The frequent need to get out of bed at night to urinate has a name, nocturia, and according to recent research, a significant proportion of older men suffer from it.

A study published in the Journal of Urology found that 21 percent of adult men have the condition. Incidences of nocturia increase dramatically with age.

After examining the medical records of nearly 5,300 men, the study’s authors determined that more than 55 percent of men 75-years-old or older have nocturia, compared to just 8 percent of men between the ages of 20 and 34.

Getting up to urinate often may seem like a relatively harmless, if irritating, condition, but researchers warned that it may be a sign of a number of more serious illnesses, including heart disease and urinary tract infections.

The team further discovered that nocturia is most prevalent among African-American men, and that in those over 40 years of age it frequently accompanies an enlarged prostate.

The authors concluded that while more research is needed to determine what role nocturia plays in other conditions, treating nighttime urinary incontinence may allow men to rest and decrease their risk of sleep-related anxiety and depression.

They added that men who have the frequent need to urinate should report it to their physician, particularly if they have not previously been diagnosed with prostate trouble.

One in 36 men in the United States will die of prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).