Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a very common ailment that affects men when they get older with about half of all men in the 60's and typically 90 % of men in their 70's being affected.
It is all about the prostate, and that it has grown too large to allow for proper and normal urination.
What happens is that when we hit puberty, our prostate goes through a growth spurt, and again this happens at around 25 years of age.
For the rest of our life our prostate does continue to grow slightly each year, but most people don't experience problems with benign prostatic hyperplasia before they are 40 years old.
Well into middle age and beyond, as the prostate continues to grow, the surrounding tissue makes it difficult for the prostate to expand without putting pressure on the urethra which is the tube from the bladder through which our urine passes.
The symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia and that our prostate has grown too large is that we often cannot empty our bladder and we are going to urinate much more often than before.
Allowing the condition to continue to worsen without treatment runs the risk of stressing the bladder causing permanent damage and also urinary tract infections.
The treatments are many and varied, but some are much more effective than others.
Surgery is the most extreme and is not recommended due to the very delicate nerve endings in this area that if damaged can destroy the man's ability to have erections.
Drugs also are not recommended due to the side effects found all too often.
Generally the most common and success options do not rely on the scalpel or drugs - but rather heat treatment of the prostate to reduce its size.
Some such treatments include microwave treatment to reduce the swelling of the prostate, and other options include wearing a heated belt pack over the affected organ so as to take away the offending swelling.
My resource box as a link to a video describing what I am talking about.