Various types of treatment for prostate disease

Prostate disease is a problem that is quite common in men, especially those who have entered the age of 50 years and over. There are several problems with the prostate that do not require special treatment.

If the symptoms interfere with urination and reproductive function, you should immediately consult a doctor to get proper treatment. Here are some treatments for treating prostate disease.

Treatment options for prostate disease

Treatment will of course be carried out according to the type of disease. There are three types of diseases that can attack the prostate, including:

• Prostatitis. This disease can be caused by a bacterial infection or inflammation due to injury to the prostate. Prostatitis will cause symptoms in the form of pain every time you urinate.
• BPH disease. This disease occurs because the size of the prostate is enlarged more than it should, thus narrowing the urethra which makes it difficult for sufferers to urinate.
• Prostate cancer. Cancer cells can attack all parts of the body, including the prostate.

The three diseases have their own treatment procedures. Therefore, if you start to feel the symptoms, it's better to immediately see a doctor to get the right treatment.

As an illustration, in outline, lifestyle changes are important to improve prostate condition. Doctors will treat prostate disease by prescribing oral drugs or surgery. The following is each explanation.

Lifestyle changes must be made

The success of prostate disease treatment is of course inseparable from the patient's own efforts to recover or recover from his condition immediately. So, the patient should also make every effort to help reduce the symptoms that are felt as follows.

• Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can trigger frequent urination.
• Avoid spicy and acidic foods that can irritate the bladder.
• Drink lots of water to help flush bacteria from the bladder.
• Increase consumption of fruits or vegetables that contain fiber to avoid the risk of constipation, which can put pressure on the bladder and prostate.
• Reduce the use of certain drugs such as decongestants and antihistamines, which can affect the muscles in the bladder.

Treatment with drugs

In prostatitis, different types of drugs will be prescribed depending on the cause. If prostatitis is caused by bacteria, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics to help kill the bacteria.

The medicine is an oral medication that must be taken, usually for 6-8 weeks. However, if the case is more severe, the doctor may give antibiotics by injection. After that, the treatment is continued with taking medication for 4-6 weeks.

Another thing, if prostatitis is caused by inflammation, antibiotics may not work for this disease. The medicine that is given will function to reduce pain and inflammation.

The drugs most often used to treat inflammatory disease of the prostate are alpha-blockers which works by relaxing the muscles around the prostate and bladder. The types that are usually used are tamsulosin and silodosin. Sometimes, NSAID type drugs are also given to make the patient more comfortable.

Whereas in benign prostate enlargement (BPH), the doctor may prescribe the drugs finasteride and dutasteride to stop prostate growth or reduce its size.

Drugs alpha-blockers such as doxazosin or tadalafil and 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors also used so that pain symptoms can be reduced and improved. Sometimes doctors may prescribe a combination drug for a more effective treatment.

Treatment of prostate disease with surgery

If the condition does not improve after taking medication, your doctor will recommend that you undergo prostate surgery. Usually, surgery is needed by patients with BPH and prostate cancer when the condition is getting worse or has entered an advanced stage.

The operation will be carried out when the symptoms that appear are more severe such as bleeding in the urine or urinary tract obstruction, a condition in which the patient has little or no urine output.

To treat benign prostate enlargement, there are a variety of surgical procedures to choose from. Most of the procedures are transurethral, namely by inserting a thin tube into the urethra up to the prostate to reduce its size.

Some of the types of procedures are transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP), and laser surgery that will destroy some of the prostate tissue. Most patients can go home the same day after undergoing surgery.

Another operation is prostatectomy, which is surgery to remove part or all of the prostate gland tissue. This operation is mostly performed on prostate cancer patients who have entered a higher stage, but it can also be done to treat benign prostate enlargement.

Therapy

When a patient is diagnosed with prostate cancer, doctors will generally see in advance whether the type of cancer can grow rapidly. If the condition is dangerous, treatment will be carried out immediately.

Apart from surgery, therapy is also a procedure to treat prostate cancer that patients must undergo. Several types of therapy are:

• Chemotherapy uses drugs that kill cancer cells.
• Hormone therapy to stop the production of testosterone which can trigger the growth of cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy that uses high-powered energy.
• Biological therapy by taking some of the immune cells which will later be formulated and genetically engineered to fight cancer cells.

There is also therapy with prostate massage. This massage therapy is believed to have health benefits and support the healing of prostate disease.

Treatment of prostate disease with herbal remedies

Sometimes some patients worry about the side effects that can be caused by medical drugs. That's why many patients try herbal medicines.

One of them is saw palmetto. Saw palmetto comes from a small palm tree that grows in parts of North America. This herbal medicine has often been used to treat symptoms of prostate inflammation such as weak urine flow.

The efficacy of saw palmetto was also tested in a study published in the journal Urology. It was shown that men who took saw palmetto pills for six months reported that they succeeded in reducing the intensity of their symptoms.

However, the effectiveness of the use of saw palmetto drugs still needs to be studied further. In addition, there is no research that really confirms that saw palmetto can be a good treatment for BPH disease.

The next alternative is cranberry fruit juice. Drinking one or two glasses of cranberry juice a day can help ward off urinary tract infections in some people. Apart from that, cranberry juice might also help patients who also have urinary tract infections.

But again further research is still needed to really prove these properties.