What is the Prostate, and What Does it Do?

Question: What is the Prostate, and What Does it Do?

Answer:

What is a Prostate?

The prostate is a small (normally smaller than a golf ball) gland located beneath the urinary bladder and wrapped around the urethra.

Due to its location below the bladder and directly in front of the rectum, the prostate can be palpated through the rectum. A normal prostate has a soft feel to the touch, even in consistency without lumps.

Although it is called a gland, an organ would be a more descriptive term for the prostate. It is made of two lobes (or regions) completely surrounded by an outer tissue layer.

What Does it Do?

The prostate's function is that it makes a fluid that activates sperm as they are being ejaculated. Prostatic fluid makes up about 30 percent of semen. Before ejaculation, prostate fluid lubricates the urethra. It also bathes the sperm, providing them nourishment and activating them to "swim". Prostatic fluid has a high pH (alkaline) which makes the receiving vagina less acidic. These prostatic responsibilities mean men without prostates are generally sterile.

What Diseases Affect the Prostate?

The prostate is affected by three main categories of problems:

1. Prostatitis-- inflammation of the prostate.
2. Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy-- non-cancerous overgrowth of the prostate.
3. Prostate Cancer-- A male only cancer which will affect one in three men in their lives. For more information, follow the links below.
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