The manuscript by Liang et al. 1 entitled Treatment of chronic prostatitis in Chinese men appears to be an important and comprehensive analysis of the issue of chronic prostatitis (CP) as well as treatment avenues that are pursued within a Chinese population. The analyses of more than 12 000 men confirm other studies 2 which demonstrate that CP represents a large problem in adult male populations. Even the numbers that are seen in urology clinics may under represent the true magnitude of these symptom profiles that are observed. This study also confirms the fact that antibiotics, as commonly used, do not seem to have much efficacy within this group. As a number of investigators 3 have demonstrated, CP is more than just a bacterial infection and may not even be an infection at all. The unique aspects of this manuscript from my perspective are the large numbers of patients that were analyzed as well as the unique nature of this population. It reaffirms our desperate need to understand more about the disease of CP and its underlying mechanisms. This information is necessary in order to understand how to provide some relief to these large numbers of men presenting with this disease.
References
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