A Bradford nurse has designed a special poster to highlight the problem of prostate disease to the district's men.

Senior sister Carol Jevons has created the poster which poses the question: "How's your flow?" to encourage men to get a check-up for benign prostate disease.

A campaign is being started in Bradford on November 13 in a bid to break down the barrier of embarrassment which stops men going for help. It has been organised by Elaine Hambling, prostate assessment nurse for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust urology department, and her colleagues.

The poster will advertise special drop-in clinics to be held during Prostate Awareness Week, which will also feature a stall in Bradford's Kirkgate Centre between 9am and 4pm on November 13 and 14.

Benign prostatic hypertrophy is non-cancerous and affects up to half of all men aged over 50. Symptoms include increased frequency of urination, a weak stream, a sensation of incomplete emptying of the bladder and a sudden urge to urinate.

Nurse Hambling said: "Many men just suffer in silence. They just put up with the discomfort, thinking it is simply part of growing old, and do not discuss it with anyone. But doctors can often treat the problem quickly and easily."

She added that in more than 99 per cent of cases the problems were not caused by cancer and could be cured by medical means other than needing an operation.

She believed men were amazed their problem was so common. "I screen up to 20 men a week who have these symptoms," she said.

A 78-year-old Bradford man offered the inspiration for the poster and urges others to seek help.

He said: "It got so bad that I was going to the toilet up to 13 times a night. I felt wretched and miserable and couldn't get on with anyone.

"But it was embarrassment and concern about what would happen to me if I did seek treatment that stopped me seeing a doctor. Once you use the word 'prostate', up go the shutters and alarm bells start ringing but, as I can vouch, prostate trouble is not a passport to the knacker's yard."

Posters will be displayed at golf clubs, GPs' surgeries and working men's clubs, where hospital staff hope they will be seen by those most affected by the illness.

Anyone with symptoms should contact their GP who can refer them to an assessment clinic.

l Drop-in prostate assessment clinics for anyone who wants help will take place at: Idle clinic on Wednesday, November 15, from 1pm-3.30pm; at Westwood Park on Thursday, November 16, 1pm-3.30pm; and Westcliffe, Shipley, on Friday, November 17 9am-noon.