A physician yesterday cautioned males on the dangers prostate gland enlargement commonly seen among elderly patients after seeing the case in a patient he treated.
A patient with a swollen kidney was found to have a fishhook-shaped ureter caused by prostatic hypertrophy, the physician said yesterday.
According to Hung Chun-tseh (洪峻澤), the chief physician in Shutian Clinic’s urology department, the 68-year-old male patient sought medical attention for blood in his urine and it was found that both his kidneys were swollen with a urine buildup.
With the help of an intravenous pyelogram, an X-ray examination technique used to visualize abnormalities in the urinary tract system, the patient was diagnosed with fishhook ureter (also known as “hockey-stick” or “J-shaped” ureter) caused by prostatic hyperplasia, Hung said.
Hung said that the fishhook configuration of the ureter usually occurs when the patient has severe prostatic enlargement or enlargement of the middle lobe, which can obstruct the ureter’s entry into the bladder and cause the ureter to resemble a fishhook in shape.
The obstruction can cause swollen kidneys due to the failure of normal drainage of urine to the bladder.
Hung added that symptoms of prostatic hyperplasia include a weak urine stream, stopping and starting while urinating, the frequent or urgent need to urinate, dribbling at the end of urination and nocturia.
The enlargement can be treated with medication or surgery.
If left untreated, the condition can worsen and lead to complications such as hematuria, urinary tract infection, urinary retention, hydronephrosis (swollen kidneys from the buildup of urine), fishhook ureter or even a precancerous lesion, Hung said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
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Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner