These companion materials are in English.
Prostate Unlocked Companion Resources
Reader tools for David Shusterman, MD’s Prostate Unlocked. Use these materials to understand medical language, organize records, and prepare questions for your own clinician.
The book’s October 2026 revision is undergoing manuscript review. This resource page provides selected reader tools and source links; it does not announce a new published edition.
Prepare for your visit
Questions worth taking to the appointment
Symptoms and testing
- What might be causing my symptoms besides prostate enlargement?
- Which measurements or tests would change our next decision?
- How should we interpret any urine left after I urinate?
- Could sleep, bowel habits, medicines, or another condition contribute?
Medication or a procedure
- What is this treatment meant to improve, and when should it help?
- What side effects and interactions matter for my medicines?
- How does my anatomy affect the options?
- What are the recovery, catheter, sexual-function and retreatment tradeoffs?
- What will we do if I do not improve?
PSA and cancer risk
- What does this PSA mean in the context of my age, history and other results?
- Should we repeat it or use another test before deciding about biopsy?
- If cancer was found, what are my Grade Group, stage and complete risk group?
- What are the reasons for surveillance or treatment in my case?
- What is the written follow-up schedule?
Sexual function and hormones
- Could ED reflect another health issue or a medication effect?
- Have low testosterone results been properly confirmed?
- How would treatment affect fertility and my prostate history?
- What monitoring and safety plan would be needed?
A short glossary
These definitions explain terms; they do not interpret an individual result.
- BPH
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia: noncancerous growth of prostate tissue.
- LUTS
- Lower urinary tract symptoms, such as a weak stream, urgency, frequency or nighttime urination.
- PVR
- Post-void residual: an estimate of urine remaining after urination.
- Uroflowmetry
- A test recording the rate and pattern of urine flow.
- PSA
- Prostate-specific antigen: a protein made by prostate cells, used as one part of cancer-risk assessment.
- PSA density
- PSA divided by prostate volume; it adds context to a PSA result.
- MRI
- Magnetic resonance imaging; it may identify suspicious prostate areas and help guide evaluation.
- PI-RADS
- A structured prostate MRI reporting system. A score describes suspicion, not a cancer diagnosis.
- Biopsy
- Removal of small tissue samples for microscopic examination.
- Grade Group
- A pathology grading system for prostate cancer, based on Gleason patterns. Grade alone is not the complete risk group.
- Active surveillance
- Structured monitoring of selected prostate cancers, with treatment reconsidered if findings change.
- Watchful waiting
- A different strategy, generally focused on managing symptoms if they develop.
- PAE
- Prostate artery embolization: a procedure treating selected prostate arteries.
- Rezūm
- Water-vapor treatment of selected obstructing prostate tissue.
- Median lobe / IPP
- Prostate tissue that can protrude toward or into the bladder; anatomy is one part of treatment selection.
- Dry orgasm
- Orgasm with little or no semen. Possible mechanisms differ and should be discussed with the clinician.
References and sources
Entries 1–4 retain the selected source titles from the earlier manuscript. Entries 5–14 are sources consulted for the October 2026 revision. Raised Arabic numbers in the revised working manuscript map to these numbered entries. This list does not claim that every statement in the earlier edition had a numbered citation.
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases — Enlarged Prostate (BPH)
- National Cancer Institute — Prostate Cancer Screening (PDQ), Patient Version
- National Cancer Institute — Prostate Cancer Treatment (PDQ), Patient Version
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — Prostate Cancer Screening
- European Association of Urology — Non-neurogenic Male LUTS, Disease Management
- European Association of Urology — Prostate Cancer, Diagnostic Evaluation
- European Association of Urology — Prostate Cancer, Treatment
- Endocrine Society — Testosterone Therapy in Men With Hypogonadism, 2018 Guideline
- Endocrine Society — 2026 Statement on Testosterone Replacement Therapy
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health — Saw Palmetto
- National Cancer Institute — SELECT Trial Results Questions and Answers
- DailyMed — Tadalafil Prescribing Information, revised May 2026
- American Urological Association/SUO — Early Detection of Prostate Cancer, 2023 Guideline
- American Urological Association — Evaluation and Management of Testosterone Deficiency, 2018 Guideline
Guidelines and labeling change. Follow the current version and individual medical advice; availability of a source link does not by itself establish that a treatment suits you.
Updates and corrections
October 10, 2026: companion resources established with appointment tools, glossary and source links. No video or audio is required by this QR destination.
For publisher inquiries, use the publisher contact information. Do not send medical records through a publisher inquiry.