 [ Symptoms ] what is benign prostatic hyperplasia bph or an enlarged prostate [ Disease ] as a man ages his prostate can grow larger when a man reaches the age of 40 his prostate gland might have increased from the size of a walnut to that of an apricot by the time he reaches the age of 60 it might be the size of a lemon because it surrounds part of the urethra the enlarged prostate can squeeze the urethra this causes problems in the passing of urine typically these problems passing urine do not occur in men until they are age 50 or older they can though occur earlier an enlarged prostate is also called benign noncancerous prostatic hyperplasia it is common and cannot be prevented age and a family history of bph are risk factors eight out of every 10 men eventually develop an enlarged prostate about 90 of men over the age of 85 will have bph about 30 of men will find their symptoms bothersome