Prostate

Kim Young-mun (52• Gangdong-gu, Seoul), a shuttle bus driver with 21 years of experience, has not been feeling well after his bladder problems started a couple of years ago. From two months ago, he has started to go to bathroom more often, and he wakes up twice to urinate at night. On top of that, it takes him two or three hours to go around the whole bus route. So, it’s really hard for him to hold it back once he feels like urinating.

Kim has taken tests such as the international prostate symptom score (IPSS), a blood test, and a digital rectal examination to test for prostate gland problems at the Asan Medical Center.

Professor Kim Cheong-soo said, “Based on self-diagnosis results, it looks like you are having a hard time urinating.”

Kim said “While driving a bus, I’m not allowed to pull it over. When I feel like urinating all of a sudden, I cannot hold it. There are many co-workers who have the same symptoms as mine.”

Professor Kim said “If you sit for a long time or hold back urine, your prostatic hypertrophy will deteriorate. So many drivers suffer from prostatic hypertrophy.”

Prostatic hypertrophy is a disease which presses down on the urethra while the prostate surrounding the urethra grows bigger abnormally. Growing old, every man experiences that. But, the level of symptoms varies from person to person.

It is known that if one holds back urine often, urine pooled in urethra flows backward into the prostate and causes a chemical reaction. That leads to prostate abnormalities.

Professor Kim asked “Do you often eat meat a lot?”

Kim said “I have samgyeopsal (Korean bacon) and soju four times a week after work. I inhale exhaust gas a lot. I heard that eating samgyeopsal is good for respiratory organs.”

“Imbalance in male hormones results in prostate gland problems. Animal fat in meat such as pork consists of male hormones. If you eat a lot of meat, the imbalance in male hormones would become worse.”

Coffee, of which Kim drinks four or five cups a day, causes urine more often and stimulates prostate gland. So, no more coffee would be good for his health.

Professor Kim said, “Whether to treat this with medicines or operate on him will be decided after doing a urine speed test to measure the speed of his urine, and an ultrasonic examination to check the severity of his prostatic hypertrophy. As far as the treatment is concerned, the sooner, the better.”

Kim got 28 points on IPSS test which indicated that his disease is serious (over 7 points requires treatment), and he was OK in his blood test and digital rectal examination. Blood test which was undertaken to see if his prostate has an inflammation or cancer broke out, showed 0.59ng (1ng is one billionth of a gram) per mL in terms of prostate specificen (PSA) figures.

Kim was advised to change his life style until additional test results come out so that his health would not deteriorate.

Professor Kim said, “You should stand up from the driving seat at least every two hours, rest and not hold back urine. Otherwise, your urethra could be clogged and urine would not come out. Having a hip bath is helpful.”

Taking a walk often and doing exercise focusing on the lower part of the body is also helpful. Losing his weight, which stands at 88 kg at his height 165 cm, is recommended. Obesity is related to prostatic hypertrophy, as well.

Professor Kim said “You shouldn’t drink water two hours before going to bed. In case you catch a cold, tell a doctor that you have a prostate disease. Antihistamines contained in medicines for cold and bronchial expansion causes contractions in the urethra muscle.”

Na-Yeon Lee larosa@donga.com