Jul
22
HEART DISEASE AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL
July 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
HEART DISEASE AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL
• Use olive oil in cooking and on salads *****
• Try limiting high-carb foods
• Ask your MD about taking 160 milligrams of
aspirin
• Consider taking fish oil *****
• Combine grape juice and Certo *****
• Drink pomegranate juice *****
• Nibble walnuts four or five times a week *****
• Treat yourself to a little dark chocolate ***
• Take niacin to lower cholesterol ***
• Consider taking magnesium to prevent
atherosclerosis
• Experiment with coenzyme Q,, ***
• Swallow psyllium three times a day ***
•Try red yeast rice ***
• Ask your doctor about statins ****
• If statins cause trouble, ask about Zetia ***
• Ask about fibrate alternatives such as TriCor ***
• Ask about the bile acid binder WelChol
Despite the billions of dollarsspent each year on cholesterol-lowering drugs, heart disease remains our country’s number one killer albuterol false positive test methamphetamine . More than 650,CM Americans—about one erson every minute—die annually from a “coronary event lmg to penicillin . More than 1 million people will have a heart attack this year, and 175,000 probably will not even realize that they suffered “silent” damage to the heart MUSCle ivermectin for scabies .420
Although these stars may seem overwhelming, we are making some progress claritin chewable tablets . Deaths from heart disease have been trending downward over the last 30 years aleve coupons .421 That’s the good news trileptal keppra .’rhe bad news is that even though the trend is in the right direction, you or someone you know is at great risk of dying of heart disease lithium ion phosphate . According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every three adults (71,300,000) has cardiovascular disease appetite change with metformin .422
So what can you do to avoid having a heart attack? If you watch the ads for cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor (atorvastatin), Crestor (rosuvastatin), and Zocor (simvastatin), you would think that about the only thing that matters is getting your cholesterol under 200 celebrex and uses . For decades Americans have been told that cholesterol is the most important risk factor for heart disease lithium nitrate for concrete . The cholesterol theory evolved from experiments carried out in the middle of the 20th century is lipitor available in generic form . Scientists found they could force rabbits to develop plaque in their arteries by feeding them butter and cheese no prescription order viagra online . As a result of this research, fat was vilified, and most physicians forbade eggs because the yolks were high in cholesterol allegra software . Eating eggs, in fact, became tantamount to a sin kamagra uk site . Needless to say, eating butter or steak was even worse about the drug celebrex .
All of these recommendations were presented as if they were chiseled in stone how long before prilosec works . The health gurus set them forth as facts rather than articles of faith louisiana swartz accident accutane legal career . Millions of people gave up eggs and started eating high-carbohydrate breakfasts consisting of cereal, toast, or pancakes viagra emails . They thought they were protecting thecasckwv when to increase clomid dose ovulation . imm heart disease drug precautions for viagra . Now it turns out that most, if not all, of these dietary guidelines were built on a foundation of shifting sand selegiline uk .
Cholesterol Conundrum
The late Robert Atkins was ostracized when he challenged the low-fat, high-carb orthodoxy dexamethasone fda . Cardiologists condemned his high-protein weight-loss diet, which included eggs, bacon, and steak aleve stomach bleeding . They were sure cholesterol levels would skyrocket if people ate such sinful food can atenolol cause diabetes .
When scientists actually did the research on healthy people, they could find no problem associated with people consuming cholesterol pravastatin tabs . The conclusion: “Analyses of several studies have also failed to find an association between the incidence of CHD [coronary heart disease> and egg consumption chloramphenicol acne .”423 If anything, eating eggs converts more dangerous LDL cholesterol into a less hazardous form cialis online sale .424,425
Far more heretical than the discovery that eggs posed no problem for healthy people was the observation that an Atkins-type diet did not lead to hellfire and brimstone pictures of allegra beck versace . Research published in the prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine reported that “over 24 weeks, a low-carbohydrate diet program led to greater weight loss, reduction in serum triglyceride level, and increase in HDL [good> cholesterol level compared with a low-fat diet accutane a miracle cure .”426 For this particular study, participants were permitted unlimited amounts of animal foods (meat, fowl, fish, and shellfish), unlimited eggs, 4 ounces of hard cheese cheap soma online order now . 2 cups of salad vegetables (such as lettuce, spinach, or celery) xenical precio venezuela . and I cup of low-carbohydrate vegetables (such as broccoli, cauliflower, or squash) daily requip blurred vision .427
Other studies have also demonstrated that a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat Atkins-t~pe diet can have a beneficial impact on blood fats augmentin withdrawal symptoms .428 generic cialis pills and generic viagra .419 paxil effect sodium .4-1( In one of the most astonishing experiments ever conducted, overweight patients with existing cardiovascular disease were switched from a diet that was low in saturated fats and cholesterol to a diet that was high in saturated fats and cholesterol and devoid of starches zoloft may . They continued taking their statin medications with no change in dose low testosterone and depression .
Before the experiment, these patients followed their cardi-
F,
‘We need to acknowledge that diverse healthy populations
experience no risk in developing coronary heart disease by increasing their intake of cholesterol, but, in contrast, they may have multiple beneficial effects by the inclusion of eggs in their regular diet pravachol bristol meyers squib .”431
—M prednisone and blisters side effect . L lipitors journals quizilla . Fernandez, Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, ologists’ instructions to eat no more than two eggs a week and restrict red meat to less than three servings a week generic medication of elavil . During the 6-week experiment, they were to eat two to four eggs daily and half a pound of red meat at each meal testosterone enanthate injection site pain . Such a study seems almost unethical, if not immoral cialis 36 hour . But surprisingly, this highsaturated-fat, no-starch diet led to decreases in body weight without increasing total cholesterol or bad LDL cholesterol promethazine injection . Triglycerides came down and, if anything, the overall lipid profile improved furosemide tablets .432
Three years ago, my husband was up to 217 pounds side effects loratadine . (He’s 49 years old and 6 feet tall pepcid duo chewables .) His cholesterol levels were off the charts, and his triglycerides were 942 pepcid in the news 2007 . His doctor tried him on several cholesterol-lowering medications celebrex for . He could not tolerate the side effects, especially the memory loss the lady allegra collection .
He then went on the Atkins diet and quickly dropped 20 to 25 pounds herbs containing sildenafil . To his doctor’s amazement, his triglycerides dropped to 192, and his cholesterol is almost normal—without medication asprin better .
Please keep your readers posted on further studies is motrin safe for dogs . I thought he was nuts to go on that diet until I saw the results tick bites and doxycycline . Now I follow some of its principles as well administration of phenytoin injectable rectally .
