What happens to your waterworks as you age and what you can do about it was the topic of Dr. Niti Navanimikul at the Wednesday, August 10, meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club. Dr. Niti is a specialist in urology at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. He received his medical degree in 2003 from Chiang Mai University and has attended advanced courses in the USA, France, Taiwan as well as Thailand.
His talk focused on Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), a common condition in older men that results in the need to urinate several times at night; about 50% of men over 50 increasing to 80% as you age. This condition is most likely due to an enlarged prostate gland which only men have and whose purpose is the production of sperm.
With the aid of several slides, he described the prostate gland and how it surrounds the urinary tract from the bladder. He explained how an enlarged prostate (BPH) closes on the urinary tract as it leaves the bladder thus blocking the flow of urine.
He mentioned that after obtaining a medical history, the doctor will conduct a digital rectal exam to check the size of the prostate and if there are any nodules. This may be followed by other diagnostic tests such as Urine analysis for infection, Serum PSA screening for cancer, Ultrasound for bladder, and Uroflowmetry for strength and quality of urination.
Dr. Niti then described the treatment available. First, will most likely be medication to relax the prostate. In the past, if the medication ceased to work, the next step was surgery called Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP). TURP surgery removes part of the prostate surrounding the urethra to allow the urethra to produce a larger flow of urine. A drawback to TURP surgery is it can have undesirable side effects such as sexual dysfunction.
However, there is now an alternative treatment available. It is Water Vapor Therapy which has been approved by the FDA (both USA and Thailand). Dr. Niti explained that it is fast, safe, and can be done on an outpatient basis with from 4 to 6 fifteen-minute sessions. He described the process which involves injecting water at 103 degrees Celsius. Further, it has minimal side effects and preserves sexual function.
Following the presentation, Wallapha (Tanya) Sawasdikool from Bangkok Hospital Pattaya handed out vouchers for free BPH screening tests to the winners of the “Lucky Draw”. This was followed by Tom Keightley from Pattaya International Rotary Club to describe an upcoming charity event at the Cowboy Resort in Pattaya for the benefit of Pattaya’s Anti Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Center.
Then MC Ren Lexander brought everyone up to date on upcoming events which were followed by the PCEC’s Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand. For more information about the PCEC, visit their website at https://pcec.club. To view Dr. Niti’s presentation on the PCEC’s YouTube channel, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLpAamBtszY.
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