Benign Prostate Hyperplasia Diagnosis

Diagnosis of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)   

Some of the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia could be seen by the patients themselves. When this these patients must see their doctors or urologists immediately. Others are more difficult to be seen and require the doctor’s expertise. Anyway, I want to let you know that prostatitis(BPH) must be taken in charge rapidly. 

When BPH is confirmed then the patient is sent to urologist for other examinations. Urologist does a lot of examinations that range from simple physical examination to complicated laboratory blood or urine test. 

The doctor puts lubricated gloves and puts a finger into the anus to feel the back of the rectum for abnormalities. 

If there is prostate cancer it could be checked with prostate specific antigen (psa) tests. There is a protein named prostate specific antigen that is positioned inside the prostate and if there is cancer its levels get high in the blood stream. 

FDA approved the PSA but it has to be used only with digital rectal exam. But the PSA test is a new one and there are still some unanswered questions about it.  

The risks of the PSA tests are not known and together with ultrasound it may lead to false results in identifying tumors. False results of the PSA could lead to unnecessary surgery and put the patient at risk.  

Another method to scan the prostate is ultrasound. An ultrasound probe is put in the rectum to emit sound waves in the body. The echoes are then analyzed and a picture of the inside of the body is created. In such a way doctors determine if there are any tumors or unusual growths. 

On of the most common symptoms of BPH is a destruction of the normal urinary flow and there is a test that checks the normal urinary flow. There is a device upon which the patient urinates and the doctors check the strength of the flow and decide if the patient is suffering from BPH. 

It could also be taken X-rays of the urinary tract but in order to check the tumors there is a special technique that needs to be made. A dye is firstly injected into the vein and then the x-ray is taken. Then the x-ray picture is named intravenous pyelogram. 

There is another way to take picture of the bladder and urethra by inserting a camera into the penis. There is a numbing agent that minimizes the discomfort but still there is some. 

Another way is by cystoscope that is a tube with lens and fiber optics that allows directly examination of the prostate gland and the presence and severity of tumors.