A: Fifty percent of 50-year-old men begin to develop symptoms of prostate enlargement -- frequency, urgency and slow stream. The most bothersome symptom is waking at night to void. Whether it's one time or five times, it's a nuisance that can cause sleep deprivation. Now we have uncovered another danger. A new study reveals that there is a significantly increased risk of men falling on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Some of these falls lead to head injuries, broken hips and other fractures.

Researchers followed nearly 6,000 patients and they reported that men with severe symptoms of prostate enlargement have a 33 percent increased risk of falling compared to men without symptoms, and more than 60 percent had an increased risk of falling two or more times a year. Even men with moderate symptoms had an increased risk of falling compared to other men without prostate complaints.

Treatment for prostate enlargement is relatively simple. Tell your husband there is more at stake here than his pride and he should run, not walk, to his physician while he still can.