The prostate is situated at the exit of the bladder where the urethra (tube that carries urine) leaves. It is wrapped around the urethra and is slightly smaller than a golf ball.

The role of the prostate is to produce the watery liquid that is mixed with sperm and is found during ejaculation. This fluid is used to lubricate the sperm and to help them on their journey up the woman's cervix.

The prostate is made up of four zones, which make up different amounts of the prostate and have different effects, as can be seen below.

The peripheral zone

This zone makes up about seventy percent of the glandular area of the prostate. It is also the back of the prostate that wraps around the urethra and sits against the outer wall of the rectum. This zone is where at least seventy percent of all prostate cancer starts.

The central zone

The central zone accounts for roughly twenty-five percent of the gland part of the prostate and surrounds the ducts used during ejaculation. This area accounts for about twenty-five percent of all prostate cancers.

The transition zone

This zone makes up only five percent of the prostate, but is the only area of the prostate gland that carries on growing throughout a man's life. The transition zone surrounds the urethra and is the general contributory factor to benign prostatic enlargement.

The anterior fibro muscular zone

The anterior fibro muscular zone makes up about five percent of the prostate's weight and is made up of muscle and tissue that is fibrous in nature. This area does not really affect the human host with any conditions.

The effects a condition in the prostate can have vary greatly between different men, but there are generalized symptoms that many people complain of when going to visit their doctor. These symptoms include pain while urinating, blood in the urine, difficulty passing urine, and worst of all, impotence or erectile dysfunction (problems getting and keeping an erection).

The three main culprits for these symptoms are prostate cancer, prostatitis, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia generally only affects the men who are more senior in age but prostatitis can affect anyone from the male population.

Taking simple antibiotic medication can treat most conditions, but in more serious cases, surgical procedures can be the only outcome in trying to combat the problems people face.

The problem with prostate conditions, like many conditions that affect the sexual organs in the male is man's pride. Males tend to have a certain connection with their "male" anatomy that causes them to find it difficult to visit a doctor or nurse about any issues they are having, even if these problems are quite bad.

If you suffer any symptoms that you feel may be related to a prostate problem it is important that you seek medical advice quickly, You never know what may be the problem may be and what trouble it may cause you.