Prostatic Hyperplasia Symptoms
What are the warning signs of benign prostatic hyperplasia?5
Your prostate surrounds your urethra. When BPH causes your prostate to grow, it can cause blockage in your urethra. As a result, early symptoms of BPH include:
- Slowness or dribbling when you pee.
- Difficulty starting to pee.
- Leaking (incontinence).
- Sudden need to pee (urgency).
- Need to get up at night to pee.
- Inability to completely empty your bladder.
- Pain after ejaculating or while peeing.
- Your pee changes color.
- Your pee smells.
What happens if you leave an enlarged prostate untreated?
Without treatment, BPH can cause further blockage in your urethra, and your symptoms may worsen. It may also cause:
- Urinary tract infection (UTI).
- Bladder stones.
- Blood in your pee (hematuria).
- Kidney damage due to pee backflow from your bladder up to your kidney. The pee backflow increases pressure on your kidney.
What causes benign prostatic hyperplasia?
The exact cause of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) remains unclear to healthcare providers and medical researchers, but several theories exist. One hypothesis suggests that as men age, decreasing testosterone levels, combined with stable estrogen levels, may contribute to prostate cell growth. Interestingly, individuals who take supplemental testosterone can actually experience the development or worsening of BPH symptoms. Additionally, older individuals assigned male at birth (AMAB) often have elevated levels of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a more potent form of testosterone, which is believed to promote prostate enlargement.
