Nocturia, the act of urinating more frequently at night, is an unfortunate problem that disrupts sleep and can be a sign of other medical conditions. One common cause of frequent nighttime urination is benign prostatic hypertrophy or BPH. Most males will experience some degree of enlargement of their prostate gland. Because the prostate gland is located immediately under the bladder and surrounds the urethra (where the urine passes out), this growth causes the urine stream to be constricted and makes it so that the patient has some difficulty voiding freely. By definition, this growth is benign, meaning not cancerous, but it obviously can affect the quality of life greatly by causing the patient to have to use the bathroom frequently and thus disrupting more parts of life than just your sleep. There are other common causes of nocturia as well, some of which can be serious. Diabetes, for example, will also cause people to urinate more frequently and is often one of the early signs of the disease. Annual physicals are the perfect opportunity to discuss this concern and others.