Alpha-adrenergic blockers for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

There seems little doubt that alpha-adrenergic blockers can afford a measure of relief to many sufferers from BPH. The exact role this treatment has to play in the overall management of these patients has yet to be clearly defined. A continuing search is being made for more effective drugs, with the hope of finding one that will be more specific in its action on the prostate and produce fewer generalized effects. Whether this will prove possible may depend on whether any further subgroup of alpha receptors more specific to the prostate can be found or whether some method of targeting the drugs to the required region can be devised. If a drug treatment that reduces the size of the prostate can be found, perhaps a combination of the two forms of medical treatment will have a place. At present, it seems reasonable to conclude that there is good justification for using the alpha-blocking drugs available when employed in the manner and for the indications outlined herein.