UPDATE - Issue 39 - Winter 2010
We launch our first parliamentary campaign
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Dr Jon Rees is interviewed outside the Houses of Parliament |
Amanda McLean and Mark Simmonds MP |
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) affects more than a third of men aged over 50 years, equating to around 3.2 million men in the UK, most of whom suffer in silence. In October 2009, Prostate UK launched a campaign to raise awareness of BPH.
The campaign was unveiled at a parliamentary reception in the House of Commons and has two key objectives. The first is to encourage men to seek medical advice for unexplained urinary symptoms rather than assuming they are a normal part of aging. The second is to ensure that where appropriate, BPH is managed by GPs in the primary care setting in order to treat it earlier and minimise costly surgical interventions.
BPH may cause a range of unpleasant symptoms including frequent night-time waking to pass urine, running to the toilet, incontinence and difficulty in urinating. It can lead to irritability, anxiety, loss of sex drive and can have a significant, adverse impact on the quality of life of those affected and their families.
Effective treatments are available to relieve the symptoms of BPH but many men fail to seek medical advice. Unfortunately, if left untreated, BPH can lead to increased risk of serious and expensive long-term complications such as acute urinary retention (AUR), kidney and bladder conditions, hospitalisation and surgery.
Over 50 MPs lent their support to the campaign which received media coverage with Amanda McLean and Dr Jon Rees, a GP with specialist interest in urology, interviewed.
To coincide with the launch of the campaign a new report was produced by GlaxoSmithKline called ProState of the Nation. This report highlights the current situation of under-diagnosis and under-treatment of BPH in the UK and the financial impact on the NHS caused by unnecessary referrals and expensive complications.
The ProState of the Nation report also emphasises the fact that with appropriate training and resources GPs can do much to effectively manage BPH. This would help to reduce the economic burden of BPH on the health service given that procedures and associated costs undertaken in secondary care are estimated to be almost 60% higher than primary care drug treatment.