When silence hurts men’s health

(CN) — Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men and a leading cause of cancer death across all races and Hispanic origin populations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Yet, a new survey from Orlando Health found that 38% of men would rather sit in traffic or watch their favorite team lose than discuss prostate health with their doctor, a reluctance experts say keeps many from addressing treatable problems early.

The survey, conducted online in the United States by Ipsos on the KnowledgePanel from Sept. 5 to 7 and Sept. 12 to 14, 2025, included 1,010 men ages 18 and older.

“The prostate is a gland that wraps around the urethra, and as we get older, our prostates tend to enlarge,” said Dr. Jay Amin, a urologist at Orlando Health, in a press release. “This can be due to genetics or how the prostate grows in relation to certain hormones in the body.”

An enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia, can cause frequent or difficult urination and sleep disruption from multiple nighttime bathroom trips. Amin said those symptoms affect 60% of men by age 60 and as many as 80% by age 80, yet many still avoid care.

“Many men try different medicines or minimally invasive therapies to help their urinary symptoms, but the relief is short-term,” he said. “We’re now able to offer a procedure that rarely needs to be done again; only about 1% of patients need another treatment, even after 20 years.”

That procedure, called holmium laser enucleation of the prostate, or HoLEP, is a minimally invasive surgery performed through the urethra, leaving no external scars. Most patients can resume light activity within a week and normal physical activity within three.

“As a surgeon, I don’t like doing a procedure if I can only promise a small chance of improvement,” Amin said. “Of all the procedures I do, it is by far the most rewarding because everyone is happy. I have a patient who had been catheter dependent for 19 months, and now he’s urinating again.”

One of those patients, 50-year-old marathon runner Chris Golden, said his condition had disrupted nearly every part of his life.

“I’d constantly have to worry about where the bathroom was at all times, because if I had the urge to go, I had to go soon,” Golden said in the press release. “Then once I made it to the bathroom, I would oftentimes wait at the urinal while the men around me finished in two seconds and I’d be waiting two minutes.”

After undergoing the HoLEP procedure, Golden said he quickly noticed the difference.

“I’m really happy I did it, and people will definitely see an improvement in their urinary habits,” he said. “My stream is now like it was in my twenties. Men should bring their symptoms to their doctor because who wants to be in the bathroom constantly?”

Amin encourages men in their 40s and beyond to talk openly about their urinary health, even if it feels uncomfortable. Early diagnosis, he said, can prevent years of avoidable frustration.

“This is a quality-of-life issue,” Amin said. “You don’t have to live your life around bathroom breaks.”