The most telling study actually compared four popular diets: Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers, and Ornish sanyo lithium battery . Conventional wisdom would predict that the low-fat Dean Ornish diet would beat every other diet hands down on the heart disease risk score buy tramadol online money order . Au contraire cipro and back pain . All of these diets were roughly comparable in helping people lose weigh t allegra lanni .433 Many cardiologists were shocked to learn, however, that those following a high-protein, low-carbohydrate regimen ended up with a better score on heart disease risk factors than those following an Ornish-type low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet tizanidine patient experiences . That is because the higher-fat diets raised good HDL cholesterol more than the Ornish approach albendazole usp manufacturer .
‘Vhe final nail in the coffin of dietary dogma should have been driven by the Women’s Health Initiative doxycycline acne treatment . This long-term research project cost more than $700 million and will likely never be repeated prednisone and oral blisters . Until this ambitious project, we relied mostly on observational studies: Ask people what they eat and see what happens to them lithium ion battery 3.7 v . It is not a very good technique for actually proving whether something works or is dangerous addicted to lexapro . People have notoriously bad memories about what they really eat generic levitra vardenafil uk .
At the end of the 20th century, scientists decided to test their theories in a giant experiment does propranolol decrease effect of salbutamol . More than 48,000 women over 50 years old were recruited into a dietary intervention trial paroxetine par pharm . Some (40 percent) of the women were instructed to re- ivermectin damage .duce the amount of fat in their diet, replacing it with extra vegetables, fruits, and grains zantac alopecia . The training took place in groups and individually, and the women made the suggested dietary changes otc cable nu prilosec site . The other 60 percent of the women were not asked to change the way they ate ween off caffeine .
After approximately 8 years of follow-up and massive number crunching, the results are in, and they’re disappointing antiinflammatory drug celebrex . The researchers had expected that women who adopted the more virtuous low-fat, high-veggie diet would be protected from heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer sprinkle depakote for children . But despite the large number of women participating, the differences in the results of the two groups were not statistically significant lexapro and rheumatoid arthritis .’31
For cardiovascular disease, the investigators found a trend favoring survival in women who ate the least amount of saturated fat and trans fatty acids (and the most vegetables) difference between aspirin ibuprofen . But a trend is hardly the kind of solid evidence policy makers need before they recommend major changes in a country’s diet the clomid challenge . These results were certainly not expected evista breast . The granola gurus were left scratching their heads, wondering what went wrong caverta penegra . They did their best to explain why the low-fat diet was a giant fizzle, but the answers were unsatisfying and could not counteract the loss of trust by the American public liquid motrin for big kids .
Cardiologists, internists, registered dietitians, and most other health professionals like to maintain that they follow “evidence-based medicine viagra florida delivery .” In other words, science, not supposition, is their motto lyrics lithium evanescence . But when data don’t match dietary dogma, they frequently are ignored loratadine 2f pseudoephedrine sulfate . That’s what happened with MRFIT (the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial) orlistat patient . Until the Women’s Health Initiative, MRFIT was the largest (nearly t3M men were recruited) and most expensive ($100 million was spent) study of lifestyle intervention testosterone types info body building .
In the early 1970s, these men were divided into two groups sertraline and depression . One got “special intervention,” which meant intensive counseling and follow-up to modify diet (by lowering saturated fat and cholesterol intake) and control blood pressure cipro is not helping sinus infection .The others got no special attention clopidogrel plavix apotex generic . After 6 years, there was no significant difference between the two groups of men in terms of heart attacks or deaths cialis debt consolidation . The unexpected MRFIT findings matched those of the later Women’s Health Initiative cost of prednisone . This study sank without a trace lithium ion battery pcga-bp2nx . If the facts don’t fit our preconceived notions, perhaps we need to reexamine our faith in the low-fat ap-
proach synthroid intolerance .
No one is suggesting that a high-calorie, high-fat diet of eggs and bacon, burgers and shakes, steaks and fries, and hot fudge sundaes is good for health felodipine and weight gain . And we’re not particularly fans of the high-protein Atkins approach ceclor allergic reaction . But the dietary changes that seemed so obviously beneficial in the early 1990s can no longer be treated as gospel recurrence of seizures with topamax .
Perhaps we should take a tip from the French dosing oral methyl testosterone . They have pretty much ignored our low-fat fanaticism paroxetine introduced . They continue to eat croissants, butter, Brie, and chocolate mousse without a second thought lamotrigine major depression . They get more exercise by walking and climbing stairs lek norvasc . They eat well, but not nearly as much as Americans lipitor fund tracking . And they make meals social occasions to be savored with a glass of wine osteonecrosis treatment zithromax . Following their example of moderation might do us all some good tegretol natural alternative . Despite our national obsession with fighting fat, we weigh far more than the French, and our incidence of heart disease is much higher doxycycline tablets .
Types of Fat
By now we hope we have convinced you that eating fat or cholesterol does not necessarily raise your own cholesterol levels or even your risk of heart disease prozac side hallucinations . There are exceptions, of course secondary effects of zyrtec . Some people do react to dietary fat diverticulosis abcess flagyl . For them, cutting back may be helpful buy carisoprodol online cod . As with everything, though, you must pay attention to your body and monitor your lipid levels ryobi 18v lithium ion batteries . The real issue is not how much fat you eat but what kind absorptivity of etoricoxib .
Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, MPH, is chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health vioxx coumadin . Dr lasix and horse and canada . Willett is arguably the most respected and knowledgeable nutrition expert and epidemiologist in the world seroquel pros and cons . For a very long time he has tried to convince his colleagues and the public that the “fat is bad” belief is baloney acyclovir vs valtrex . It has been an uphill struggle, but at last the tide is turning celebrex vioxx warning . His campaign against trans fats (hydrogenated vegetable oil) has led to labeling that will allow consumers to recognize and avoid this poison lovistatin or lipitor . Although trans fats have been removed from many margarines, you still will find them in lots of processed foods like crackers and cookies 1 2aa 3.6v lithium battery . They are also found at high levels in many fried fast foods avandia lawsuits august 2007 .
The reason trans fats are so dangerous is that they are associated with an increased risk of heart disease propecia offers . That may be because they are pro-inflammatory levitra picture . So are many of the omega-6 fats (found in vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, and sunflower oil) alabama celebrex lawyer . Even though dietitians have been proclaiming that all cholesterol-free vegetable oils are heart healthy, we beg to differ prazosin depression . There is growing evidence that Americans consume way too much omega-6 and not nearly enough omegaL3 fats (found in certain fish as well as walnuts and flaxseed) canon rebel lithium batteries . Because of this imbalance, we suggest you try to limit your intake of omega-6-rich vegetable oils digoxin shortage .
