Prevention and treatment of hematuria caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia and early cancer screening
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common disease in elderly men, often developing after age 50. Early clinical manifestations include increased urination frequency, shortened urine stream, and dribbling after urination, along with another symptom: hematuria (blood in the urine). The most common causes of hematuria are benign conditions such as cystitis, urinary tract stones, and tuberculosis; however, elderly men should be particularly vigilant for urinary tract tumors. In clinical practice, significant bleeding caused by BPH is not common; most cases are microscopic hematuria. The best approach is prevention. Patients with BPH should have a thorough understanding of their condition and seek active treatment to minimize the likelihood of hematuria.
Even if hematuria occurs, don't panic. Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Small amounts of hematuria can improve with conservative treatment. Recent reports indicate that using finasteride 5 mg once nightly for two weeks can constrict blood vessels in the prostate, thus having a certain hemostatic effect. Alpha-1 receptor blockers, such as tamsulosin, can improve lower urinary tract obstruction symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and help prevent hematuria. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine prostate powder, which is a heat-clearing medicine, has a cooling and hemostatic effect. Combined with compound prostate capsules that promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, it also has a good effect on treating hematuria caused by BPH. If the urinary symptoms caused by BPH do not improve after long-term drug treatment, or even worsen, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible to have a doctor evaluate your condition and develop an appropriate treatment plan.
In the past, prostate cancer was relatively rare among elderly men in my country. However, with the aging of my country's population, the number of prostate cancer patients is increasing. A retrospective survey of prostate cancer conducted in 1998 by the former Bethune Medical University on 1435 healthy men over 50 years old in Changchun City found that 10 were diagnosed with prostate cancer, an incidence rate of 7‰, indicating that the incidence of this disease in my country is not low. Prostate cancer is a highly insidious malignant tumor, often growing silently in the body of elderly men. Early stages often present no symptoms. Even when symptoms such as increased frequency of urination at night, weak urine stream, slow and weak urination that is intermittent or dribbling appear, it is difficult to differentiate from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) clinically, making a diagnosis of prostate cancer in the elderly particularly challenging.
Because prostate cancer in elderly men is more prone to metastasis, early detection of the disease is particularly important. Currently, there are three methods for early diagnosis: (1) Blood prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. This is a new method for early diagnosis of prostate cancer that has been widely recognized by urologists both domestically and internationally in recent years. Its advantages include its ease of acceptance by the elderly, a total positive rate of over 7%, and over 90% for advanced-stage patients. PSA is a substance produced by the cytoplasm of prostate epithelial cells. The content of this substance in the blood of normal elderly men is very low, usually below 4 micrograms/ml. In patients with prostate cancer, the value often exceeds 4 micrograms/ml. Generally speaking, the higher the value, the more severe the patient's condition.
(2) Serum acid phosphatase assay. In elderly men with prostate cancer, the serum level of this enzyme can be elevated to over 10 King's units. The normal acid phosphatase level is 0–1.1 King's units. King's unit: a unit of enzyme potency, 1 King's unit = 7.14 U/L. (3) Prostate biopsy. Generally, a small amount of biopsy tissue can be obtained by puncturing the prostate of an elderly man through the perineum or rectum using a special puncture needle. Then, a pathological section examination is performed. If cancer cells are found in the biopsy tissue, an early diagnosis can be made.
For the treatment of prostate cancer in elderly men, early-stage prostatectomy should be performed as soon as possible if there are no contraindications to surgery and the patient's health condition is still acceptable. For patients with metastatic disease in the middle or late stages, orchiectomy may be chosen to reduce androgen levels in the body, thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth. Drug therapy may also be used depending on the doctor's assessment of the condition.