One of the common and constant complaints I hear at prostate cancer support groups is about the need to wake during the night and use the bathroom to urinate (nocturia). There is a relationship between our ageing and the need to urinate at night, but it does seem to be made even more acute if we are fighting advanced prostate cancer.

According to Medwire, research recently published in the International Journal of Urology “indicates that low testosterone levels are associated with nocturia in men, independent of both age and prostate volume.”

Investigators studied nearly 2,200 men “who attended their outpatient urologic clinic between July 2011 and August 2012 for lower urinary tract symptom complaints.” The researchers found that “overall, 148 (6.8%) patients had overt testosterone deficiency (<2.50 ng/mL) and 1399 (63.7%) reported voiding more than once during the night (nocturia) on 3-day frequency volume charts.” This research focused on men who have experienced lower testosterone for any cause and at any decreased testosterone levels. Give that all of us fighting advanced prostate cancer are on hormone deprivation therapy (ADT) that drives our testosterone levels to castrate levels its no wonder that we also deal with significant levels of nocturia. Waking up during the night is just one more thing we need to accept in our new normal. Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.