BPH is a benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate that blocks the flow of urine through the urethra. The prostate cells gradually multiply, creating an enlargement that puts pressure on the urethra, the "chute" through which urine and semen exit the body

Symptoms

• Feeling of not emptying your bladder fully after you have completed urinating
• Discontinuous urination (you have to finish and begin over and over again during your urination.
• Limited or weak stream of urination.
• Feeling a burning pain arising during your urinating process
• Decreased ability to hold and gain your erections, low ejaculation and dissatisfaction with intimate performance.
• Pains at your penis's end.
• Appetite lowering or loss
• Chills and fever.
• Feeling some pains after or during ejaculation
• Pains in lower back, in the body zone between anus and testicles, in the upper thighs or lower belly, or above the public area. The pain may get worse during a movement in bowel.
• Straining and pushing are needed to start urination.
• It is difficult to postpone urinating.
• Frequent urinations (consistently during in periods of less than 2 hours and or many time during the night).
• 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

The cause of BPH: is not well understood. No definite information on risk factors exists. For centuries, it has been known that BPH occurs mainly in older men and that it doesn't develop in men whose testes were removed before puberty. For this reason, some researchers believe that factors related to aging and the testes may spur the development of BPH.

Throughout their lives, men produce testosterone, an important male hormone, and small amounts of estrogen, a female hormone. As men age, the amount of active testosterone in the blood decreases, leaving a higher proportion of estrogen. Studies done on animals have suggested that BPH may occur because the higher amount of estrogen within the gland increases the activity of substances that promote cell growth.

Another theory focuses on dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a substance derived from testosterone in the prostate, which may help control its growth. Most animals lose their ability to produce DHT as they age. However, some research has indicated that even with a drop in the blood's testosterone level, older men continue to produce and accumulate high levels of DHT in the prostate. This accumulation of DHT may encourage the growth of cells. Scientists have also noted that men who do not produce DHT do not develop BPH

Some researchers suggest that BPH may develop as a result of "instructions" given to cells early in life. According to this theory, BPH occurs because cells in one section of the gland follow these instructions and "reawaken" later in life. These "reawakened" cells then deliver signals to other cells in the gland, instructing them to grow or making them more sensitive to hormones that influence growth.