Prostate disease and prostate cancer are diseases that are not often talked about and the symptoms are not very well known, although this is slowly improving. If you don’t know what the symptoms are or even where the prostate is located then you’re certainly not alone. In a recent survey in the UK over 50% of men over 55 years surveyed for Olympus Medical didn’t know the symptoms of prostate disease and where the prostate is located.

If you are worried about your prostate or prostate disease, here you will find more information to tell you what the prostate is and what it does, what the symptoms of prostate disease are and perhaps help you to be more aware of what to look out for, and what might happen at an appointment with your GP.

Be able to recognise the symptoms:

Hesitancy Standing waiting before urine starts to flow
Frequency Passing urine more often than before
Intermittent stream Stopping and starting when passing urine
Straining Having to push to get urine starting to flow
Weak or poor stream Weak, dribbly flow of urine and taking longer to empty the bladder
Dribbling After you think you’re finished a little more urine dribbles out and you have no control over this
Urgency Having to get the toilet fast and not being able to wait
Nocturia Having to pass urine several times during the night

Prostatitis

In addition to the above prostatitis can also have the following symptoms:

  • Chills
  • Body aches
  • Feeling unwell
  • Fever
  • Pain in genital area

Prostate cancer

  • In the early stages, there are often no symptoms at all
  • Blood in urine or semen
  • Pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips or upper thighs
  • Unexplained weight loss

What the medical words mean, abbreviations that you might hear and medical staff that you might meet.

When you have been diagnosed with any disease or condition, unavoidably, there will medical words and abbreviations that doctors, nurses and other medical staff will use that you have never heard of and will perhaps not know what they mean and prostate disease and prostate cancer are no different.

A helpful list of terms you might come across is provided here in alphabetical order.