Prostatitis accounts for 2 million visits to doctors a year, but they're largely in vain. A lot of men are disabled by it. It seems that rats get inflamed prostates, too, especially when they're subjected to stress. Stress can spur excess production of a hormone called prolactin that seems to be involved in the inflammation, says new research by North Carolina State University's Dr. C. Lee Robinette. To Robinette, a veterinarian who has spent years studying rats and prostate disease, that's a red flag signaling that stress also may be behind much of the human misery.
Humans produce prolactin.
Indeed, stress is one characteristic the NIH's new study will watch for this year as researchers try to pinpoint those at risk for prostatitis, and then next year begin looking for treatments. Prostatitis symptoms include pain in the genital area and lower back accompanied by frequent and urgent urination. It can cause burning or pain during urination or ejaculation, and is one cause of sexual impotence. Severe cases can be disabling. No one knows just how many men have prostatitis, although experts estimate that half may experience it at some point.