SAW PALMETTO NATURES PROSTATE HEALER: HERB VS. DRUGTHE MATCH OF THE DECADE

The big contest had come with billions of future dollars riding on the outcome. Could extracts from a common, dwarf palm tree berry compete with the so-called "gold standard" of traditional BPH therapy? Merck and Company, one of the largest pharmaceutical corporations in the world, had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the past decade in creating, studying, and marketing finasteride (Proscar). This medicine has become one of the most frequently used drugs in the therapy of BPH. But, could there be a cheaper, as effective, and more natural alternative?

The largest study ever done comparing Proscar with SP was a six month double-blind, randomized trial organized by Pierre Fabre Medicaments and it included 1,098 men. Double blind means that neither the researchers, nor the patients, know whether they are taking the real medicine or a dummy pill until the code is broken at the end of the study. It was done in 87 urology centers in nine European countries. All the men had BPH, were over the age of 50 years, and had symptoms associated with bladder flow obstruction.

SP extract, in the form of the trademarked version Permixon, was administered at a dose of 160 mg twice a day, in the morning and evening, for a period of 26 weeks. This was compared to Proscar at a 5 mg dosage in the morning. Each patient was evaluated prior to the start of the medicines, at 6 weeks, 13 weeks, and after 26 weeks. At each of these visits, urinary flow rates were measured, an International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) was determined, and each patient was requested to complete a form evaluating their quality of life, including their sexual function. The IPSS had seven questions relating to urgency, daytime and nighttime urinary frequency, hesitancy, sensation of incomplete voiding, and force of urine stream.

Ultrasound examinations of the bladder were done at 13 and 26 weeks to evaluate the amount of urine left in the bladder as well as to assess the size of the prostate gland. Several blood studies were also done, including measuring prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. High PSA levels are often indicative of prostate cancer.

*23\299\2*

Men's Health Erectile Dysfunction