Which fats are the superstars? Clearly, olive oil is one of the very best hiv and levaquin . It is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, and there are lots of data to support its positive health bcnefitS pdr protonix .135AM taking antiacid with synthroid .437 Olive oil can be used to saut6 almost anything toprol makes me cough . We use it not only for all the obvious vegetables like onions, garlic, tomatoes, and peppers, but also for scrambled eggs pain iv protonix morphine . Extra-virgin olive oil is our favorite because of its additional health benefits, such as preventing blood clots, improving the flexibility of blood vessels, and reducing the risk of certain cancers cephalexin vs ciprofloxicin . It may have too strong a flavor for some, however meter to check warfarin . If you don’t like it, look for a “light” olive oil that has a milder aroma and taste azathioprine side affects . Other healthy options include canola, almond, avocado, and walnut oils prevacid patient assistance program .
You won’t want to use pure olive oil or walnut oil for stir-frying in a wok amiloride overdose . Their “smoke point” is too low bupropion and synthroid . For higher-temperature cooking, consider pure canola oil or combine half olive and half canola oil caffeine amounts in drinks periodic table . If that seems a bother, look for
***** Olive Oil
Olive oil is the best source for monounsaturated fat what is ic tramadol . It lowers total cholesterol, bad LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure 123a lithium battery recharge . It also has anti-inflammatory properties that should reduce the risk of atherosclerosis nortriptyline decreased libido .
Cost: Highly variable depending on brand and quality accepted caffeine on pepsi . Can range from about $10 to $50 a liter and up walgreen phar topamax .
BREAD SPREAD
The best way to lubricate bread is with seasoned olive oil amlodipine besylate toprolxl . The Italians really got this one right generic viagra sent overnight . If you feel compelled to use a spread, we recommend the new heart-healthy margarines that no longer have trans fats ondansetron capsules . They include Benecol, Promise, Smart Balance, and Take Control decongestant with cialis . Benecol and Take Control contain ingredients designed to lower cholesterol can i take celexa and nyquil .
“high heat” safflower or avocado oil tamoxifen estrogen cancer . It should be higher in monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) than standard safflower oil headache while taking cefdinir .
A Contrarian Cholesterol Perspective
Most cardiologists believe that cholesterol is like golf: There’s no such thing as too Iowa• score viagra 3 . Anyone who questions that view is considered a menace to the public health ivax clozapine . And the media have accepted the concept that cholesterol is evil without much question bismuth ranitidine subcitrate .
It comes as a shock to a lot of people to learn that cholesterol is essential for good health exelon competitors . It is the basic building block for a number of crucial chemicals in the body clindamycin interaction tylan . including vita?in D as well as sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen difference between zantac and prilosec . Cholesterol also is found in cell membranes throughout the body and is an important component of the nervous system, especially the brain crohn sildenafil . Researchers have discovered that cholesterol is necessary for nerve cells to communicate can i take zyrtec and tylenol . Without adequate cholesterol, the connections between neurons (synapses) fall apart take cymbalta in morning or evening .
Scientists hypothesize that cholesterol helps strengthen the small arteries that feed the brain cialis contraindications . Without it, they become more vulnerable to breakage under stress, which happens when blood pressure rises metformin as treatment for infertility .4is7`hat might help explain research findings showing that very low cholesterol poses problems too straight out of junior high valtrex .
Evidence comes from the Honolulu Heart Program chemical bond of lithium iodide .439 Scientists at the University of Hawaii studied 3,500 Japanese-American men born between 1900 and 1919 cis isomer of sertraline hydrochloride . The volunteers’ total cholesterol levels were measured when they were middle-aged and again in the early 1990s, when they were “Our data accord with previous findings of increased mortality in elderly people with low serum cholesterol, and show that long-term persistence of low cholesterol concentration actually increases the risk of death lamictal as a mooed stabilizer . Thus, the earlier that patients start to have lower cholesterol concentrations, the greater the risk of death prednisone side effects managing .,,4411
—I can you half avalide . J strattera rebate . Schatz et al does prevacid cause orgasm difficulty ., Lancet, 2001
elderly allergies to evista . Then the scientists kept tabs on who survived and who died celexa lawsuits .
To their surprise, the men with the lowest cholesterol levels had the highest risk of dying over the next several years buy ursodiol . Those with cholesterol levels between 188 and 209 fared the best meridia online pharmacy phentermine umaxppc xenical . Even men with elevated cholesterol, over 209, were less likely to die from any cause than were those with the lowest cholesterol readings hcpcs codes for linezolid online . The investigators confessed their confusion: “We have been unable to explain our results thyroxine testosterone . These data cast doubt on the scientific justification for lowering cholesterol to very low concentrations (less than 4 terbinafine hydrochloride 1 solution .65 millimoles per liter) [less than 180 milligrams per deciliter> in elderly people wellbutrin 100sr . “441
Some experts have tried to explain away the link between low cholesterol and higher mortality by suggesting that cholesterol drops when people come down with cancer or other life-threatening diseases ndc number for toradol . But the Honolulu researchers did not find excess cancer in the low-cholesterol group what does macrobid treat . Besides, many of these men had had low cholesterol 20 years earlier er6c 3.6 v lithium .
This isn’t the first study to find a connection between low cholesterol and higher mortality neurontin side effects swollen ankles . A report to the American Heart Association in 1999 showed that people with total cholesterol of less than 180 were twice as likely to suffer a bleeding stroke as those with cholesterol of more than 230 typical cipro dosage . More than 15 years ago, Japanese researchers found that men with chotMeTol under 178 and women with cholesterol under 190 were also at higher risk of brain hemorrhage 350 carisoprodol mg tab .442 In fact, people in Japan have traditionally experienced three times the risk of hemorrhagic stroke compared to Japanese people living in America is generic buspar same as buspar . It is assumed that the lower-fat diet and lower cholesterol in Japan may be the most important difference amoxicillin for cats no prescription .
