Impact of nocturia on the daily life of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia

Nocturia is defined as the patient's complaint of having to get up once or several times during the night to urinate, with each voiding preceded and followed by a period of sleep. The direct consequence of nocturia is impaired quality of sleep. The decreased daytime energy is responsible for depression and metabolic disorders and an indirect increase of mortality. Nocturia is a difficult problem to treat in the management of BPH. An effective treatment against nocturia can improve quality of life by acting on quality of sleep. Alpha-blockers, which control these symptoms, are a major component of treatment. However, the dosage forms available are often pharmacologically dependent on dosing conditions, and do not allow maintenance of constant blood levels of the drug. The OCAS (Oral Controlled Absorption System) form of tamsulosin allows absorption of the drug throughout gastrointestinal tract and maintenance of a constant plasma concentration over the 24-hour period.