Benign prostatic hyperplasia is usually harmless. Benign means the growth of your prostate isn't due to cancer. And this condition is also fairly slow to progress. So you don't have to rush into having treatment before you are ready. Also, having BPH doesn't increase your risk of getting prostate cancer.

Lots of men find that their BPH symptoms gradually get worse as they get older.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Isaacs JT.
Importance of the natural history of benign prostatic hyperplasia in the evaluation of pharmacological intervention.
Prostate. 1990; 16: 1.

 

 

 

 

 

¹ But this isn't always the case. Some men find that their symptoms change slowly, and others find that they don't change at all.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Scher HI.
Hyperplastic and malignant disease of the prostate.
In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 15th ed. McGraw Hill, New York, U.S.A.; 2001.

 

 

 

 

 

² Some men even find that their symptoms get better on their own.

It's unlikely that you'll become seriously ill as a result of your enlarged prostate. Only about 1 in 10 men get serious symptoms.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Medina JJ, Parra RO, Moore RG.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (the aging prostate).
Medical Clinics of North America. 1999; 83: 1213-1229.

 

 

 

 

 

³ Doctors call these symptoms complications. And it's extremely unlikely that you will die as a result of BPH.

But it makes sense to see a doctor quite quickly. Ignoring your BPH symptoms can lead to problems. Also, getting treatment early could keep your enlarged prostate from damaging your bladder.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Puppo P.
Do we know everything about alpha-blockade in the management of lower urinary tract symptoms?
European Urology. 2001; 39 (supplement 2): S38-S41.

 

 

 

 

 

⁴

How your condition develops often depends on how severe your symptoms are to start with. In one study of men who didn't have any treatment, men with mild symptoms usually didn't get severe symptoms or need surgery during the next four years. Out of those with moderate symptoms, after four years:

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Barry MJ, Fowler FJ, Bin L, et al.
The natural history of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia as diagnosed by North American urologists.
Journal of Urology. 1997; 157: 10-15.

 

 

 

 

 

⁵

Surgery used to be the only treatment for BPH. Nowadays, there are several drugs, herbal treatments and smaller operations that may help your symptoms. Doctors often advise men to wait and see what happens before they start treatment. To read more, see What treatments work for an enlarged prostate?

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