Prostatitis: legends and myths of male disease
For the male half of our readers, prostatitis is more than an actual topic for conversation. Perhaps this is the most mythologized disease. Legends about him were created not only at the household level, but also with the help of doctors. Until a certain time, the causes of this disease were unknown, and until the exact infectious nature of prostatitis was established, it was unclear how to deal with it. A lot of techniques have appeared. Almost all emerging medical technologies have been tested on patients with chronic prostatitis – the most modern medical treatment, laser therapy, microwave hyperthermia, various immunostimulating methods and much more.
What are the true roots of the disease, and what are the safe ways to solve it – these and other questions will be answered by an employee of the Center for Human Reproduction, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences Mikhail Vasilyevich Koryakin.
Infections– Mikhail Vasilyevich, does prostatitis occur according to the same pattern as a common infectious disease?
- of course. This is an infectious disease, and in the vast majority of cases its cause is an ascending infection transmitted during sexual contacts. The "gentleman's set" of diseases that cause prostatitis includes, for example, chlamydia, ureaplasma, mycoplasma, gardnerella, the same well-known trichomonas, etc. In addition to them, intestinal infections and infections living in the oral cavity are adjacent to this cheerful company. Separately, it is worth mentioning the herpes virus. Genital herpes is very insidious and often its "owners" suffer from one form or another of severe chronic prostatitis. The herpes virus, once embedded in the DNA of a human cell, remains there forever, becoming active during unfavorable periods for a person when he has problems with the immune system. Moreover, after each attack, the area of its distribution can expand more and more – starting from the external genitalia and further along the mucous membrane of the urethra, up to the prostate gland. The disease exhausts the patient. Moreover, many people do not guess the reasons, since the standard therapy is practically the same – antibacterial, and antibiotics do not act on the herpes virus in any way. On the contrary, a number of antibiotics depress the immune system, which further favors the activation of the virus. It turns out a vicious circle. In cases where the cause of prostatitis is an intestinal infection, the disease is also not easy, because, despite the existence of the latest antibacterial drugs, it is extremely difficult to destroy this infection in the prostate gland.
– So you mean that the fate of prostatitis patients mainly depends on themselves?
– Naturally, because prostatitis is essentially a banal complication of sexually transmitted diseases that are not diagnosed or cured in time.
– And why not cured?
– Because most of these diseases are asymptomatic in the initial stages. Over the 50-60 years that humanity has been using antibiotics, microorganisms have changed, adapted, and reduced their aggressiveness. Due to this, the primary symptoms of diseases are often blurred, or are not detected. At the same time, sexual relations today often begin at a very young age. Where can teenagers know the details of microbiology if they are not always familiar with elementary contraception. And the disease develops gradually, along an ascending path, and as a result there is a serious inflammatory process that can last for years, decades. Moreover, at the first stages, a person does not have sufficient grounds to consult a doctor. Something pricked, unpleasant sensations appeared when urinating, some kind of unpleasant pain in the perineum - all this is of little concern with today's rhythm of life. People don't pay attention to it, and as a result, the process proceeds slowly but surely. And even when people go to the doctor, unfortunately, the doctor cannot always identify the cause, since laboratory diagnostics often suffers. Unfortunately, not all laboratories that conduct research can be trusted.
Prevention– Wouldn't it be easier to have your own laboratory?
– The clinic should not have its own laboratory. You cannot trust a medical institution that performs medical measures by itself and at the same time controls itself. This is a violation of existing world norms. It is very easy to treat a laboratory-detected disease that does not exist. Thus, it is possible to put all medicine on commercial rails and receive good dividends from this.
– It is known that sometimes even long-term treatment does not give results. Is this also relevant in the case of prostatitis?
– Talk about the fact that prostatitis is incurable is another myth. With modern antibacterial agents, the inflammatory process is easily stopped. Except for its viral variety. But the elimination of infection is the first step, it is still necessary to eliminate the consequences of the inflammatory process, restore immunity. With the help of the most modern methods of treatment, we direct the process in such a direction that the body can restore what is lost. The treatment of this disease was difficult, with moral and physical anguish, when its causal factor was not clear. What they did not invent – and various electrodes that were inserted into the urethra, and metal bougie, and tamponing of the urethra with special ointments, and the administration of drugs into the urethra. But all these methods of treatment were accompanied by very unpleasant and even painful sensations, and lasted for years. There is also such a "technology" as therapeutic prostate massage, invented by our domestic urologists and put on stream for many years. So, God forbid it was to get sick with this disease. But, by the way, even now many continue to be treated in the same grandfathered ways.
– What should the patient pay attention to first of all when choosing a clinic, so as not to fall into the hands of such "specialists"?
– First of all, it is necessary to find out whether the clinic is conducting some kind of analysis of its activities in this area, whether it is seriously dealing with this problem, which laboratories it uses, whether it complies with modern standards in diagnostics and treatment methods - in other words, whether scientific research on this problem is conducted in the clinic. In addition, the issue of the availability of appropriate medical equipment is also important.
