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Mens health
EVERY MAN SHOULD READ IT
Gentlemen,
I'm here to talk to you about the prostate. The subject is a little confusing. Is the prostate strictly for men? Yes, only men get the prostate and only men over 40, but raising awareness about prevention is for everyone. There is no woman who doesn't know a man of 40 and over, father, uncle, brother, son, friend, neighbour, colleague...
What I will do today is health promotion. Responsible health promotion must provide three things:
1. Information
2. Assurance
3. A plan of action.
Let me start with an overview of prostate health.
Everyone has a pair of kidneys. The kidney's job is to remove waste. It's your body's waste management company. Every day your blood passes through the kidney several times to be filtered. When the blood is filtered, urine is formed and stored in a temporary storage tank called the bladder.
If there was no urinary bladder, as a man walks down the road, urine would fall out continuously.
Now think of the plumbing work in your home. Think of the bladder as an overhead storage tank. From the storage tank, a good plumber will run pipes to other parts of the house, including the kitchen. God in His wisdom has run pipes from our bladder to the end of the penis. The pipe is called the urethra. Just below the bladder and surrounding the urethra is a small organ called the PROSTATE.
The prostate is about the size of a walnut and weighs about 20 grams. Its job is to make seminal fluid which is stored in the seminal vesicle. During sexual intercourse, the seminal fluid travels down the urethra and mixes with sperm produced in the testicles to form semen. So semen is not technically sperm. It is semen + seminal fluid. The seminal fluid lubricates the sperm.
After the age of 40, for hormonal reasons, the prostate gland starts to grow. From 20 grams, it can reach almost 100 grams. As it grows, it squeezes the urethra and the man begins to notice changes in the way he urinates.
If you have a son under 10, if he has a little mischief like we all do at that age, when he goes out to urinate, he can aim at the ceiling and the stream will hit the target. Call his father to do the same. His urine stream is weak, cannot travel a long distance and can sometimes come directly on his legs. So he may need to get into an uncomfortable position to urinate.
Few men worry that their urine stream will not reach the ceiling. The toilet is on the floor and not on the ceiling. But other symptoms start to appear.
* LAST DRIP *
The man starts to notice that after urinating and rewrapping, the urine still falls on his trousers. This is why, after an older man has urinated, he has to ring the bell. A young man simply delivers the last drop and walks away. Just see an older man coming from the bathroom. Sometimes he can squeeze the newspaper tightly to hide urine stains, especially on solid coloured trousers.
* HESITATION *
At this stage, you wait longer for the urine flow to start. There are 2 valves that have to open for you to urinate - the internal and external sphincters. Both open but because of obstructions in the urethra, you wait longer for the flow to start.
* INCOMPLETE EMPTYING
Just after urinating you have this feeling that there is still something left.
As all these things happen, the bladder starts to work harder to compensate for the obstruction in the urethra. The frequency of urination increases. Urgency sets in. Sometimes you practically have to run to the toilet. Nocturia also becomes common. You wake up more than twice a night to urinate. Your wife starts to complain.
Men being men may not talk to anyone even at this stage. Then the more serious complications begin.
The stored urine becomes infected and there may be a burning sensation when urinating.
The stored urine forms crystals. The crystals gather to form stones in the bladder or kidney. The stones can block the urethra.
Chronic urinary retention sets in. The bladder stores more and more urine. The size of the bladder is 40-60cl. A bottle of coke is 50cl. As the bladder stores more urine, it can grow to 300cl. An overfilled bladder can leak and lead to urinary/wet incontinence. In addition, the volume can put pressure on the kidney and lead to kidney damage.
What is likely to happen7
