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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
At birth, your prostate gland is about the size of a pea. It grows slightly during childhood and then at puberty undergoes a rapid growth spurt. By age 25, your prostate is fully developed and is about the size of a walnut.
Doctors aren't sure exactly what causes prostate enlargement. It's thought that with age, changes in the ratio of male hormone (testosterone) and female hormone (estrogen) levels in men stimulate the prostate to grow. Another theory is that with aging, the prostate gland becomes more sensitive or responsive to normal levels of male hormone and grows more rapidly.
