Nearly half of Chinese men ages 60 and older have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also known as benign prostate enlargement, Chinese Urological Association figures show.

As China is rapidly aging, the number of BPH patients will also surge, and the risk increases as men age, the association's chairman Ye Zhangqun said at the ceremony for the release of the BPH drug Avodart produced by GlaxoSmithKline.

Only 17 percent of men older than 80 don't have BPH, he adds.

Common symptoms of the "old age disease" include increasingly frequent urination, weak urine streams, nocturia and kidney stones. These seriously affect quality of life and social interactions. Experts suggest elderly men who urinate more than eight times see a doctor.

China Daily-Reuters