Subject: sci.med.prostate.prostatitis FAQ
Supersedes: <medicine/prostatitis-faq/part1_825706942@rtfm.mit.edu>
Date: 1 Apr 1996 18:14:40 GMT
X-Last-Updated: 1996/01/29

Posting-Frequency: monthly

sci.med.prostate.prostatitis FAQ

1.  About sci.med.prostate.prostatitis and other sources of
prostatitis information on the net
2.  Why is a prostatitis newsgroup necessary?
3.  About this FAQ
4.  What is prostatitis?
5.  What are the symptoms of prostatitis?
6.  How is prostatitis distinguished from prostate cancer and BPH?
7.  How common is prostatitis?
8.  Are there different kinds of prostatitis?
9.  What causes prostatitis?
10. Can prostatitis be cured?
11. What can be done to alleviate symptoms?
12. How can we work towards a cure?
Appendix A.  Overview by Dr. Richard Berger
Appendix B.  Report from 1995 NIH Workshop on Prostatitis

1.  About sci.med.prostate.prostatitis and other sources of
prostatitis information on the net

Sci.med.prostate.prostatitis was created on October 19, 1995.
A previous prostatitis newsgroup, alt.support.prostate.prostatitis,
was started in the summer of 1994 and was the first newsgroup for
prostatitis discussion on the Internet. 
Sci.med.prostate.prostatitis was started by
alt.support.prostate.prostatitis members because many potential
subscribers did not have consistent access to newsgroups in the
"alt." hierarchy.  Sci.med.prostate.prostatitis with its worldwide
distribution and official status as Usenet Newsgroup is probably
the premier discussion place for prostatitis.  It has become a
center for discussions of political and public awareness actions we
can take in order to find press for research leading to cures for
prostatitis.  Because newsgroups cannot be "uncreated,"
alt.support.prostate.prostatitis still exists.  For maximum impact,
all messages to alt.support.prostate.prostatitis should also be 
posted to med.sci.prostate.prostatitis.

The newsgroup sci.med.prostate.prostatitis is not intended for the
discussion of prostate cancer or benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH).
Prostate cancer is discussed in alt.support.cancer.prostate and
sci.med.prostate.cancer, and benign prostatic hypertrophy is
discussed in sci.med.prostate.bph.

The Prostatitis Foundation maintains a worldwide web site at:
http://www.fullfeed.com/prosfnd.  (An alternative address for the
same site is http://www.prostate.org.)  A copy of this FAQ is also
posted there.  A web site on prostatitis by Dr. Ivo Tarfusser can
be found at http://www.parsec.it/summit/p0.htm.  

Prostate problems of all kinds are also discussed through the
PROSTATE electronic mailing list.  To subscribe to PROSTATE, use
electronic mail to send the message:

To: listserv@sjuvm.stjohns.edu
Subject: (leave blank)
Message: "subscribe prostate (your-first-name your-last-name)"

New subscribers to PROSTATE are automatically put into digest mode
to reduce the number of new messages received each day.  New
subscribers receive a welcome message explaining different options
for managing your subscription.  Subscribers can choose to receive
copies of this FAQ whenever it is updated.

2.     Why is a prostatitis newsgroup necessary? 

Prostatitis has had little serious attention from researchers. In
comparison with prostate cancer, it is not life-threatening.      
                            
Often men suffer in silence, and believe that they have to "live
with it."  Many men are embarrassed by the problems caused by
prostatitis, and put off seeing doctors or discussing the problems
with friends and family.  Since there are no consistently effective
treatments, most urologists are unwilling to put much effort into
determining its causes and providing treatment. There are few self-
help books or pamphlets on prostatitis, and the advice given to
prostatitis sufferers is often contradictory.  One of the purposes
of med.sci,prostate.prostatitis is to help prostatitis sufferers
find information and communicate among themselves.  Another purpose
is to push for further research on prostatitis with a view to
finding cures by the year 2000.  

3.  About this FAQ

An initial draft of this FAQ was prepared by John Koch in November
1994; an anonymous volunteer assisted in an extensive revision in
December 1995.  This FAQ is not an official statement of policy,
and even less a statement of absolute truth.  It is meant simply to
orient newcomers to sci.med.prostate.prostatitis.

This FAQ will be posted to sci.med.prostate.prostatitis,
alt.support.prostate.prostatitis, news.answers, and sci.answers
once a month.  It is also available through the Prostate electronic
mailing list and the Prostatitis Foundation worldwide web page (see
section 1).

Corrections and amplifications to this FAQ should be sent to
johnnk@aol.com.  Questions about statements made in the FAQ are
welcome,  but are likely to be more productive if posted to
sci.med.prostate.prostatitis for discussion by the group.

This FAQ was last updated Jan. 28, 1996.

4.  What is prostatitis?

The prostate is part of male sexual anatomy.  It is a walnut-sized
gland which surrounds part of the urethra, the "tube" that carries
urine from the bladder to the penis.  At the top of the prostate is
the prostatic sphincter and at the bottom is the urethral
sphincter.  During ejaculation, the prostate provides part of the
seminal fluid.

There are three bad things which can happen to the prostate:

--prostate cancer,

--benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), which is an increase in size
of the prostate, typically occurring in later middle age

--prostatitis, which is an inflammation of the prostate or a pain
in the prostate similar to that caused by an inflammation (see
section 7).

John Koch  (KOCH@macc.wisc.edu)
Reference Librarian/Documents Coordinator
Steenbock Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison
550 Babcock Dr.
Madison, WI 53706-1293
Phone: (608)263-4581    Fax: (608) 263-3221


