Prostate Health Supplements

If you are over forty and have urinary problems, you should see your doctor for prostate diagnosis.

At your appointment the doctor will give you a digital rectal examination (DRE) to check the size and consistency of your prostate. The doctor then may recommend tests to find out whether your prostate gland has become significantly enlarged. These tests include monitoring the rate of urine flow and ultrasound scanning to measure the amount of urine left in the bladder after you have urinated. You will be asked to give a urine sample which will be tested for infection or blood. Blood tests may also be carried out, including one to assess how your kidneys are working. You may also have a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA). This measures the amount of PSA, a protein produced by the prostate. When the prostate gland is enlarged, PSA may be released into the bloodstream. Various conditions can affect PSA levels including prostate cancer, BPH or prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate). Although healthy men do occasionally have a raised PSA, high levels of the protein can indicate a greater chance of getting prostate cancer.

Particular treatments are recommended on the basis of several factors, including general health, the severity of the symptoms and the size of the prostate gland.

In order to gauge the severity of the symptom and to quantify complaint, a special BPH Symptom Index Questionnaire has been developed. You are welcome to take this quick test to see where you are at, but please remember – enlarged prostate should not be self-diagnosed. If you experience any of the symptoms described above, you should see your doctor for a consultation.

The test uses seven questions to define severity. In general, a score of 0 to 7 is considered mild, 8 to 19 moderate and 20 to 35 is thought to represent severe symptoms. In reality though, anything below 10 is usually considered mild and doesn’t call for any treatment (given everything else is normal).

However, even with mild symptoms, it is advisable to make some changes to your diet as well as your eating habits to prevent worsening of the condition. Special prostate health supplements are great for boosting your immune system and for protecting and reducing your prostate in any condition.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 9:33 am and is filed under Prostate Health Supplements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.