Distinguishing Between Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia And Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy

Medical terms, like diseases, can be difficult to understand by the general public. Therefore, it?s common that the public will sometimes commit mistakes in naming diseases. But, even those in the medical field will have differing opinions in some terminologies and two of these are prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic hypertrophy.

These two terms are not the same, but they became interchangeable sometimes. The increase in size of the prostate is referred as both benign prostatic hyperplasia and benign prostatic hypertrophy, which is quite wrong. This is because what really happens is hyperplasia of the epithelial and stromal cells of the prostate.

So, what?s hypertrophy? According to the medical definition, it is the increase in the volume of a tissue or an organ caused by the enlargement of the component cells. Based on this definition, it?s quite obvious that hyperplasia is different from hypertrophy. Maybe one reason for their interchangeability is their tendency to occur together, like in the enlargement and proliferation of the cells of the uterus.

To make these terms clearer, here are some examples of hypertrophy: muscular hypertrophy, which occurred in skeletal muscles; hypertrophy of the breasts and clitoris and ventricular hypertrophy.

Now that the issue concerning the correct usage of the terms prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic hypertrophy is already explained, the focus will now shift on the effect of this disease on men afflicted by it. For one, this disease is common in older men and the enlargement of the prostate may result in the restriction of urine flow from the bladder.

The urinary obstruction is also called lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). One should know that about half of men diagnosed with BPH or benign prostatic hyperplasia suffer from moderate-to-severe LUTS. Manifestations of LUTS usually include frequent urination, urinary hesitancy, urinary retention and painful urination or dysuria.

The next time you hear of terms like benign prostatic hyperplasia and benign prostatic hypertrophy, you can correctly use and apply the right term. Keep in mind that helpful articles which provide the right information like this one can aid you to know what?s to be believed and what should be avoided.