Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A New Metabolic Disease of the Aging Male and Its Correlation with Sexual Dysfunctions

Figure 4

Graphical representation of a proposed multifactorial pathogenesis of benign prostatic hyperplasia/low urinary tract symptoms (BPH/LUTS). Symptomatic or asymptomatic prostate inflammation (very common in young individuals), in the presence of permissive factors such as metabolic syndrome (MetS), and in particular dyslipidemia, or an altered sex steroid milieu, can progress through prostate enlargement (BPE). The latter can or cannot be associated with LUTS, in particular in the presence of bladder dysfunction. Recent data indicates that MetS itself can also favour bladder alteration.