Research has also shown that American women who eat very little meat or saturated fat may also be at higher risk for bleeding strokes, especially if they also have high blood pressure propecia saw palmetto . For an investigation known as the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers at Harvard University have been following more than 85,000 female nurses since 1980 ibuprofen skin rashes . Every 2 years the women answer questions about their diet, lifestyle, and health lowering testosterone naturely . The investigators found that the women who ate the least saturated fat and animal protein had the highest risk of bleeding, stroke, twice as high as that of women who ate the most fat depakote cf lithium carbonate .44-’
One of the key investigators in the Nurses’ Health Study is Dr cytoxan therapy multiple sclerosis . Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health maoi drugs selegiline . He told us that “in Japan, where cholesterol levels have been low, hemorrhagic stroke rates have been extremely high, so that total cardiovascular mortality has not been very different between the United States and Japan urology testosterone boosters .” In his opinion, “there is indeed some basis for real concern, even though it’s not been absolutely proven that cholesterol levels can be driven down too low tramadol no prescription overnight .’,444
Of course, none of this research means that people with high cholesterol can relax their guard estradiol placenta function . Too much of this blood fat is clearly dangerous and increases the risk of heart attack paxil help mild ocd symptoms . But for people over age 70, or for women with high blood pressure, it may be counterproductive to lower cholesterol much below 200 probiotics and prilosec . Like body temperature or blood sugar level, cholesterol may need to stay in a middle range allegra network . Toq little or too much can have negative health consequences prednisone maximum dose .
Beyond Cholesterol: Other Risks
As we have said before in this book, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail paxil and mania . When it comes to heart disease, the nail is cholesterol claritin d2c long term effects . That’s because the pharmaceutical industry has been extremely successful at creating hammers to lower this compound norvasc and edema . At last count, Americans were spending more than $16 billion annually on statin-containing medications alone levaquin syphilis .445
One prominent cardiologist believes that worldwide, at least IM Million people should be on statinS neurontin and tooth decay .446 Some physicians have jokingly suggested that it would simplify matters if we just added statins to the water supply or supplied “statin shakers” at every table the way we now have salt shakerS hytrin maker .447 This way people could sprinkle on a statin whenever they eat steak or eggs and not worry about cholesterol fda topamax warning .
We’re not knocking statins tetracycline expiry . They are extraordinarily effective at lowering bad LDL cholesterol, and they do prevent heart STATIN-CONTAINING DRUGS
• Amlodipine/atorvastatin (Caduet)
• Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
• Ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin)
• Fluvastatin (Lescol)
• Lovastatin (Mevacor)
• Pravastatin (Pravachol)
• Rosuvastatin (Cregtor)
• Simvastatin (Zocor)
attacks and strokes and save lives,’Ibey also carry more risks than many physicians and patients have realized 300 coupon prilosec . (More about that shortly topamax pills .) No, what really worries us about physicians’ focus on cholesterol is that they may ignore other things that also contribute to heart disease taking flagyl effect cont . It’s as if the conductor of a symphony orchestra were focusing only on the percussion section hydrochlorothiazide overnight delivery . Listening to a concert that featured just cymbals and drums would not be a very enjoyable experience sony cr2032 lithium 3v .
In an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lori Mosca, MD, PhD, MPH, director of the preventive cardiology program at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, states, “More than 20 years ago, 246 risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) had already been identified, and the number continues to grow alesse and depression .’”48 Think about that lithium engineer free . Physicians know of more, than 240 risk factors for heart disease, yet most still single out only a couple of them: cholesterol and hypertension keflex mg lb .
When is the last time a cardiologist asked you about your level of anxiety and depression, stress, or anger and hostility’? How about your marital relationship or your support network? These are all key risk factors for heart disease promethazine use in elderly diabetics .9,450
Cardiologists love numbers patent actos how long . Someone with a bad LDL cholesterol of 160 can lower that level to less than 100 with Lipitor within a few weeks fosinopril classification . Stress, marital discord, and hostility are much more difficult to deal with, and progress is not so easily measured amitriptyline pain december amitriptyline pain . And yet they may be just as important as a cholesterol number warfarin volterol .
OTHER RISK FACTORS FOR HEART DISEASE
• High level of C-reactive protein (CRP)
• Low level of HDL (good) cholesterol
• High level of LDL (bad) cholesterol
• High level of very low-density (VLDL) cholesterol
• High level of triglycerides
• Elevated level of lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a)
• High blood pressure
• Elevated homocysteine
• High uric acid level
• Insulin resistance
• Depression
• Stress and anxiety
• Anger and hostility
• Low level of physical activity
• Smoking
• Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
• Marital strife
• Family (genetic) history of heart problems
Jul
18
TUIP: TRANS URETHRAL INCISION PROSTATE
July 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
TUIP: TRANS URETHRAL INCISION PROSTATE
The TUIP is simply a pair of incisions made on the sides of the bladder neck that closes the bladder off from the urethra. The incisions are made through the urethra and is a simple procedure. Urologists are not sure why this works for the relief of BPH problems, but it does. Often urine peak flow is greatly increased, getting up at night is reduced and hesitation and some of the other less serious BPH problems are lessened.
This procedure is much like a TURP for the equipment used and the insertion. The electric knife makes only the two incisions and no removal of prostatic tissue is done. This is another option a patient with really bothersome BPH has to find relief
Jul
17
DANGERS AND SIDE EFFECTS
Let’s take a closer look at TURP and the statistical dangers and side effects.
1. Retrograde Ejaculation. This is in effect defacto sterilization. There is no other way to describe it. A vital part of the reproductive system in the male is contained in the prostate and other elements are injected into and flow through the urethra situated inside the prostate.
When most or all of the prostate is removed, the fluid that the prostate produces to lubricate and carry the sperm down the urethra is also gone. Now when orgasm takes place, muscular contractions propel the spermatozoa and fluid from the prostate and seminal vesicles into the prostatic urethra.
At the same time this happens, the neck of the bladder closes so the fluids must go down the urethra and out the penis. But after TURP surgery, this bladder neck closure is usually cut away to provide more space for the urine flow.
With the bladder neck open, the sperm and the fluid take the path of least resistance and are propelled into the bladder instead of out the penis.
This is called retrograde ejaculation. The sensation of the orgasm is the same for the man, there just isn’t any outside ejaculation.
With many TURP patients this is not a problem. Most men in the good TURP surgery candidate pool are no longer interested in fathering children. In most of the cases when a patient is told about this drawback and result of the TURP, he will not have any major problems with it. The trouble comes when a patient is not told about retrograde ejaculation and finds out on his own and is furious that he wasn’t informed before the operation.
In the extreme case where fatherhood is still desired, the ejaculate can be retrieved after the next urination after the orgasm, and the semen gathered and preserved and used in an insertion procedure into the woman’s vagina, the same as any artificial insemination. It works.
2. Bleeding. TURP involves a lot of cutting of tissue and the enclosed blood vessels. Bleeding is a natural course of events. Most of the bleeding is stopped during the operation by cauterization.
As with any cut or wound, a scab develops. This should stay for two or three weeks and then fall off. By then the blood vessel should be healed. If the scab falls off sooner bleeding usually begins and shows up in the urine.
This happens in only about one percent of all TURP patients and is often caused by straining to pass a stool. Usually this bleeding can be helped by a patient drinking lots of fluids to cleanse the area. Only rarely is there a need for the patient to be readmitted to the hospital to correct the condition.
3.1ncontinence. (The inability to control voiding of urine.) This is one of the big fears of a TURP surgical patient. It is embarrassing and distressing, and can lead a patient to total social isolation.
Incontinence happens to from one to four percent of all TURP patients. Many urologists claim it is less frequent, and say it can be the result of the normal surgical risk factor.
The problem comes when the electric knife cuts too near the sphincter voluntary muscles which control the flow of urine. If these muscles are damaged then the patient may become incontinent.
The other means of continence is the external urethral sphincter. Damage here can lead to a stress type of incontinence.
Incontinence after a TURP operation does not have to be permanent or irreversible. There are drugs that can be used to relieve the situation. Another possibility here is the use of an artificial sphincter.
At any rate this is one of the areas that you should discuss with your doctor prior to any prostate operation.
4. Impotency. Experts in this field say about five percent of all TURP patients come out of the operation and are impotent even though they were not that way going in.
Impotency is simply a man’s inability to achieve an erection, or to maintain it long enough for vaginal penetration.
The “manliness” of a male is a highly subjective area, and statistics on this element may be dramatically wrong in either direction. Many men may say they are able to achieve an erection and have intercourse when they are 70, 75, even 80. But age and other problems may have reduced that libido drastically so that even they were not totally cognizant of their ability to achieve a working erection. Time and age does this to all men.
Sometimes such an operation is a handy whipping boy for the sudden realization of impotency.
In any case, impotency is a fact of life for some of the men who have TURP operations, and you should know about it now. There is one sure way to develop impotency in a TURP patient. That is to damage one or both of the nerve bundles that are on each side of the prostate. These bundles are outside of the true capsule of the prostate. That means they are well outside of the area a surgeon’s electric knife should be operating to remove the prostatic tissue clogging the urethra. This is to say that a TURP properly carried out, should not harm these nerve bundles and that should not be the reasons for any impotency.
Some psychologists say that sex is at least 75% mental. This is why the cause of impotency, especially in men from 60 to 90 is extremely difficult to tie down. It may have been there before the operation and not recognized. The operation might create a psychological block preventing the erection. A now and then lack of a man’s ability to “get it up” is not uncommon even in younger men. The trauma of the operation, even the thought of some danger to a patient’s “manhood” and a negative spousal situation all can combine to create a psychosomatic impotency. This may be of a short or long duration.
There are drugs that can be used to help this impotency, and several devices that will be covered in a later chapter. Impotency, while not a large factor, is one that the surgery candidate for TURP should be well aware of.
Jul
14
CHRONIC PROSTATITIS. NONINFECTIOUS PROSTATITIS.
July 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment
CHRONIC PROSTATITIS
Sometimes the condition will be cleared up, or seem to be back to normal, only to have it flare up again alternative to levaquin .Cases like this are called chronic prostatitis.
At least this time the patient knows what he has and can get to the doctor quickly for early medication ingredients zyrtec .If the drug used before didn’t completely kill off the bacteria causing the problem, there is little chance the same medication will do any better during the next attack pamelor make you gain weight .Doctors watch for newly developed medications they hope will solve the problem bodybuilding pump with viagra .But so far there is no drug that will completely eliminate the chronic prostatitis problem.
Some urologists maintain that regular prostatic massage is one effective treatment forchronic prostatitis testosterone and hair growth .Other urologists never use the massage treatment how to inject tramadol .Some urologists suggest masturbation if sex with a partner is not available lowest price lipitor .Almost all urologists will agree that the best way to empty the prostate of fluid is regular sexual activity of any type leading to ejaculation.
As with many of the ailments of the prostate, the old favorite treatment of the sitz bath, simply a hot tub bath, is well received by prostatitis sufferers halfing zyprexa tablets .The heat from the water increases the circulation in the under-water area and that can help a number of problems.
Chronic prostatitis is not a good candidate problem to be corrected with surgery barqs caffeine .It would be a case of overkill, like throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Urologists say that even if surgery were performed, the inflammation and pain could still come back in the prostatic capsule itself, even after most of the prostate had been removed drug amoxil .A prostatectomy also can bring up a whole new set of problems that the patient didn’t have before.
NONINFECTIOUS PROSTATITIS
When a man gets serious pains and the urologist rules out infectious prostatitis, there has to be another cause depakote er migraine .This might be from a whole group of problems and the doctors call this malady, noninfectious prostatitis.
The symptoms usually include lower-back pain, burning during urination, pain or slight discomfort after ejaculation, pelvic discomfort, and sometimes a slight but obvious bleeding during ejaculation.
The urologist will check the patient’s prostate and often he’ll find it to be filled with prostatic fluid, boggy and soft evista dosage .It may or may not be enlarged and may or may not have any hard lumps or nodules.
For this problem, there are few simple answers, no easy solutions and no absolutes hctz 25 mg compared to diovan .The medical experts say that this non-infectious prostatitis could be caused by some kind of bug we can’t see or don’t know about yet, or it could be some form of inflammation that isn’t infectious.
One constant seems to be that a prostatic massage will cause the patient to expel a great deal of prostatic fluid through the urethra and the penis testosterone for body building .This often brings immediate relief to the patient.
Urologists aren’t exactly sure why this works metronidazole male breast .They say that most men with normal prostates secrete a small amount of prostatic fluid every day gout use zantac .Most of this is passed off through the urine without the man being aware of it.
Upon sexual arousal this secretion can increase ten fold to do its job of helping to carry the sperm cells out the urethra and from the penis upon sexual climax.
When a man becomes aroused, and then frustrated and there is no orgasm, all of that extra prostatic fluid remains in the prostate liver damag and ibuprofen .If this happens occasionally, the fluid is soon discharged a little at a time through the urine zyprexa borderline .But repeated frustrations after arousal, can mean a large buildup in the prostate and this will soon lead to some of the symptoms described above.
There are cases where a man can produce more prostatic fluid that he normally ejaculates during an orgasm harmful side effects of boniva .This again will create a buildup of the fluid and can result in problems cipro and screwdriver .What this is saying is that there can be prostatic problems that have a direct relationship with a man’s sex life, and this includes too little as well as too much sex.
