Definition of Prostatitis

Prostatitis: Inflammation of the prostate gland, a very common health concern, accounting for up to 25% of all medical office visits by young and middle-age men for problems relating to the genital and urinary systems.

The prostate is a small organ about the size of a walnut that is situated below the bladder (where urine is stored) and surrounds the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder). The prostate normally produces a fluid that becomes part of the semen, the white fluid that contains the sperm.

There are 4 types of prostatitis:

• Acute bacterial prostatitis is the least common type. It often causes chills, fever, pain in the lower back and genital area, body aches, burning or painful urination, and the frequent and urgent need to urinate. The urinary tract is infected, witness the white blood cells and bacteria in the urine. Treatment is with antibiotics.

• Chronic bacterial prostatitis is also relatively uncommon. It is acute prostatitis superimposed on a defect in the prostate, which becomes the focal point for the persistent bacterial infection. Effective treatment requires identification and correction of the defect in the prostate and then antibiotics.

• Nonbacterial prostatitis is the most common and least understood form of prostatitis. It is a chronic, painful condition. Symptoms go away and then come back without warning. The urine and fluid from the prostate show no evidence of a known infecting organism, but the semen and other fluids from the prostate contain cells that the body usually produces to fight infection. Treatment with antibiotics and drugs that relax the muscles of the prostate gland often fails. This form of prostatitis can be associated with other diseases, such as Reiter syndrome.

• Prostatodynia is similar to nonbacterial prostatitis with regard to symptoms, age of patients, and ineffectiveness of treatment. However, there are no objective findings, such as the presence of infection-fighting cells, in the urine of men who suffer from prostatodynia.