MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Running a busy boating business keeps David Marcus on his feet but in the midst of running up and down the docks, he often found himself running to the men’s room.
“It came on so slowly it took a long time to realize something was actually going on,” Marcus said.
He soon learned that like half of all men over the age of 60, he was suffering from prostate enlargement, formally known as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, or BPH.
The most common symptoms include urinary frequency, urinary urgency and decreased stream.
“It becomes disturbing for many of these men because they’re getting up several times a night," Urologist Dr. Floyd Seskin said. "I have guys coming to me saying ‘Doc, I’m tired every day.’ Well they’re not sleeping so, of course, they’re tired.”
Seskin said while all men will be affected by an enlarged prostate as they age, only one-third actually talk to a physician about the problem.
When medications fail to ease the problem and patients are leery of major surgery, Seskin offers another option.
“This is an FDA cleared technology called the Urolift System," Seskin said. "It’s a minimally invasive approach that utilizes tiny implants to relieve the prostate obstruction. What happens when you finish is you have a nice big opening,” Seskin said.
Marcus said the difference after the procedure, which was done under local anesthesia in the doctor’s office, is like night and day.
“I don’t remember exactly how long, but eventually I turned around and realized ‘hey, I’m normal.,'" Marcus said. "I’m not waiting to start a stream, I’m not getting up 12 times a night, and I can actually do something without worrying if I’m too far from a bathroom.”
Ongoing data shows that men continue to experience relief from the procedure for as long as seven years.