Fox News, 4:25
Dr. Samadi discusses benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), enlarged prostate growth, on Fox News. BPH is a common disorder of the prostate that affects 1 and 4 men by the age of 55. Each year more than 20 million men are diagnosed with BPH. BPH is non-cancerous. BPH causes frequent urination and leakage. Treatments include herbal medications, laser surgery, TURP, open surgery, or medications like Proscar or Avodart. Dr. Samadi recommends that his patients use these medications combined with Flomax, for example, because of the side effects that include sexual dysfunction and elevated PSA levels. Surgery should be the last resort for BPH treatment.
– We’re taking an in-depth look at medical issues facing men. We have already discussed the top 5 health concerns, but there are others out there to be concerned about. Now, we will focus on the most common diseases affecting men. Today’s topic is the most common disorder of the prostate, called BPH. It affects 1 in every 4 men by the age of 55, and each year more than 20 million men are diagnosed with BPH. Joining now a FOX News medical contributor and a member of the FOX News medical A team, Dr. David Samadi. Dr. Samadi, welcome and let’s get right to it so people will understand what is BPH.
– Good afternoon! BPH stands for benign prostatic hyperplasia. So, we are talking about benign, meaning that it is not prostate cancer, it is an enlarged prostate. As we get older, the prostate continues to grow and obviously, the main trigger for this is the male hormone, called testosterone. So, Kaley, when you look at someone who is at the age of 30 or 40 years old, their prostate should be about 30 grams and in the age of 50 or 60, it will grow to be about 40 to 50 grams and this is what is typically see in my practice.
– So this is most common, but most men do not even know, doctor, where the prostate is. So, can you show us where it is?
–Yes! The prostate, as you can see in this animation, is located under the bladder, it is a walnut-organ that sits right over the rectum, and you can see the urethra, the tube, that goes through it and carries the urine. As the prostate grows, as can be seen here, it pushes into the urethra and it can push against the bladder, and cause some sort of obstruction. As a result, men cannot empty their bladder well and the urine can back up and stretch the bladder and it can be, in the very late stage, devastating, because it can damage the kidneys, etc.
-Absolutely! You’ve touched some of them already, but what are the common symptoms or signs of an enlarged prostate?
– The most common sign is a weak urinary stream which, in time, turns into frequency or frequent urination and men end up having urgency. And, what we most commonly see, is men who get up in the middle of the night, multiple times, and they keep going and going and going, and that is because they are not emptying their bladder well and while they feel it is empty, they still retain a lot of urine and that is a big problem.
-That can be very frightening for men, because they are not sure what is happening and if they should get themselves to a doctor. Sometimes, men are afraid to go to doctors, especially for this kind of problem. Tell us about the treatment and what can be done to help them.
– For very mild symptoms, what I do in my practice is that I give them herbal agents that have minimum side effects and the way it works is by shrinking the prostate. One of the main important fact about this is that it can affect their blood test, called PSA. So, if you undergo such a treatment, you always need to double your PSA in order to get the correct result. Similarly, you have Avodart or other medications, such as Proscar. These also work on shrinking the prostate but they may have some side effects, such as sexual dysfunction and they will also affect the PSA. So, one has to be really careful. What I do for most of these men is to combine medication, such as Flomax, that opens up the bladder as well as Proscar. That combined medication is probably the best treatment that I will give to my patients.
-Doctor, I have to ask you, because you brought up the PSA. For those who are not familiar with that, because they may not have had it yet, what is a PSA?
– A PSA is a blood test that we use for screening for prostate cancer. Typically, when I see a patient in my office, they get a blood test, prostate-specific antigen, a urine test, and an ultrasound to see if they empty the bladder well. You put all that information and, absolutely, as a physician, you have to individualize the care because you are not going to give the same treatment for everyone. There is a time when you won’t do procedures in your office and, of course, you leave surgery as the last resort for these patients.
-Dr. David Samadi, for disclosure, I have actually taken that test and I appreciated it.
– Thank you!