금세 한주가 흘러갔습니다. 원장님들 한 주 잘 보내셨는지요? 이번주에는 중·장년남성들의 흔한 고민거리인 전립선비대증에 관하여 다루어보겠습니다. 대화를 살펴보시지요.

Dr. Lee: Welcome, Frank. What’s bothering you?

Frank: Uhh…. It’s a little embarrassing for me to talk about this.

Dr. Lee: Come on, Frank. You’re talking to a doctor. What’s the worry?

Frank: All right, then…. It’s difficult to urinate and when I do it’s really weak. It starts to just dribble at the end….

Dr. Lee: Does it hurt when you urinate? And do you have to run to the bathroom more than 2 or 3 times per night?

Frank: I rarely have pain but I often get up to go to the bathroom.

Dr. Lee: Do you feel that there’s residual urine after urination?

Frank: Yes.

Dr. Lee: It seems that your prostate gland has become enlarged. Symptoms of enlarged prostate(Benign Prostate Hyperplasia; BPH) can include - a weak or slow urinary stream, a feeling of incomplete bladder emptying, difficulty starting urination, frequent urination, urgency to urinate, getting up frequently at night to urinate, a urinary stream that starts and stops, straining to urinate, continued dribbling of urine, returning to urinate again minutes after finishing. You may need further examination such as a digital rectal exam for an exact diagnosis though.

Frank: Jesus! I’m only 38 years old! I’m not even married yet. That’s why I hesitated to tell you about this. Does it affect my sexual function?

Dr. Lee: Well, the answer is yes and no.

Frank: What do you mean?

Dr. Lee: I mean that there’s no evidence an enlarged prostate itself has an adverse effect on your sex life. But when you have an enlarged prostate, your health may not be like it was before. So BPH and sexual dysfunction may happen together.

Frank: Ok. What can I do now?

Dr. Lee: How long have you been suffering from these symptoms?

Frank: Approximately 3 months.

Dr. Lee: All right. You should visit my clinic twice a week. Also I’ll prescribe effective herbal medicine for you. I assume that it will take about 5~6 weeks to get better.

Frank: Thank you doctor.

Published by Lee, sang-il
Edited by Anna Joy Toombs & Troy Flowers