Author: Liu Jiayi｜The Attending Physician of Urology Department of the First Affiliated Central Hospital of Nankai University
Once a patient suffering from prostatitis complained to me: Doctor Qi, my prostate is inflamed every day, can I have an operation to remove it? Why hasn’t this organ been eliminated by human evolution?
Why? Of course, because the prostate is useful!
Source: Zhanku Hailuo
Which county is the prostate in Part1? Where?
To figure out what the prostate is for, the advertisements of the Pheasant and Men’s Hospital don’t tell us, we must first figure out where the prostate is.
But according to my estimation, you, who are swiping your phone, do not know where the prostate, the male “gland of life”, is located in your body.
Actually, the prostate is just below the bladder. It is like a fist, “holding”, that is, wrapping around the base of the urethra (where the urethra just comes out of the bladder). For example, if the bladder is the reservoir and the urethra is the channel, then the prostate is the gate connecting the reservoir and the urethra.
Male pelvic side schematic diagram source web font logo Doctor Qi
In addition, the back of the prostate gland is still close to the rectum, which is why the urologist must enter from the chrysanthemum when performing digital examination of the prostate for the patient.
DRE diagram source wikihow font logo Doctor VII
Part 2 What does the prostate do?
Okay, after going through such a big circle and finding out where the prostate is, what does the prostate actually do?
1. Control urination
The first is the function of controlling urination. When we talked about the position of the prostate, we also mentioned that the prostate is equivalent to the gate of the reservoir, so what is the function of the gate? The water in the reservoir is boiled and released by the sluice gate, and the same is true for the urination of the human body.
“In the past, I urinated ten feet against the wind, and now I wet shoes down the wind” is a description of the old men’s urination that is no longer as smooth as it used to be, so why does this happen? It is because with the increase of age, men are more and more likely to have the problem of prostatic hyperplasia, that is to say, the gate of the prostate is “aging and difficult to open”, and the passage of urination is not smooth, so the flow of urine appears to be poor. So powerful.
Source: Zhanku Hailuo
2. Secretory function
The second function of the prostate is related to the “gland” of the prostate.
Gland actually means gland. The most familiar gland in the human body may be the mammary gland. The mammary gland has the function of secreting milk, and milk nourishes every one of our lives.
So since the prostate is called a gland, does it also have a secretory function?
You guessed it right, the prostate is one of the rare glands in the human body that has both internal and external secretory functions. The endocrine function may be difficult for everyone to understand, so let’s talk about it. Exocrine function, that is to say, the prostate secretes a liquid, which everyone should be familiar with. This liquid is called prostatic fluid.
We often say “semen”, of which more than 90% of the fluid is prostatic fluid produced by the prostate. Prostatic fluid is like water, and sperm is like fish. It is with the escort and nutrition of prostatic fluid that sperm can be successfully excreted to complete the important mission of reproduction.
Source: Zhanku Hailuo
So, let’s go back to the original question of the article – why can’t we cut off the prostate because of prostatitis, or why hasn’t the prostate been removed from human evolution until now? This organ is eliminated because the function of the prostate is very, very important for men. Let’s imagine that if a man does not have a prostate, his urination cannot be controlled by himself, and urine will occur unconsciously. In the case of the fluid flowing out by itself, and without the nourishment and escort of the prostatic fluid, it is difficult for the sperm to be excreted from the body and have a perfect encounter with Miss Ovum.
It’s scary isn’t it?
Okay, I’m Dr. Seven in the Department of Urology. Finally, I wish you a bright mind.
References
PDQ Adult Treatment Editorial Board. PDQ Prostate Cancer Treatment. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute. Updated . Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/ patient/prostate-treatment-pdq. Accessed . [PMID: 26389353]
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