BPH is an enlarged prostate gland. As the prostate gets bigger, it may squeeze or partly block the urethra. This often causes problems with urinating. BPH is not cancer and it occurs in almost all men as they age.

The symptoms of BPH include:

• Trouble getting a urine stream started and completely stopped (dribbling).

• Often feeling like you need to urinate. This feeling may even wake you up at night.

• A weak urine stream.

• A sense that your bladder is not completely empty after you urinate.                                                                                                   Focused ultrasound treatment for the prostate is now available in the United States which is a radiation- free method to treat BPH and prostate cancer.The technology has been successfully used to treat a wide variety of prostate related diagnoses. SonaCare’s Sonablate and EDAP’s Ablatherm.HIFU are the two focused ultrasound systems that are approved by the FDA used to destroy diseased prostate. Regarding treatment for BPH, oral medications are the most commonly used. These are alpha blockers and 5α-reductase inhibitors like Flomax and proscar. Talk to your health care provider today if you have any of the symptoms of BPH in order to get the appropriate testing and treatment. Testing may include digital rectal exam (to check size and firmness of the prostate), urinalysis and urine culture ( to detect infection), and a prostate- specific antigen (PSA) blood test.