Sexuality 3: Prostate Disease

Prostate Disease

What is prostate disease?

There are a number of conditions of the prostate, including benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), prostate cancer, and prostatitis.

BPH is enlargement of the prostate (usually seen with men over 40 years of age) that causes urinary difficulties.
Prostate cancer is the rapid growth of abnormal cells, either confined to the prostate or extending to surrounding tissue.
Prostatitis, an inflammation of the prostate often caused by bacteria, can be acute (short, sudden episode), chronic (prolonged, continuing), or noninfectious.

Effects of prostate diseases management on sexuality:

BPH
Treatment for BPH involves the use of medications that counteract the effect of the male hormone (antiandrogen), which can reduce sexual drive and cause erectile dysfunction (impotence). In a small proportion of men, surgical procedures may cause erectile dysfunction and dysfunction with ejaculation (retrograde, ejaculating backward into the urinary bladder rather than outward through the penis).

Prostate cancer
Treatment options include watchful waiting, surgery, and radiation, hormone, or chemotherapy.

Surgery involves removal of the prostate and some of the tissue around the gland, which can result in impotence (lack of the ability to achieve an erection) and incontinence (lack of bladder control).
With radiation therapy, impotence and urinary incontinence occur slightly less often than with surgery; however, damage to the rectum is a potential complication.
Hormone therapy slows or prevents the growth of cancer cells by reducing testosterone, which stimulates their growth; this can be achieved by administering female hormones (estrogen) or removing the testes, both of which may involve the risk of impotence and loss of sexual desire.

Men who are impotent have normal sensations, can have a normal sex drive, and can achieve a normal orgasm. Sexual function may be assisted to return to normal, with newer technologies (where available). For men over 70 with slow-growing tumors, other significant illnesses, or fear of the side effects of recommended therapies, watchful waiting is the management of choice.

Prostatitis
Treatment for prostatitis includes the use of antimicrobial and pain-relieving medication. In severe cases, removal of the affected area of the prostate may be required. Prostatitis is not sexually transmissible.