Treatment– Can I tell you more about modern treatment methods?
How do they differ from those that were used before?
– Firstly, modern methods have a targeted focus - the fight against infection, as I have already said, is antibacterial therapy using immunomodulation and immunocorrection methods, since no antibiotic will cure infection if the human immune system is in a weakened state. Secondly, it is necessary to treat a couple – a man and a woman, otherwise, no matter how competently a man is treated, he still eventually returns to his "half", and everything starts over. Thirdly, it is a whole complex of physiotherapeutic procedures that ensure improved blood circulation in the prostate gland and good availability of medications to the focus of inflammation. And the most important thing is the individuality of the treatment, the treatment is not of the disease, but of the patient.
Unfortunately, our men strive to hide everything that can somehow call into question their male viability, so even if they decide to go to the doctor, especially to the urologist, they will go alone and will not tell anyone about it. We are aware of all the necessary conditions for anonymity, confidentiality, and careful treatment of the patient. Believe me, we have opportunities to help them. People understand that they are interested in this, first of all, themselves, so if necessary, they bring not only a wife, but also a mistress. But again, this applies to those cases that are amenable to therapy. As for viral prostatitis, then everything is somewhat more complicated. More restrictions are imposed on the patient. For example, solar radiation is a powerful reactivator of herpes, so instead of sunbathing, a person should sit under an umbrella. These patients cannot afford spicy food for some period of time, stress is contraindicated for them, steam rooms and saunas are excluded for them – all this can cause reactivation of the virus. In general, the reactivation of the virus itself should already be a cause for concern, since it indicates problems in the immune system.
– With such restrictions, what kind of courage do you need to take up treatment?
– A patient with chronic prostatitis is ready to go to some restrictions to get rid of his ailment. This is a special category of patients. Doctors in particularly severe cases even formed the term "facius prostaticus" – "prostatic face". The mournful face of a person exhausted by discomfort and pain, an emphasis on the disease, excessive anxiety and suspiciousness.
– It is believed that chronic prostatitis is one of the main causes of impotence in men. Is that really the case?
– This is another myth of prostatitis. These are unrelated processes. The fact is that the situation with diagnostics used to be so bad that almost every patient who came to the doctor with a problem of minor urology or andrology left with a diagnosis of prostatitis. Therefore, his mythological false-positive "diagnosis" was extremely high, and all "male problems" were attributed to prostatitis. A man who is not all right with an erection will break through the wall with his head, just to be cured, and since he is told that it is prostatitis, he is actively engaged in his treatment, but he treats the wrong thing, not so, and besides without the proper effect.
– That is, in fact, it is possible to put an equal sign between prostatitis problems and diagnostic problems?
– In principle, yes. Moreover, today the number of diagnostic methods is increasing, the offer to undergo an ultrasound examination, for example, can be found even on the street. And just imagine: a person enters the ultrasound diagnostics room, with modern equipment, a sensor is placed on his stomach, the doctor sees some changes in the image of the prostate gland and immediately diagnoses prostatitis. A person sees an image on the screen and immediately feels doomed.
In addition, a number of other diseases occur under the mask of prostatitis: neurological, for example, or diseases of the rectum or colon, and all this is placed by the doctor in the procrustean bed of prostatitis, and the patient wanders from one urologist to another.
There is, by the way, another myth – that all men suffering from prostatitis are potentially infertile. There is a certain connection here, but it is very ambiguous. Of course, sexually transmitted infections by themselves do not benefit the reproductive system. They can not only cause inflammatory diseases of the prostate gland, but also lead to a violation of the patency of the vas deferens. Therefore, of course, they are a risk factor and need to be eliminated. However, much more often in patients suffering from a violation of spermatogenesis, in addition to prostatitis, there is a whole complex of diseases, most of which are well studied and effectively cured.
– Are sexual relations prohibited for patients with prostatitis?
– Rather the opposite. Regular sexual life is included in the complex of medical procedures. I have already talked about such a method as prostate massage. Such an unpleasant and painful procedure can only be justified for those men who have taken a vow not to lead a sexual life. Since the best prostate massage is normal ejaculation, and there is nothing to invent. A full-fledged sexual contact is enough, and the massage will be carried out for all 300-400%. Although if you look at medical manuals 20-30 years ago, there is a ban on sexual life in the treatment of prostatitis.
– How long can prostatitis treatment take?
– This is due only to the state of the immune system. If she is depressed, the recovery period may be prolonged. But in somatically healthy men who do not have serious problems with the immune system, with the longest therapy (for example, against chlamydia), treatment takes several weeks. Then supportive therapy is prescribed, and after 2-3, at least 4 months, the man gets rid of this disease safely.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru04.02.2008