Prostate fibroids are not dangerous diseases, if detected in time, when signs of getting worse, surgery should be done at prestigious medical facilities.
Prostate fibroids are an increase in the prostate gland that compresses the bladder and urethra, causing symptoms such as difficulty urinating, urinary retention, difficulty urinating, and bladder or kidney problems. . However, this disease is not dangerous in the early stages.
What is the prostate gland?
The prostate gland is an organ found only in men, small in size about 2 cm in diameter, weighing between 15-25 grams. The prostate gland is located on the hip hip diaphragm, below the bladder, in front of the rectum, around the urethra (the tube of urine), which is used to secrete white mucus to neutralize the acidic environment of semen.
63.8% of men over the age of 50 in Vietnam suffer from prostate enlargement and up to 90% of men over 80 years old have this disease. Men younger than 40 rarely show serious signs.
Prostate fibroids are more common in Asian men than Caucasian men and African men, if family members have it, the risk of it is high.
Men suffering from obesity, diabetes, heart disease, people who have a habit of using alcohol and tobacco stimulants, have high frequency sex, eat a lot of hot spicy foods, … have a high risk of this disease when old.
Stages of prostate fibroids
When a small pea-sized prostate is born, when it is an adult it has a stable size, but after the age of 50, the gland begins to have an abnormal increase in size, called benign prostatic hyperplasia. Not cancer, however.
The first stage does not have damage to cells : Because it surrounds the urethra, prostate-related diseases are often associated with bladder problems, patients often have signs such as difficult urination, water. dripping urine, incontinence, urinary retention, urination several times a day, especially near morning. If worse, sometimes blood urination, urinary tract infection, cystitis, kidney stones, … The progress of the disease is relatively slow so the patient is difficult to detect
Stage with physical damage: patient urinating several times a day, having just finished urinating but feeling no urine, then a while having to urinate more, accompanied by a urine retention of more than 100ml, with Signs like cloudy urination, painful urination.
Severe physical damage stage: has affected the kidneys, at this time the bladder has a high stagnation of urine with infection, the patient urinates many times, but it is very difficult to urinate. blood, urinary retention. In addition, the patient also has signs such as anemia, increased blood pressure, edema, insomnia … This is a serious condition due to kidney failure.
The common point of the three phases above is the state of mild to severe urinary retention, making patients with severe abdominal pain, especially the lower abdomen.
Prostate fibroids are dangerous?
Due to stagnant urine, infection in the bladder causes urinary tract diseases such as urinary tract infections, urinary tract stones, epididymitis …, in addition, in a severe condition, it can cause urinary tract infections. kidney infections, pyelonephritis. If not treated promptly, it will lead to chronic kidney failure.
Prostate fibroids, if not detected in time, can progress to prostate cancer. When cancer is advanced, if not treated in time, the possibility of metastasis and death is very high, so the first signs should be considered for timely treatment.
Prostate fibroids are completely treatable, this is not a malignancy but a benign hypertrophy of the prostate gland as a man gets older.
When should surgery prostate fibroids?
As mentioned above, benign prostatic fibroids are due to age, so not all patients with advanced prostate fibroids must be treated. For those who do not have dangerous symptoms, they do not need an operation but should be checked periodically to prevent symptoms from worsening, causing problems in life.
Examination
To examine the prostate gland, the most common method is an anal exam, the doctor will look at the morphology and number of nuclei, toxic or multiple nuclei, unilateral or unilateral fibroids.
Other methods are ultrasound, computed tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, in which ultrasound is easier because you can know the exact location, volume, degree of compression on the urethra. , thereby correctly assessing the extent of the disease as severe or mild.
Then, the doctor will test PSA to see if the patient has advanced cancer or not, depending on the size of the tumor, the patient’s condition, the complications of the disease … the doctor will give a treatment method. The most suitable treatment for the patient, medical treatment or surgery for prostate enlargement.
If the fibroids get worse
The current popular way is to provide medical treatment with drugs and periodically monitor disease progression. If the disease gets worse, even leading to cancer, surgery will be indicated to prevent metastasis to other organs. If the disease is detected early in the early stages of cancer, the probability of survival is very high, but many people often ignore the symptoms, so prostate cancer turns into advanced cancer.
When the disease gets worse and cannot be treated with drugs, the doctor will prescribe surgery to remove with cases such as complete urinary retention, whether urinary catheterization, or incomplete urinary retention causing urinary tract infections. , causing pyelonephritis, kidney stones, bladder stones. In addition, if the patient suffers from frequent insomnia, the doctor also prescribes surgical removal.
Methods to remove fibroids
There are many surgical methods, but endoscopy to remove prostate fibroids through the urethra is the most common, but causes complications such as internal bleeding, easy postoperative infection, in addition. cause interfering with daily activities, physiological dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, even impotence.
For complications related to urination, urinary drainage can be placed through the urethra, infectious complications can be treated with drugs, other complications will be treated as directed by the doctor. .
Prostate fibroids are a common and not dangerous disease, however, you should change your lifestyle, exercise regularly, stay away from stimulants such as alcohol, beer, and tobacco. healthy, peaceful, this is the best medicine for this disease. When there are the first signs of the disease, it is advisable to visit medical facilities promptly to avoid the disease going into a serious stage.
