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prostate glandIn men over 50 enlargement of the prostate (benign prostatic hypertrophy) is common. Sometimes the result is pressure on the urethra and bladder, which interferes with urination, precipitating urinary retention and kidney disease. Balloon dilatation of the urethra and medication with alpha blockers, finasteride (Proscar), and extracts of saw palmetto have joined traditional surgical removal of the prostate (prostatectomy) as therapies. See also prostate cancer, prostatitis.
See J. P. Blandy and B. Lytton, The Prostate (1986).
The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
- prostatitis
Prostatitis, inflammation of the prostate gland. Acute prostatitis is usually a result of infection in the urinary tract or infection carried by the blood; in many cases the infection spreads ...
- prostate cancer
Prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in...
- urethra
Urethra, canal in most mammals that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body; in the male it also serves as a genital duct. The urethra is about 11/2 in. long (3.8 cm) in wome...
- geriatrics
Geriatrics, the branch of medicine concerned with conditions and diseases of the aged. Many disabilities in old age are caused by or related to the deterioration of the circulatory system (see...
- cystitis
Cystitis, common acute or chronic inflammation of the urinary bladder. The disease occurs primarily in young women and frequently results from bacterial invasion of the urethra from the adjace...
- reproductive system
Reproductive system, in animals, the anatomical organs concerned with production of offspring. In humans and other mammals the female reproductive system produces the female reproductive cells...
- estrogen
Estrogen, any one of a group of hormones synthesized by the reproductive organs and adrenal glands in females and, in lesser quantities, in males. The estrogens cause the thickening of the lin...
- cancer, in medicine
Cancer, in medicine, common term for neoplasms, or tumors, that are malignant. Like benign tumors, malignant tumors do not respond to body mechanisms that limit cell growth. Unlike benign tumo...
