The Prostate > BPH > Symptoms
The spectrum of symptoms that are associated with BPH are known collectively as lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS for short), and are outlined below. They are commonly divided into two separate groups: the obstructive symptoms and irritative ones. Urethral compression by the enlarging prostate gives rise to the obstructive symptoms, whereas overactive detrusor (bladder) muscles and hyperplasia (overgrowth of the prostate cells) causes irritative symptoms.
Lower urinary tract symptoms associated with BPH |
OBSTRUCTIVE |
Hesitancy (when the urine flow stops and starts) |
Diminished urine stream |
A weak urine stream, with a need to strain to pass urine |
Urination takes a long time |
After urinating, there is still the feeling that some urine is 'left' |
A sudden or slowly building inability to urinate |
|
IRRITATIVE |
When there is an urge to urinate, it also feels necessary to do so urgently |
Frequent trips to the toilet |
Getting up in the night to urinate |
When there is an urge to urinate, there is also a leak of a little urine |
The symptoms of BPH overlap with those of other conditions, so the doctor will question his patient about their general health and what seem like unrelated symptoms to get an accurate picture. In order to try to quantify the symptoms, patients may be asked questions that relate to a scoring system.
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This takes the form of a simple self-explanatory questionnaire which has to be filled out and returned. The most commonly used one in the UK is the "International Prostate Scoring System" or IPSS (shown above). The doctor will also be concerned with how 'bothersome' the symptoms are to the patient. Again, this can be approached in a systematic manner, with the responses scored. If the IPSS form is used, the "Quality of Life" section at the bottom of the form addresses this.