Enlarged Prostate (BPH): A Common Part of Aging
Information courtesy of Physician's Choice
Enlarged Prostate (BPH): A Common Part of Aging
By the age 50, nearly half of all men already have BPH. And by the age of 80, almost all men have it. As more and more men develop BPH, there is a definite trend toward an increasing incidence of prostate cancer.
Though the prostate continues to grow during most of a man's life, the enlargement doesn't usually cause problems until late in life. BPH rarely causes symptoms before age 40, but more than half of men in their sixties and as many as 90 percent in their seventies and eighties have some symptoms of BPH.
Male prostate problems have now reached epidemic proportions. Over 400,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in men each year - more cases than breast cancer in women.
After age 40, the cells of the prostate gland begin to continuously multiply, leading to an increase in prostate size.
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