What is the prostate gland?
The prostate gland, a key part of the male reproductive system, is linked closely with the urinary system. It is a small gland that secretes much of the liquid portion of semen, the milky fluid that transports sperm through the penis during ejaculation. The prostate is located just beneath the bladder, where urine is stored, and in front of the rectum. It encircles, like a donut, a section of the urethra. The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder out through the penis. During ejaculation, semen is secreted by the prostate through small pores of the urethra’s walls. The prostate is made up of three lobes encased in an outer covering, or capsule. It is flanked on either side by the seminal vesicles, a pair of pouch-like glands that contribute secretions to the semen. Next to the seminal vesicles run the two vas deferens, tubes that carry sperm from the testicles.
The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that is present only in men. It is located deep in the pelvis, at the exit of the bladder, and surrounds the tube known as the urethra (through which urine flows from the bladder to the outside of the body). Tiny at birth and throughout childhood, the prostate enlarges after puberty, stimulated by rising levels of the male hormone testosterone secreted by the testes, to a volume of around 20cc. Although the prostate is small compared with other organs, it looms ever larger as a potential source of disease and disability once a man passes middle age.
