Q: I am a 50 years old male and have a problem in my prostrate. Because of this, I have to go to urinate atleast 3-5 times at night. This disturbs my sleep as well. I have on medication of Harnal (Urimax) 0.2mg, which I take at bedtime. Last year I also got circumcision done, which according to the doctor, was the cause of repetitive infection in prostrate. This did not help me. Will laser cutting of prostrate be beneficial and relieve me of the problem? Shall appreciate your comments.

A:Prostate can give rise to symptoms, which could be obstructive and irritative in nature. Obstructive symptoms are hesitancy at the start of urination, interrupted stream and weak stream. Irritative symptoms are increased urinary frequency to pass urine (one, you are complaining about) and urgency. While obstructive symptoms can be tackled with surgery, laser or otherwise, one is not so sure of irritative symptoms. Most of irritative symptoms secondary to obstruction subside after prostate surgery over a period of time, but many patients have frequency due to other reasons, and fail to improve even after surgery. Such reasons are increased urine output (increased intake of fluids, or increased formation of urine - as in uncontrolled diabetics), decreased bladder capacity (though this should bother you both during the day and night), and overactive bladder (or OAB, as we call it, 70% of men and women by the age of 70 years may have some degree of OAB). I hope you may have understood that a statement like prostate laser surgery is the answer to all urinary symptoms in elderly males may be too simplistic a statement to make, and is the reason for 15 to 20% unsatisfied prostate surgery patients. You certainly need a detailed overview of all things to answer your question satisfactorily.