There are cases where there are symptoms of prostatitis, but absolutely none of the usual causes are present naproxen sodium and gout .Some urologists feel that such a problem can come about entirely from stress green tea and amoxicillin .Some doctors say that there may be a lack of tone in some of the perineal muscles and this could result In the buildup of prostatic fluid allegra high blood pressure .Nobody knows for sure.
This leads into the suggestion that there could be psychological reasons why some of these cases of prostatitis develop when there is none of the usual physical causes hair loss zoloft fatigue .Anxiety or stressful tensions dealing with sex, a man’s job, his spouse, school or family — about almost anything, are now thought to be sufficient in some men to create symptoms of prostatitis even without any of the usual physical causes.
In some cases antibiotics seem to be helpful, even though there is no known bacteriological cause digitek and gynecomastia .Urologists are always aware of the placebo factor, especially in cases like these that may be partly stress or psychologically based.
Simply giving a man a pill and telling him that this will
help his condition, often will help his condition lipitor cholesterol lowering drug .This is what doctors mean by the placebo effect buy olanzapine .Placebos have traditionally been sugar pills with absolutely no curative powers whatsoever order tramadol no prescription cod payment .However when a doctor gives the placeboes to a patient and assures him that this should cure his problem after ten days, it often works.
This merges into the psychological and the psychosomatic aspects of healing, and in this area no one is right or wrong.
What works, works, there is no reason to question it hydroxyzine withdrawal .Doctors and urologists say that the placebo effect must never be underestimated.
They point out in double blind clinical tests, the patients who are given the placeboes without knowing it, often show a strong rate of improvement purchase fluconazole online with out a .The sugar pill certainly didn’t do it, the placebo effect did club soma .The patient thought he would get better, and somehow, he did get better.
In the chapter on case histories, we’ll show several actual cases of both infectious and non-infectious prostatitis, and how the problems were resolved.
Jul
14
INFECTIOUS AND NONINFECTIOUS PROSTATITIS
July 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment
INFECTIOUS AND
NONINFECTIOUS
PROSTATITIS
Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate gland and it is one of the most common of men’s diseases keflex tape . There is no age limit here — prostatitis attacks any man from teenager to grandfather in his nineties celebrex half life .
How do you know if you have it? You’ll be absolutely certain that something is wrong inderal for cats . Prostatitis is not subtle omeprazole and irritability . A case of acute prostatitis may bring on a sudden fever, chills, nausea and vomiting besides urgency of urination, hesitancy, burning pain during urination and even pus or blood in the urine apoe quinapril .
Most family physicians who diagnose acute prostatitis will suggest the patient go to a specialist, the urologist fosamax tumors .
Prostatitis can be caused by infection, irritation and congestion or a combination of these problems geodon msds . Many urologists will tell you that sometimes there is no apparent cause of the condition viagra teens teenager .
This ailment does respond well to treatment, even if it is a bit slow sometimes menopause high testosterone .
The infectious type of prostatitis results from some microorganism or bacteria that has invaded the prostate jitters from celexa . With its tough outer shell, the prostate is hard to get into dipyridamole allergic reaction . But it can be infected through the bloodstream, the lymph system, and the urine motrin package insert .
A lot of the infections come from bacteria from the colon prilosec long . However, antibiotics now can be used to knock out this type of infection before it gets serious effexor side effects headaches .
Bacteria can get into the prostate from sexual contact amoxicillin price overnight . The yeast infections as well as gonorrhea can be sexually transmitted order tetracycline . This danger is just another reason to be safe in your sexual life, wear a condom evanescence lithium guitar tab .
Some people can develop prostatitis simply by eating or drinking certain foods or beverages drug-herb interraction metoprolol aconite . On the avoidance list for some people are coffee, gin, red wine and Scotch whiskey arv efavirenz . Aromatic oils are used to flavor these drinks and that is what irritates the prostate and sets it to complaining leg lipitor pain .
We mentioned gonorrhea as one problem ibuprofen and benedryl . At one time it was the most prevalent infection of the male urogenital tract floxin otic . But now with the better antibiotics, this sexually transmitted social disease can usually be cured quickly benadryl prednisone interactino . A fast cure has the added benefit of stopping the infection before it can travel to the prostate avapro micardis .
Sometimes abscesses do develop in the prostate from gonorrhea unichem laboratories rimonabant conterfiet . This is often because the man has an antibiotic resistant strain or did not get prompt enough treatment to kill off the disease quickly effexor side affects uses . The abscesses result in the same usual symptoms of acute prostatitis evista and respiratory infections .
A urine sample usually shows up minute amounts of the prostate emissions and microscopic examination of the emissions will help the doctor determine what bacteria have made their attack and that will determine what treatment is prescribed does metformin help in getting pregnant . Most prostatitis clears up quickly with the proper medication 3v lithium fishing battery .
Jul
12
PROSTATITIS: CAN DRUGS BE USED INSTEAD OF SURGERY? RELAXATION DRUGS.
July 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment
CAN DRUGS BE USED INSTEAD OF SURGERY?
Over the years there have been many attempts made to find a drug that would shrink the prostate gland. The scientists worked on the belief that the enlargement of the prostate had something to do with the male hormone production.
This led to the use of female hormones that did shrink the prostate and help the BPH problem and reduced or eliminated the symptoms. The only trouble was that it also reduced and eliminated the male sex drive and often led to sterilization and impotence of the patient.
After that the lab men worked on drugs that would simply block the production of testosterone produced in the testicles. They came up with Leuprolide (lupron) which blocks ninety percent of the body’s total production.
Another companion drug used at the same time, Flutamide (eulexin), eliminates the other ten percent of testosterone made by the adrenal gland.
What these drugs do is effectively castrate the man by chemical action. This reduces the male libido, his sex drive, and sterilizes him and makes him impotent. These are mighty tough side effects even for a man in his seventies just to shrink the size of the prostate.
These drugs are most often chosen when a man has an extreme case of BPH or cancer of the prostate, and his sexual life is no longer a factor in his life whether he’s 65 or 80 years.
For most men the sexual side of life is always a vital part of their existence. It’s like watching a shiny new bus stop at your corner. It’s nice to know the bus service is always there, even though you seldom use it any more.
RELAXATION DRUGS
Some urologists find that the use of a drug such as Minipress (prazosin hydrochloride) will relax the smooth muscles surrounding the prostate. The purpose here is to get these muscles to relax or loosen to allow the prostate to expand slightly outward and thereby ease the internal pressure on the urethra.
A second drug used for the same purpose of relaxation of the muscles around the prostate is Terazosin. It relaxes the muscles and greatly reduces the spasms that these muscles frequently have which slow or prevent urination.
