Medications

The two primary drug classes used for BPH are:

• Alpha-blockers. These drugs relax smooth muscles, especially in the bladder neck and prostate. They include terazosin (Hytrin, generic), doxazosin (Cardura, generic), tamsulosin (Flomax, generic), alfuzosin (Uroxatral), and silodosin (Rapaflo). Alpha-blockers help relieve BPH symptoms, but they do not reduce the size of the prostate. The can help improve urine flow and reduce risk of bladder obstruction. They are often the first medication choice, especially for men with smaller prostates.
• 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors. Finasteride (Proscar) and dutasteride (Avodart) block the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, the male hormone that stimulates the prostate. These drugs are helpful for men with significantly enlarged prostates. In addition to relieving symptoms, they increase urinary flow and may even help shrink the prostate. However, patients may have to take these drugs for up to 6 - 12 months to achieve full benefits.

Because these two types of drugs work in different ways, combinations of the two may control symptoms in select patients more effectively than either drug alone. The combination treatment may work best for patients with larger prostate glands and higher PSA readings. Many men, however, can control their condition with a single drug.

Alpha-Blockers

General Guidelines for Alpha-Blockers. Alpha-adrenergic antagonists, commonly called alpha-blockers, were originally used to treat high blood pressure. They are prescribed for BPH to relax smooth muscles in the prostate.

These drugs relax the muscles in and around the prostate, increase urinary flow and improve symptoms, sometimes significantly. Improvement occurs within days to weeks. Because these drugs are short-acting, symptoms return very quickly once a man stops taking the medication. They neither affect PSA levels nor shrink the size of the prostate.

Alpha-blockers are prescribed mostly for men with BPH symptoms whose prostates are not significantly enlarged. Even men with moderately enlarged prostates might try alpha-blockers before more intense treatments because these drugs work fairly quickly, have no effect on sexual drive, and are the least expensive treatment for BPH. Some doctors now recommend alpha-blockers as first-line treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms.

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Review Date: 07/20/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)