I have what I suppose is an enlarged prostate, as I am now 70 and have to get up once most nights to go to the toilet, sometimes more often. Many of my friends say they have similar symptoms. Someone told me that I should drink a lot of water in the evening to avoid the problem. Is this true? I like to drink a couple of pints of real ale during the evening, and would prefer not to swap this for water!

Firstly, you do need a proper diagnosis so it would be a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor. Secondly, any man at whatever age would find it hard to get through the night without a loo visit if they drank 2 pints of beer before bed. If you really enjoy your ale and want to continue to take it, then one nighttime disturbance is a reasonable price to pay! It is sensible to drink plenty of water throughout the day to avoid your urine being very concentrated and irritating the bladder, but drinking a lot of anything close to bedtime is likely to cause visits to the loo later.