BPH is a highly subjective ailment. What bothers one patient may be little more than a minor and unnoticed irritant to another. Some patients who use one of these drugs may report relief from some of their symptoms, while others say they have no effect whatsoever on their life style.
Tests have shown some urologists that the use of Minipress and Dibenzyline drugs have made specific improvement in patient symptoms. Studies have been done to measure the voiding flow rate and residual urine before and after the use of these drugs, with an average of 60% improvement.
Jul
11
PROSTATITIS: LASER MINOR SURGERY AND OTHER NON MAJOR SURGICAL APPROACHES.
July 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
LASER MINOR SURGERY
Yes, the laser is now finding its way into prostatic surgery. For some patients the balloon treatment doesn’t open the urethra enough. To help these patients, Dr. Roger S. Warner, a urologist at New York University in Manhattan, wields his laser to remove some of the offending tissue around the urethra, and then follows that up with the use of the balloon dilation. Dr. Warner said this treatment helped twenty-five out of twenty-nine patients treated.
Other doctors say that laser surgery, first used in medicine in the 1970’s, is only scratching the surface of its potential. In the future they say there will be a much greater use of the laser. Lasers can also be used to vaporize benign and malignant growths, and it’s all done quickly and simply without the patient trauma of an open surgery.
The role of laser surgery in urology is limited but it has a great potential. Dr. Israel Barken, a urologist in private practice in San Diego, and a researcher at University of California at San Diego Medical School, has a patent on a device to use in laser surgery of the prostate.
Intrasonix Company from Boston in conjunction with the Lahey clinic has developed a new device by the name of TULIP. They have used it in operations on 25 dogs so far with promising results.
In the future, from mid 1990, you may wish to ask your urologist about the possibility of having laser surgery by your urologist. Right now it’s still experimental, but work is going on in three places aroud the world.
OTHER NON MAJOR SURGICAL APPROACHES
Dr. Terrence R. Malloy, chief of urology at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, attacks the enlarged prostate tissue with ultrasound waves. The tissue is turned into a pulp and dislodged and then sucked out of the body by an aspirator.
Some research is now being done with microwaves. They are aimed directly at the enlarged prostate. Testing is now underway to see what results are of attempts to shrink the enlarged prostate tissue, thereby relieving the pressure on the urethra.
Another experimental type of minor surgery is the use of cryogenics. This utilizes a probe through the penis and urethra and into the heart of the enlarged prostate. The probe then releases liquid nitrogen into the enlarged tissue.
This intensely cold fluid freezes and shrinks the tissue and destroys it which relieves the pressure on the urethra. More experiments and results of this type of cryosurgery will be reported in the first half of the 1990’s we are sure.
Another new development in the opening of the urethra through the prostate is the insertion of a spring like spiral device that mechanically keeps the urethra open. This is a new technique and while some urologists have the springs available and can insert them, we expect much development in this area of the open urethra in the coming years.
Jul
9
YOUR PROSTATE
PLAN IT OUT AHEAD
There are other ways to live more comfortably with your BPH.
• A long car trip. Plan where you’re going to stop. Most car rides tend to stimulate the urinary tract. This may be partly due to nervous tension if you’re the driver. Figure out where you can stop at least every two hours.
This will allow you to gas up, have a snack and use the bathroom. Some patients with BPH say sometimes on car trips they have been stuck in big cities where there were no filling stations, and by the time they found one they nearly tore the door off the men’s room to get inside.
• Going to a scary or suspenseful movie? Again nervous tension can increase the need to urinate. Performers get this problem before they go on. A really wild movie can do the same thing to most men. Try to use the bathroom before the movie starts. As a precaution, don’t buy a large cola drink to go along with your popcorn.
Remember “a pint in, a pint out,” and often the “pint out” part won’t wait until the movie is over.
• Let’s say you waited too long, your whole crotch is burning and throbbing and you have to urinate so bad you’re almost upset to your stomach. When you at last get to a bathroom, try for the toilet stall. Simply close the door, drop your pants and sit down.
No one seems to know why, but sitting down to urinate relaxes some muscles or the sphincter muscle, or something, and it makes urination at these difficult times much easier. At stress times like this, many BPH patients say it’s taken them five minutes of standing at a urinal or at the bathroom at home before they can get even a drop of urine out.
Spasming of muscles seems to be relaxed, and the whole system simply works easier and much faster in these stress situations, if you can sit down and bend forward toward your knees.
At this point who cares why it works, it does and will work any time you have trouble getting a urine flow started as well. Don’t fight it, just try it!
COPING WITH YOUR BPH
You’ve known that you’ve been living with your BPH for what - a year, three years? You’re a short timer. Most urologists have had literally thousands of years of experience with BPH through their patients. Your doctor may have a dozen little hints and helps like those above that have worked for hundreds of his BPH patients. No, these are not big dramatic findings that can be reported in the New England Journal of Medicine or the Journal of the American Medical Association.
However, your own doctor or urologist may have a small gold mine of tips and hints that he’s picked up over the years to make a big difference in how you can live easier and more comfortably with early and more advanced stages of BPH.
The next time you’re in his office, ask him if he has any of these little gems of BPH trivia advice that might just fit some problem that you’ve been having. The best advice is: Always go to the expert: talk to your urologist.
Jul
7
PROSTATE PROBLEMS AND ALCOHOL, BEER AND COFFEINE.
July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
ALCOHOL AND BEER
You knew this was coming. Alcohol is not good for the human body. Alcohol is especially not good for men with BPH.
“Hell, give up beer and a few shots of bourbon and maybe a highball or two? Damn, I’d rather die!” Such typical comments by moderate and heavy drinkers is often answered with the assurance of: “You will die and probably sooner than you expected to.”
For years some urologists have said that alcohol irritates the prostate. It also can cause serious problems with the liver. Some of the flavorings in alcohol can affect the prostate to such a degree that it can cause a kind of chronic prostatitis
For a man with even early BPH, the sudden or overuse of alcohol can bring on a surprise attack of acute retention of urine. This condition results in a desperate need to urinate but it is impossible. A quick trip to a doctor’s office or the emergency room of a hospital for catheterization and draining the bladder follows.
Good old common sense dictates that a man with even early BPH should seriously consider his consumption of alcohol and its relation to his prostatic condition. At this point many men simply don’t want to take the risk or stand the pain and problems associated with alcohol and BPH and stop drinking.
Beer drinkers will be furious, but the pint-in, pint-out and the much used bathrooms at bars and taverns, indicate that it is well known that beer drinking is immediately followed by voluminous urination.
