I recall the dialogue between two older characters in the movie ‘ For The Boys “ The Bette Midler character and the James Caan character meet after many years not seeing each other. The exchange between the two were “ How they have been sleeping” and I think “ their individual bowel habits.” The question I have been asking myself is “ Am I getting a good nights sleep in recent weeks or rather months ? “ I owuld have to say with the current health crisis ( the corona pandemic), and life on life’s terms — I have not. In my case it is the waking up to urinate 3- 4 times a night. It is not like I drink water after 7 pm. It is that I have an enlarged prostate. This is a common problem for men as they get older.
The causes of a non cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland are uncertain. There is a hypothesis that this benign enlargement may be related to the balancing of sex hormones as we get older. Yet 8 % of men in their 30’s have an enlarged prostate.
As the prostate enlarges it presses on the urethra interfering with the flow of urine. I know and have read that prostate size doesn’t necessarily predict symptom occurrence. The usual signs of symptoms of this benign enlargement could be a 1. a weaker urine stream; 2. difficulty starting urinary flow; 3. stopping and starting while urinating; 4. urinating frequently during the night called nocturia'; 5. straining during urination.
If you have any of these symptoms you need to see your doctor. Your healthy care provider will probably refer you to a urologist. There are medications that can used as alpha blockers such as uroxiatral, Flomax or Rapaflo. There are also 5 alpha reuctase inhibitors as Proscar or Avodart. There are surgical procedures.
There are also many vita nutrients that can help like lycopene ( from tomato paste) , a herb, Saw palmetto, pumpkin seeds and another herb, Nettle Root
Until tomorrow…