Prostate Infections

• Prostate Infections Overview
• Prostate Infections Causes
• Prostate Infections Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Exams and Tests
• Prostate Infections Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Next Steps
• Follow-up
• Prevention
• Outlook
• Multimedia
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors

Prostate Infections Overview

The prostate gland is a part of a man's reproductive system, secreting fluids that help transport sperm. The gland lies just below the bladder and surrounds the urethra-the tube that drains the bladder.

Infection that irritates the prostate can inflame the gland, causing swelling. Prostate infections or prostatitis occurs most often in men aged 30-50 years but can occur in older men.

• Prostatitis is classified into 4 types. Of these, infection causes the first 2 syndromes listed. No one is sure what causes the other syndromes.

• Acute bacterial prostatitis

• Chronic bacterial prostatitis

• Chronic abacterial prostatitis

• Prostatodynia (pain in the prostate gland)

• A recent Wisconsin survey estimated the incidence of prostatitis at 6%. A population-based study found the prevalence rate to be higher than 8%.

• Half of all men are estimated to develop symptoms of prostatitis at some time in their lives. In 1985, more office visits occurred for prostatitis than for either benign prostatic hypertrophy or prostate cancer. In the early 1990s, prostatitis resulted in 2 million office visits per year in the United States. It is the most common urologic diagnosis in men younger than 50 years.
  
  
• In spite of it being a common and an important problem, prostatitis is poorly studied and not well understood.