BPH epidemiology and risk factors.

Benign enlargement of the prostate gland is extremely common with increasing age. The incidence of gross enlargement of the gland has been reported as 40% in 70 year-old males. Microscopic foci can be found in 80%. The disease seems to be most common in blacks, Caucasians, and Jews, but less frequent in males from the Far East. Epidemiological studies are subject to many pitfalls, and the data have to be interpreted with great caution. The data from the World Health Organization indicate a marked drop in deaths from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) during the last 12-year period. Increasing age and an intact androgen supply seem to be prerequisites for BPH development. Apart from that, no other risk factors have been identified uncontrovertedly.