Flomax

What Is Flomax?

Flomax^® (tamsulosin hydrochloride) is a prescription medicine that has been licensed as treatment for an enlarged prostate. An enlarged prostate is also known medically as benign prostatic hyperplasia, benign prostatic hypertrophy, or BPH.

 

 

Who Makes It?

Flomax is manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

 

How Does Flomax Work?

Flomax is part of a class of drugs known as alpha blockers. It works by blocking alpha-1 receptors. Alpha-1 receptors are found in several places of the body, including the prostate gland.

 

For the treatment of BPH, blocking alpha-1 receptors helps to relax the muscles of the prostate and the bladder neck (where urine leaves the bladder). Flomax does not shrink the prostate, as some other BPH medications do. However, by relaxing the muscles of the prostate and bladder, it helps to quickly relieve BPH symptoms. While the drug can help with symptoms, it is not a cure for BPH.

 

Effects of Flomax

Several studies have looked at how well Flomax treats enlarged prostate symptoms:

 

In studies of Flomax for BPH treatment, men were asked to rate the following symptoms:

 

The men who took Flomax had significant improvement in their BPH symptoms compared with the men who did not. This improvement was usually seen within the first week and lasted throughout the study period (13 weeks).