Soal dan Pembahasan TBI (Reading Comprehension) Bagian 12

        The term benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) just simply means an enlarge prostate. It is generally believed to affect most men over the age of 45 (with various levels of severity). Overall, the number of men with BPH increases progressively with age. By age 60, 50 percent of men will have some signs of BPH. By age 85, 90 percent of men will have  signs  of  the  condition. About  one-third  of  these  men  will  develope  symptoms  that  require  treatment.  Prostate enlargement, or BPH, is not a malignant condition, but it does put pressure on the urethra and can cause a number of urinary symptoms such as frequent urination, urinary urgency, the need to get up at night to urinate, difficulty starting urination, a reduction in the force of the urine stream, terminal dribbling, incomplete emptying of the bladder, and even the inabiity to urinate at all. The prostate, a small gland that produces fluid for semen, is in an ideal position to cause trouble. The gland wraps snugly around the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder. It’s a tight squeeze-and it only gets tighter as men grow older. As symptoms progress, a man may also be at higher risk of bladder stones and bladder infection. The kidneys may be damaged from back pressure caused   by the retention of large amounts of urine in the bladder. There may be sudden blockage of the urinary tube, making urination impossible, and not infrequently, blood may be detected in the urine. The exact mechanism for the enlargement of the prostate gland remains unclear; however, there are certain factors that are obviously involved. As men age, the male sex hormone dihydrotestosterone(DHT) starts to build up in the prostate, which causes the prostate to slowly enlarge.

The Vahlensieck, AUSI and I-PSS rating systems are used to evaluate the severity of symptoms associated with BPH. All these methods are based on a limited number of questions associated with a numbered score: the total score is an evaluative index of BPH-associated severity, which can be from “mild” to “moderate” or “severe”. Severe symptoms that are associated with a very large prostate may require surgery.