With Living A Longer Life Comes The Added Responsibility Of Practicing Good Health Habits

Men in the United States are living longer lives unlike any

other time in American history. Due to the many scientific

breakthroughs and the technological advances in medical care,

the life span of men are continuing to increase with each

passing year. But with it comes some disturbing news that can

stop you dead in your tracks.

Men between the ages of seventy and eighty-five suffer

disproportionally with their prostate gland---more so than

any other age group, and ninety per cent of them suffer from

some form or type of urinary incontinence as well. Along

with an extended life span comes some shocking news; nine out

of ten men in this age group have, or will have some trouble

with an enlarged prostate gland. Often times the prostate can

become cancerous and require surgical removal, and even with

the removal of the prostate, post surgical complications can

present some very difficult challenges and hurdles that leave

many men bewildered and perplexed.

Prior to having the prostate removed most men have difficulty

trying to urinate, and of course this condition can be traced

directly back to the enlargement of the prostate. The

prostate is a gland about the size of a walnut and it

encloses the urethra. As long as the prostate is normal size

or slightly larger than normal it doesn't create a problem

when it comes to allowing urine to pass through the urethra.

The urethra is a duct or tube that runs from the bladder

through the prostate and down through the penis. Once the

kidneys have cleansed the blood of all waste, excess water

and other impurities it sends the refuse which is now urine

down through two tubes called the ureter tubes into the

bladder. There the urine is allowed to remain until the

nerves signal the bladder to empty itself of all content or

urine. Unless there is some problem with the bladder

receiving these nerve signals to release its content, it will

do as it was instructed to do by the nerve signal that it

received.

However, as the urine travel from the bladder through the

urethra it must pass through the prostate gland much like a

locomotive passes through a tunnel. If for some reason the

tunnel is not wide enough; high enough to allow the

locomotive to continue through, the locomotive will become

stuck or completely derailed; it would depend on the impact

at which the locomotive hit the tunnel as it tried to pass

through it.

The urethra travels through the prostate and through the

penis, and the urine travels through the urethra, that

travels through the prostate, and out the penis. But when the

prostate has become enlarged it practically squeezes the

urethra shut, preventing the urine from flowing smoothly

through the urethra and out the penis. It is not uncommon at

all for men with an enlarge prostate to have an overwhelming

urge to urinate, but once he tries to void or pass urine only

a trickle slowly comes out. This very uncomfortable situation

is due solely to an enlarge prostate. Unless this situation

is quickly corrected consequences could prove to be very

serious, and that's assuming that the prostate is not

cancerous.

Once the prostate is removed, or a prostatectomy is done it

can leave the patient incontinent temporarily, however, it

can also leave some patients permanently incontinent.

Sometimes a prostatectomy is followed up with additional

surgeries to help alleviate incontinence, or urinary

incontinence in particular. There are several procedures that

are readily available and have proven to be relatively

effective in the management and control of urine voiding or

urine passing. The time will not permit me to go into great

details but I would like to mention that during a

prostatectomy the sphincter muscle that's located at the

pelvis floor can be severely damaged. The sphincter muscle

plays a very important role in restricting the urine from

escaping or voiding when it is not suppose to. It encloses

the neck of the bladder tight enough to prevent any kind of

urine leakage, but if it has become damaged it will no longer

enclose the bottle neck of the bladder tight enough to

prevent urine from escaping. When this happen an artificial

sphincter can be installed through surgery, and it will

resume the role of the sphincter muscle.

In closing, there are a number of conditions that can lead to

urinary incontinence in men, from an over active bladder

(AOB); urinary tract infection; enlarge prostate gland, to

the break down of the sphincter muscle and so on. But one

point is clear, with aging comes the added responsibility of

working closely with your physician to head off would be

complications that can lead to or further promote favorable

conditions for urinary incontinence.

by: D. 'Raye Samoth

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