Recurrent fever, urinary infections could be signs of prostate problems -Urologists warn men

Experts in the treatment of conditions affecting the urinary tract in men, women and children have cautioned men against taking recurring urinary tract infections and fevers lightly, noting that they could be signs of more serious health concerns with their prostate.

The urologists explained that most recurrent bouts of fever, weight loss, or recurring urinary infections, especially in middle-aged men, could be signs of prostate disease.

Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise in separate interviews, the experts, Consultant Urologists, Dr. Gabriel Ogah and Dr. Ahuizechukwu Obiesie stressed that such issues should not be ignored but reported to a urologist immediately.

According to Dr. Ogah, “When men have urinary problems, either urinating frequently or they are losing weight or have a recurrent infection, or fever they should go and see a urologist.

“Because when you have prostate problems, you may have a recurrent fever, people will then think you have typhoid and malaria whereas it is a recurrent urinary infection,” he said.

Speaking further, he adds, “If a man starts losing weight, it may be due to prostate cancer. If a man’s legs feel numb and heavy as if he has been carrying weight on it and he is about sixty years or more, he should go and see a urologist and let them check him and find out if there is prostate cancer or not.”

He noted that early presentation at the hospital can give the man a chance at a cure, adding that if the condition is presented late, palliative care is still possible.

Also speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, Obiesie noted that two main issues plague a man’s prostate health: benign prostatic enlargement and prostate cancer.

He explained that when a man has benign prostatic enlargement, it means that his prostate can become enlarged without the enlargement being cancerous but prostate cancer causes the prostate to undergo some malignant transformation that can become deadly if not nipped and treated early.

Speaking on, he noted that benign prostatic enlargement is common in Nigerian men.

“The thing is that the prostate grows, it will continue to grow. From age 40 and above your prostate will continue to grow and increase in size from the normal size of 20 – 30 grams to any size.

“But the size of the prostate does not correlate with the symptoms in most studies. What I mean is that you can have a 200-gram prostate without many symptoms and you can have a 70-gram prostate with the symptoms.

“However, with an increase in the number of cells, we describe it as benign prostatic enlargement as long as there is no malignant transformation,” Obiesie said.

To reduce the risk of prostate disease, the experts urged to men avoid exposure to all sorts of things that will cause infection along the urinary tract.

Men, they said, should also avoid sexually transmitted diseases and also steer clear from smoking.

According to a study titled: ‘Bladder Infection? It May Increase Prostate Cancer Risk’, originally published in 2017 but republished online in 2021 by Sperling Prostate Centre, men who have repeat UTIs have a higher risk of prostate cancer than men without UTIs.

The researchers, in their findings, said, “Specifically, those who see a doctor more than five times in a year for bladder or urethra infections have a significantly greater chance of developing prostate cancer.”

What makes the study compelling is “the large number of cases that were included in a nationwide analysis: 9,347 men with a bladder infection and 4,926 men with urethra infection were each matched with four men (based on age and a year of diagnosis) who had no UTI history.

The study size, they said, “presents strong evidence of an association between bladder or urethral infection and the onset of prostate cancer.”

The researchers stated that the most obvious conclusion of the study is that men should not delay seeing a doctor at early signs of urinary infection.

“If simple laboratory tests confirm the presence of bacteria, get on antibiotics and stay on them until the full course of treatment is complete – even if symptoms clear up in the first few days. This is important since surviving bacteria lead to strains that become more hardy and resistant to antibiotics,” they said.