Prostatitis - Causes

Most of the symptoms of prostatitis and other prostate conditions are caused by enlargement of the prostate. However, enlargement and/or inflammation of the prostate can be due to many factors and may vary from one individual to another. For example, a patient's prostatitis may be due to more than one cause. The main school of thought is that prostatitis is usually the result of bacterial infection, auto immune disorder and/or physical injuries. In some cases, there are men with non-bacterial prostatitis. This type of patients may have no sign of inflammation.

However, bacterial infection is very common. The possible routes of infection are the same as those for urinary tract infections. Reflux of urine into the prostate gland is thought to play an important role in causing infection. Sexual intercourse is another high risk cause. It is considered as one of the main contributors to prostatitis because prostatic secretions from men with chronic types of prostatitis, and vaginal cultures from their sexual partners, often have significant identical organisms.

Other known causes of bacterial prostatitis include uric acid disorder, prostate stones, tumors (rare), cancerous growths, non-cancerous growths, urethral stricture (abnormalities of the urethra passage that increases pressure during urination), interstitial cystitis (a chronic pelvic pain more frequently recognized in women than men), pelvic muscle spasm (the sphincter muscle that is not relaxed leading to urination that is not coordinated), yeast infection, food allergy and viral infection.

Physiological factors such as prostate secretory functions and pH are believed to contribute to the development of prostatitis. In a normal male, prostatic fluid contains prostatic antibacterial factor (PAF) with a pH range of 6.6 to 7.6. PAF has an ability to kill bacteria owing to its chemical structure containing a zinc-complex polypeptide. However, the zinc content of prostatic fluid also decreases with age. Hence, its antibacterial activity diminishes particularly in the elderly. As you age, the pH of prostatic fluid increases and becomes more alkaline. Clinically, it has been found that prostatitis patients have a pH range of 7 to 9. Such a range indicates a generalized secretory dysfunction of the prostate. As a result, it is an important determinant of prostatitis.

In addition, the period of prostatitis, either acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term) can determine the causative microorganisms. This is because both acute and chronic prostatitis typically have their own group range of organisms affecting the prostate gland and its surrounding tissues.

More importantly, prostatitis itself may be a symptom of an underlying problem or an auto-immune response similar to diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Physical injuries through over-exercise, inactivity during sitting, diabetes, neurological problems and stress may also lead to prostatitis. Regular exercises like jogging and cycling can irritate the prostate gland, while lifting heavy objects with your bladder full could cause urine to reverse flow into the prostate thus causing inflammation.

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