MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola Medicine is offering an innovative, fast and minimally invasive, one-time treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, a common condition affecting most older men.
By age 50, more than 50% of men (and more than 90% by age 85) suffer from BPH, which causes a variety of uncomfortable and disruptive symptoms, including:
- Night time waking to urinate (nocturia)
- An increased frequency and urgency to urinate
- The feeling that the bladder has not quite emptied following urination
- A weak urine stream
If left untreated, BPH can lead to more serious urinary, bladder and kidney problems.
The condition typically evolves over many years, when non-cancerous, unnecessary tissue grows within the urethra, says Loyola urologist and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine professor of urology Kevin McVary, MD, in a Loyola Medicine video titled "New Treatment for Enlarged Prostate Restores Normal Urination." Dr. McVary is also the director of the newly opened Men’s Health Center at the Loyola Medicine Burr Ridge.
“Around the mid-20s, there’s a small portion of the prostate, called the transition zone, which suddenly begins to grow new tissue,” says Dr. McVary. The transition zone is located in the urethra, “the outlet of the bladder to the outside world, where it can block the flow of urination.”
Prescription medication can minimize BPH symptoms, but often with side effects that may include sexual dysfunction. Loyola offers a new water vapor therapy (Rezūm), which takes less than 10 minutes and involves the insertion of a scope into the urethra (administered with anesthesia).
“Just a drop of water is converted to steam, actually inside the handle of the instrument,” says Dr. McVary. “The steam travels through the prostate tissues, between the cells, and within nine seconds has killed any prostate cell it touches.”
As the procedure is “confined to only the obstructive tissue,” it does not diminish or alter a patient’s sexual function. A recent study by Dr. McVary, published in the Journal of Urology, found that the procedure continued to offer “significant improvements in lower urinary tract symptoms, quality of life and flow rate at five years post procedure.
Many men “are not interested in taking medication for the rest of their life,” says Dr. McVary. This is a one-time, “definitive procedure” that can safely and quickly eliminate BPH and related symptoms.
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).