It is generally accepted that 30% of men suffer from prostatitis after 30 years, after 40-40%, after 50-50%, etc. At the same time, the actual morbidity is much higher than the registered one, which is reflected in the specifics of the diagnosis and the possibilitythe course of the disease is explained in latent form.
The prostate is a small glandular muscle organ located in the pelvis under the bladder and covering the first section of the urethra (urethra). The prostate produces a secret that, when mixed with the seminal fluid, maintains the activity of the sperm and its resistance to various adverse conditions.
With prostatitis, urination problems are numerous, libido decreases, and erectile function is impaired. The saddest thing is that in the absence of adequate treatment, around 40% of patients face some form of infertility as the prostate can no longer produce enough high quality secretion to ensure sperm motility. It is important to remember that similar symptoms can appear not only with prostatitis, but also with prostate adenomas and cancer.
Causes of Prostatitis
There are 4 main types of prostatitis: acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, non-bacterial prostatitis, and prostatodynia.
In people under the age of 35, the disease usually comes in the form of acute bacterial prostatitis. Bacterial prostatitis is called when the presence of an infection is confirmed in the laboratory. Most often it turns out to be chlamydia, trichomoniasis, gardnerellosis, or gonorrhea. The infection reaches the prostate from the urethra, bladder, and rectum through the blood and lymph vessels of the pelvis.
However, recent studies show that in most cases the infection is superimposed on the existing disorders of the structure of the prostate tissue and blood circulation. In non-bacterial prostatitis, bacteria cannot be isolated, although this does not preclude their presence.
Chronic forms of the disease are more often diagnosed in older patients. Prostatodynia is the presence of a clinical picture of prostatitis, densification of prostate tissue with no signs of inflammation.
Symptoms of prostatitis
The symptoms of prostatitis can be divided into three groups:
- Urinary system disorders (frequent and painful urge to urinate, feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder), pain in the lower abdomen;
- Disorders of sexual function (pain along the urethra and in the rectum during ejaculation, weak erection, premature ejaculation, loss of orgasm, etc. );
- increased anxiety and nervousness in a man due to the fixation of patients' attention on their condition.
Acute prostatitisusually begins with an increase in body temperature to 39-40 ° C with fever and chills. Difficulty and painful urination. Edema of the prostate develops, which can lead to acute urinary retention.
Chronic prostatitisruns more calmly, but with unfavorable factors it can worsen at any time. Possibly asymptomatic.
Complications
Without timely therapy, prostatitis can cause the following complications:
- Transition from acute to chronic prostatitis;
- Obstruction of the bladder with acute urinary retention requiring surgical treatment, the development of male infertility;
- Narrowing and scarring of the urethra;
- recurrent cystitis;
- Pyelonephritis and other kidney damage;
- Abscess (suppuration) of the prostate that needs surgery;
- Sepsis is a life-threatening complication that often occurs in people with reduced immunity (patients with diabetes mellitus, kidney failure).
What can you do
If you experience the symptoms described above, see a urologist as soon as possible.
What a Doctor Can Do
The modern arsenal for diagnosing prostate diseases is very broad.
Your doctor will order a bacteriological test of urinary and prostate secretions. To clarify the location of a urinary tract infection, an examination of different parts of the urine is carried out. In addition, a mandatory diagnostic method is a digital examination of the prostate. This procedure is not very pleasant, but it is very informative.
Your doctor may refer you for ultrasound scans of the prostate and pelvic organs. If necessary, prescribe computed tomography or magnetic nuclear imaging, cystoscopy, urography, and an examination of prostate enzymes.
When making a diagnosis, your doctor needs to rule out the presence of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. For rapid pain relief in acute prostatitis, analgesics and warm baths can be recommended.
Bacterial prostatitisrequires the appointment of antibiotics, the selection of which is made on the basis of the results of bacteriological sowing of secretions on nutrient media and determining the sensitivity of the pathogen to chemotherapy.
Non-bacterial prostatitisis treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.
Prevention of prostatitis
Do not allow the body to become hypothermic, do not sit on cold objects. Follow a light diet (excluding alcohol, spicy, fried, and canned foods).
Regular sex life is also a way to prevent prostatitis (since one of the provoking factors is sperm stagnation and frequent erections without subsequent ejaculation). Preventing sexually transmitted diseases is just as important.
In adulthood, every man should be examined by a urologist regularly (once a year). After prostatitis, preventive outpatient treatments and spa treatment are carried out at least twice a year for a month.