The prostate gland and PSA testing

You are unlikely to be aware of your prostate unless it causes you trouble. The two most common prostate problems are prostate enlargement (also known as Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy) and prostatitis.

Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy, or BPH is common in men over the age of 50 and can cause the following symptoms:

• difficulty in passing urine
• passing urine more often than usual, especially at night
• pain when passing urine
• rarely, blood in the urine or semen.

Note: BPH is not cancer and is not the same as prostate cancer.

Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate gland) can also cause the above symptoms. Prostatitis can be caused by infection, which is treated with antibiotics. It can also be caused by physical injury to the prostate gland, or some autoimmune diseases (in which the body’s immune system damages the body’s own cells).

Note: prostatitis is not prostate cancer