The prostate is a gland that only men have. It is found right below the bladder. Its function is to produce semen. Unfortunately, most men eventually have some sort of problem that affects their prostate. The three main problems are:
* infection,
* enlargement, or
* cancer.

Prostate infections usually strike men between the ages of 30 and 50 who are sexually active. If you have an acute infection, you'll know that something is wrong. You may have fever, chills, and low back pain. It will feel like you need to urinate all the time, but it will hurt when you do. With a chronic infection, you might have pain in the testicles or penis and pain when you ejaculate. Most infections, whether chronic or acute, are bacterial and can be cleared up with medications.

Prostate enlargement is also called benign prostatic hypertrophy, or BPH. This is rarely seen in men under forty. It occurs in half the men over 50 and eighty percent of men over age seventy. You will notice the symptoms. You have to urinate much more often. Over time, you begin to get up several times a night to urinate. When you do, you have trouble starting, trouble stopping, and a weak stream when you are urinating. There are several treatment options for BPH. Medications such as prazosin (Minipress) or hormones like finasteride (Proscar) can be helpful in many cases. There are also many surgical procedures which can help. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) a "shaving" of the prostate, used to be the only option. There are now procedures which use lasers, microwaves, "balloons", and other methods. Many of these are experimental, and it has yet to be shown if they are as effective as a TURP.

The most serious prostate problem is cancer. This disease may show no symptoms at all when it begins. Prostate cancer is more common in men over 60 but can strike younger men. In men who do show symptoms, common signs are weight loss, bone pain, shortness of breath, swollen lymph nodes, and problems urinating. Treatments include radiation, surgery and hormone treatment. The prognosis is good if the disease is found early.

For more information about your prostate, read The Prostate Book, published by Krames Communications. You may want to contact the National Kidney and Urologic Disease Information Clearinghouse at (301) 468-6345. For more information about prostate cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at (800) 227-2345.

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