Q: I am a 77 years old man diagnosed with an enlarged prostate gland six months back. I am also a heart patient and taking medicines for the last 26 years, and also suffered from Myocardial Infarction 26 years back. Since then, I am taking half a tablet of Sorbitrate (5 mg) whenever I feel pain. Is an enlarged prostate gland dangerous?

A:Older men suffer from a very common benign condition due to enlarged prostate called BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia). Prostate is a gland that continues to grow throughout life but causes urinary symptoms in only a subset of people. Some of the common symptoms that men with BPH experience are frequency, nocturia (waking at night to go to urinate), incomplete bladder emptying, urgency, hesitancy (prior to initiating stream) and a weak urinary stream. From the symptoms that you described it sounds like you have this condition and Afdura is the best medicine available for this condition. You need to ask your doctor / urologist to check your PSA and do a rectal exam (to make sure this is not prostate cancer) and check a PVR (post-void residual) to make sure you are emptying your bladder completely. If your symptoms progressively worsen with Afdura, you may need an operation called TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate).