ONE in three Australian men over 50 are regularly disappearing to the bathroom.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, or BPH, is causing these men to vanish. It's a condition triggers urinary problems after the prostate gland gets bigger.
To highlight this vanishing act, pharmaceutical company GSK has launched the Disappearing Dave campaign.
It shows how untreated BPH can cause men to miss out on some of life's most important events.
Urologist Manish Patel said while BPH isn't life threatening it has a major impact on quality of life.
"Needing to know exactly where a bathroom is and ensuring you have access to it at unusual times is exhausting for my BPH patients," Associate Professor Patel said.
"It is important to educate the patient about the condition and to encourage them to seek help early."
Could it be BPH?
This common condition normally starts after 40 and becomes more problematic over time.
Symptoms can include:
- difficulty starting a flow of urine ('hesitancy')
- a need to strain when starting to urinate
- a slow or dribbling flow of urine
- a feeling that the bladder isn't empty despite having just urinated
- having an urgent need to urinate ('urgency')
- frequent urination during the day
- frequent urination at night that interrupts sleep ('nocturia').
Details - www.disappearingdave.com.au
