are there any natural remedies that actually work to reduce an enlarged prostate
yes - 25.0% - 1 votes
no - 75.0% - 3 votes
Penrithhh
New Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 1
Posted 12/21/2018 12:55 AM (GMT -5)
does anyone know any natural remedies to reduce enlarged prostate that actually work?
halbert
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2014
Posts : 6226
Posted 12/21/2018 7:12 AM (GMT -5)
Saw Palmetto does have some benefit--at least for some. However, it also will reduce your PSA readings about 50%--which may give a false sense of security regarding PC.
Posted 12/21/2018 8:49 AM (GMT -5)
pygeum is a derivitive of pine bark from Africa ( I believe ) and it does reduce prostate size. It also lowers PSA so take that into account if you are tracking PSA. I have used it and it was very helpful with urinary issues related to BPH.
Available from Amazon.
Roger
Paxton
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Joined : Aug 2016
Posts : 1493
Posted 12/21/2018 8:57 PM (GMT -5)
From what I have read, and from only my own experience, I believe the efficacy of all the natural remedies to be anecdotal.
Now, that sounds a bit too scholarly, so I will paraphrase.
For some specific individuals, these remedies seem to have some favorable impact. Not for everyone, and no high-grade research is at hand to say how many. Some remedies may help some patients, but if the impact was universal, the medical profession would have included them in their standards of care. Try them and see. I can't remember ever seeing that any of them caused harm, just that they may or may not work.
Now, if you happen to have prostate cancer, beware. As halbert noted, saw palmetto can artificially reduce your PSA. This does NOT mean that it has any effect on existing prostate cancer. The fact that saw palmetto reduces PSA can give the patient a falsely low PSA reading, causing them to believe that they have no worry about cancer, while they may actually have clinically significant prostate cancer but their PSA is depressed by the saw palmetto.
halbert
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Joined : Dec 2014
Posts : 6226
Posted 12/21/2018 9:14 PM (GMT -5)
"Now, if you happen to have prostate cancer, beware. As halbert noted, saw palmetto can artificially reduce your PSA. This does NOT mean that it has any effect on existing prostate cancer. The fact that saw palmetto reduces PSA can give the patient a falsely low PSA reading, causing them to believe that they have no worry about cancer, while they may actually have clinically significant prostate cancer but their PSA is depressed by the saw palmetto."
Which happened to me. My PSA went from <0.1, to 0.5, to 1.5, to 3.0 over a period of 3 years....and my 'true' PSA at the end was probably more like 6 or higher. (I never had another PSA between quitting the saw palmetto supplement and treatment). My GP didn't know about the PSA suppression--but the Urologist did. By the time I was with him, I had had a biopsy, so my PSA was academic.
InTheShop
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2012
Posts : 11468
Posted 12/22/2018 12:04 AM (GMT -5)
take vitamin P
pop corn, potatoes, pinto beans, and porridge are the best sources.
oldbeek
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2017
Posts : 410
Posted 12/22/2018 12:36 AM (GMT -5)
Real bee pollen. I was a beekeeper and at about 45 I was having trouble urinating. Slow. Started trapping pollen off my bee hives and ate 1 tsp a day. flow increased back to normal. Real raw bee pollen, not compressed heated pills or liquid.
RobLee
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Joined : Apr 2017
Posts : 1490
Posted 12/22/2018 12:36 AM (GMT -5)
My urologist had me taking saw palmetto for years. He never wanted to believe that I could possibly have cancer. Combined with pygeum, the SP did tend to help the burning in my prostate. I don't know what my PSA might have actually been, but once I stopped seeing him I discovered the truth.
Fauntleroy
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2012
Posts : 569
Posted 12/24/2018 6:02 PM (GMT -5)
No,
I took saw palmetto hoping the whole thing would go away(enlarged prostate, higher PSA etc...did nothing for me
Wishful thinking
Posted 12/26/2018 12:18 PM (GMT -5)
Why "natural"? By the time you take them in the dosages that show the (now you see it now you don't) benefits in studies, natural supplements are often more expensive and less effective than routine prescription drugs that treat the problem, and the prescription drugs have better-understood side effects.
Avodart (dutasteride) and Flomax (tansulosin) are both good drugs with farly minor side effects. If you use "goodRx.com" to shop around they are quite inexpensive.
Deletedman
Regular Member
Joined : Apr 2016
Posts : 52
Posted 12/26/2018 12:37 PM (GMT -5)
Weight loss.