temperature approaches the destination temperature in general the rate of increase in temperature according to the present invention varies between 1 u00b0 c per 0 5 minutes to 1 u00b0 c per 15 minutes in order to allow better patient acclimatization the rate of change in the temperature preferably does not exceed 1 u00b0 c per minute and more preferably does not exceed 1 u00b0 c per 2 minutes however it is desirable to physician and patient to minimize the amount of time required for therapy in order to reduce the amount of time required to acclimate the patient to elevated urethral temperatures the rate of temperature rise can be increased to 1 u00b0 c per 10 minutes near the destination temperature and to about 1 u00b0 c per 2 minutes at the lower temperatures the total time to raise the urethral temperatures from 37 u00b0 c to the destination temperature preferably ranges from 15 minutes to 2 hours and more preferably is from 20 to 45 minutes moreover it will be appreciated that the temperature rise can be continuous or discontinuous i e u201c stepped u201d the total amount of heat delivered to the patient is also an important parameter of the present inventive method while patients are able to acclimate to temperatures up to about 60 u00b0 c if the rate of tissue temperature increase is controlled it is desirable to control the total amount of heat administered to ensure.