Men's Health: The Prostate Gland

There are drugs for benign prostate hyperplasia, but these drugs aren't that effective. Alternative treatments have also been tried. Surgey is another approach.

Alternative Treatments

Phytosterols are plant fats. These have been tried as treatments.

"The results of this study show that the symptoms of BPH for all patients receiving treatment with pumpkin seed oil, saw palmetto oil, or a combination of pumpkin seed oil plus saw palmetto oil were improved over 12 months, in comparison with placebo."
Heeok Hong,¹ Chun-Soo Kim,² and Sungho Maeng³¹Department of Food Service Management and Nutrition, Sangmyung University, Hongji-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul 110-743, Korea.²Department of Food and Nutrition, Chung-Ang University, 72-1 Ne-ri, Daeduk-myun, Anseong, Kyunggi 456-756, Korea.³Maria Biotech Co., 102-9 Sinsul-dong, Dongdaemoon-gu, Seoul 130-812, Korea.Corresponding author.
Corresponding Author: Sungho Maeng, Tel. 82-2-924-8757, Fax. 82-2-924-9083, Email: jethrot@naver.com

This quote is from Ref.1. There are many theories for BPH. One theory is that caffeine should be avoided. Caffeine is in tea, coffee, chocolate, Coke, Pepsi, etc. Herbal tea does not have caffeine. Refs. 2-5 give more information on BPH. Of course prostate cancer is far worse than BPH. According to Guyton & Hall (Textbook of Medical Physiology, 10th edition), 2 to 3 % of men die from prostate cancer.
Orthomolecular Theory
According to orthomolecular theory, many diseases, including cancer, can be treated and prevented by using natural substances found in the diet. These substances include vitamins, but are not restricted to vitamins. Orthomolecular medicine is more scientific than herbal medicine, but orthomolecular people do not rule out herbs. There are molecules in herbs. Orthomolecular scientists such as Hoffer and Pauling have favored dietary prevention of cancer by eating certain foods and avoiding certain other foods. Ref. 6 is about cancer. Ref. 7 is about nutrition in general. Ref. 8 is about orthomolecular theory and practice.
Cancer
Ref. 9 is about alternative treatments for cancer. Pauling's part was publish posthumously because he died in 1994. Hoffer died in 2009. Ref. 10 is one of the last books written by Hoffer before he died. When he died, he may have left some rough drafts that were unpublished. Hopefully these will be published posthumously.
Dr. Andrew Weil
Dr. Weil has a huge website which offers advice on a variety of health problems including cancer and BPH. His website is http://www.drweil.com. For BPH he favors certain lifestyle changes including exercise. He favors avoiding caffeine and alcohol. He feels that caffeine may irritate the bladder. He also favors avoiding constipation by increasing the fiber in your diet. He favors certain nutritional changes and supplements. He says to avoid saturated fats and trans-fats. These are not good for you anyway. He favors monosaturated and omega-3 unsaturated fats. He says to eat more soy products.
Conclusions
You should see a urologist if you have BPH. You need to be checked for possible prostate cancer. Although Weil is not a urologist, his advice here is extremely good. I have talked to urologists, and they say roughly the same things. However, urologists talk more about drugs, surgery, and other treatments. Urologists don't talk that much about alternative medicine.
Weil favors certain herbs including saw palmeto, which is also called serenoa repens. Green tea extract, selenium, and lycopene are also favored by Weil. However, Weil does not use the term "orthomolecular". He prefers the term "integrative medicine". My view is that Weil's website is well worth investigating, but I use a variety of websites. I spend the most time on Pubmed. Pubmed is highly technical. The layman will probably prefer Weil's site. Weil's books give the technical references.
References
1. Effects of pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto oil in Korean men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Hong H, Kim CS, Maeng S. Nutr Res Pract. 2009 Winter;3(4):323-7.

2. Bach D. Placebo-controlled, long-term therapeutic study of a pumpkin seed extract product in patients with micturition complaints from benign prostatic hyperplasia. Urologe B. 2000;40:437-443.

3. Barry MJ, Fowler FJ, Jr, Bin L, Pitts JC, 3rd, Harris CJ, Mulley AG., Jr The natural history of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia as diagnosed by North American urologists. J Urol. 1997;157:10-14.

4. Braeckman J. The extract of serenoa repens in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: A multicenter open study. Curr Ther Res. 1994;55:776-785.

5. Breu W, Hagenlocher M, Redl K, Tittel G, Stadler F, Wagner H. Anti-inflammatory activity of sabal fruit extracts prepared with supercritical carbon dioxide. In vitro antagonists of cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase metabolism. Arzneimittelforschung. 1992;42:547-551.

6. Hoffer A. Vitamin C and Cancer: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy. Quarry Press, Kingston , ON 2000.

7. Hoffer A. Hoffer's Laws of Natural Nutrition: A Guide to Eating Well for Pure Health. Quarry Press, Kingston , ON , 1996.

8. Hoffer A, Saul AW. Orthomolecular Medicine for Everyone. Basic Health Publications, 2008.

9. Hoffer A. Pauling Dr. Linus: Healing Cancer: Complementary Vitamin & Drug Treatments. CCNM Press (July 1, 2004).10. Hoffer A, Challem J: User's Guide to Natural therapies for Cancer Prevention & Control: Learn How Diet and Supplements Can Help Prevent and Treat Cancer. Basic Health Publications (October, 2004).