Monday’s Health Report: Get to know the symptoms, treatments of an enlarged prostate [Video]

BATON ROUGE — Benign prostatic hyperplasia, also called an enlarged prostate, is incredibly common, especially among men over the age of 40. While it is not the same as prostate cancer, it can cause significant quality of life issues.

Some lifestyle changes can help with treatment and reduce symptoms.

“I like to tell patients that the prostate is kind of like an orange with a straw going right through the middle of it. And as we age, the prostate gets larger and larger. And the straw going through the middle gets compressed by the tissue of the prostate, makes it harder for the bladder to push urine through the urethra,” Scott Cheney, a urologist at the Mayo Clinic, said.

Enlarged prostate symptoms can include frequent or urgent urination, a weak urine stream and the inability to empty your bladder.

“I see men who get up at night to pee, and …