Here common sense leaps up again. Beer drinking in the afternoon may be easily tolerated by some men, but not by others. Late night beer drinking will almost surely trigger two or three additional night time trips to the bathroom that otherwise could have been avoided.
If you insist on drinking beer, use a little common sense so it doesn’t trigger more unpleasant BPH reactions.
COFFEE, COLAS AND CAFFEINE
Yes, caffeine is the big tiger on your back here. Caffeine is a stimulant to the urinary tract: it makes you urinate more and more frequently. For most well people this is no problem, not even a minor inconvenience. Over the years your body will adapt to the added caffeine.
But when you have BPH, it’s different. You don’t need any more stimulation in your urinary tract. Neither do you need any more volume.
The BPH coffee drinker who normally goes through twelve, eight ounce cups of coffee a day is going to have a much harder time living with his urinary tract, than the non-coffee drinker, or even the man who drinks twelve, eight ounces of non-caffeine fluids a day.
Ounce for ounce, coffee and tea contain twice the amount of caffeine that regular cola drinks do. Of course now most of the colas come in caffeine free types as well. This is one place where you can have your cola and not your caffeine.
In the same manner, there are many caffeine free coffee brands now on the market.
If you want to manage your body with a little more “smarts” give the caffeine free drinks a test in your own bathroom. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised when you make the test.
Oh, the “Principle of the single differential”. When you make any of these intake tests, try to do everything else the same, except for the item you’re testing. If you have two differentials (variables) in your life style, you won’t be able to tell which one made the difference, if there is a difference. It’s an old principle from the physical sciences but it works.
If you drink caffeine fluids, take the test. Try the caffeine free types for a week, doing nothing else different. One BPH patient said it cut his nocturia risings down from two a night to one. After a few weeks you’ll even forget what the caffeine laced drink tasted like.
Don’t forget that many of the current pain pills for headaches, colds and hay fever also contain caffeine. While these aren’t taken often, you might look for some that don’t have caffeine in them, such as the ibuprofen medications.
Jul
7
HOW TO COPE WITH EARLY BPH. LIVING WITH BPH. Early Stages of an Enlarged Prostate.
July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
HOW TO COPE
WITH EARLY BPH
Living with the early stages of an enlarged prostate isn’t all that hard:
This is true. Remember, you had BPH for eight to ten years before it caused you any problems at all. You might have had some mild symptoms for another two or three years before you realized it and found out what was causing them. Now you know.
Now is no time to panic. So these problems caused by BPH area small inconvenience, they are something you can learn to live with. The alternative is not a happy thought.
Let’s go back to our typical case history. This gentleman is the one who is sixty years old and has the three most minor of BPH symptoms: a brief hesitancy when urinating, a slower, less forceful stream, and he usually gets up once a night to urinate.
The secret here is that you know what the cause is of these minor problems, which means you can learn to manage them. You have managed a lot of things in your life, right? First the other kids in your family, then a wife, then your own kids, then that business and all the people you had under you. Compared to that, managing early BPH is a breeze.
First the worry. The experts say again and again that BPH is not cancer, has no connection with prostate cancer, does not lead to cancer and is an entirely separate ailment. So get that out of your mind.
You don’t have prostate cancer, it’s only BPH.
Urologists fight this misconception all the time and gradually they’re winning. They point out that cancer of the prostate is almost always on the outside of the prostate lobes. The enlarged prostate grows inward and outward. There is absolutely no casual relationship between the two.
Now, one more concern with prostate cancer. When surgery is needed for BPH, usually at a much later time than in a man’s fifties or early sixties, there is a finding that about ten percent of the BPH prostates will be found to have a cancer.
Remember, cancer can strike any part of the body at any time in life. It has no connection to BPH. When these cancers are found they are not in the usual places where they could be easily diagnosed during your regular BPH exams. So in reality the BPH surgery is a stroke of luck since most of these cancers are just beginning and are caught quickly so they can be eradicated more easily.
So, from here on we don’t worry about BPH causing or being tied in with prostate cancer in any way. Clear?
LIVING WITH BPH
Urologists point out that the minor symptoms of BPH, often the initial ones, may be the only troubles a man suffers with BPH for as much as ten to fifteen years. That means you shouldn’t even be thinking about or concerned with any worry about prostate surgery or other treatment now. Dump it right out of your computer memory hard disc. Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen for ten to fifteen years? You’ll have plenty of time to fret and stew about it and discuss it with your urologist when the time comes. By then some even better treatments undoubtedly will be developed.
Concentrate on today, and how to make your life pleasant and interesting and fulfilling, right now! in spite of BPH.
We know that there is no “cure” for BPH. You can’t take a pill and like a headache your BPH will just go away. It isn’t that kind of a problem. Even with our miracle modern medical cures, there is nothing even on the drawing boards that will magically cure BPH. So we practice positive thinking and forget about that and move on to areas of behavior that we can and should do something about.
Plain old fashioned horse-sense. With the decline of the horse as the basic transportation unit of Americans, not much is heard anymore about horse-sense. Too bad. Horse sense has shaken down to “common sense”, which is almost as good.
For example, it makes no sense to drink two gallons of water a day when you know you’re going to have to urinate most of that water the same day. Don’t overload your urinary system. The less you drink the less you’ll have to urinate.
Don’t carry this to extremes. The body is at least 1,259 percent water. You need water, fluids, to survive. But there is a happy medium. Some doctors say a man should drink eight, eight ounce glasses of water a day. That’s half a gallon. Actually what they mean is that the body should intake that much fluid a day: coffee, water, milk, soup, colas, juice, any fluid should count.
Many other doctors say this is much more fluid than the average man needs. Your body will tell you when it wants a drink. As a common sense living-with-BPH, start cutting down on your fluids a little at a time. You’ll be urinating less, but still enough. Talk to your urologist or doctor about this and find out what the minimum daily need is for intake fluids for a man of your size and activity. It may be much less than you suspect.
If you do manual labor in the hot sun all day, you’ll need more water than if you’re in an air-conditioned office where you work on a computer. Your doctor will be able to help you here.
TIME YOUR FLUID INTAKE
If nocturia bothers you, and you’re getting up three times a night to urinate, try limiting your fluid intake in the evening. One doctor suggested not to drink any fluids for four hours before retiring. That way your body will have processed your fluids, and passed them well before your sleeping time.
Using a modified system such as this (some men have one small drink at dinner and nothing after that) many BPH patients can cut to once their nocturnal urination. Now that is a real blessing if you can go from three risings to only one a night. This is a prime example of how you can manage your own life to reduce the interference of BPH with your normal activities.