maturity it weighs roughly one ounce and is about the size of a walnut. What is often not realized however is that this is not the end of its growth and that the prostate continues to grow very slowly for the remainder of a man's life.

In middle age however cell growth typically begins to speed up in one particular section of the prostate that partially surrounds the urethra, which carries urine out of the body from the bladder.

Initially this acceleration in the growth of cells, that are not cancerous, is relatively slow and most men will experience no symptoms at all from it, or the symptoms will be so mild that they will be dismissed as nothing more than of 'growing old'.

With time however, as the prostate gland continues to enlarge, it will start to pinch the urethra and interrupt the flow of urine from the bladder and symptoms will begin to become evident. Initially the symptoms will not be painful, or even particularly uncomfortable, but they will get increasingly annoying as you begin to experience problems in urinating, the need to get up during the night to go to the bathroom and perhaps the upsetting tendency to dribble urine even after you have visited the bathroom.

When this happens you should talk to your doctor not merely to seek enlarged prostate gland treatment but also so that you can undergo screening for the possibility of any underlying signs of prostate cancer.