Saw palmetto extracts for prostate problems

Naturopathy: Different saw palmetto preparations have different effects

03/11/2011

Generalizations often lead to wrong judgments. But while beliefs such as love blinds, time heals all wounds, or money opens all doors, occasionally complicating life, misjudgements in medicine can lead to more far-reaching consequences. The most recent example of this is the discussion about saw palmetto extracts in prostate disorders.

Every second German over 50 has prostate problems. Those affected then often have to go to the bathroom - even at night - but often have difficulty in letting water despite increased urgency. To relieve the symptoms, a range of both chemically-synthetic and herbal medicines are currently available. While the chemical preparations can cause side effects such as dizziness, headaches or even impotence, the herbal medicines are also very well tolerated in the long term. The current guidelines of the German Society for Urology state that herbal prostate medications are: „The individual manufacturers use different extraction methods. This means that the products of different manufacturers can vary in their composition, even if they are obtained from the same plant. As a result, results from basic research and clinical trials of a specific drug can not be transferred to a drug from another manufacturer.“ Unfortunately, this obviously happens anyway.

Recently, in the prestigious journal JAMA (Vol. 306, p. 1344, 2011), a study was published in which researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston assigned 357 men suffering from undiagnosed urinary ailments for 18 months with an in Germany little-used monopreparation from saw palmetto fruits treated. The herbal preparation was no better than a placebo administered to the comparison group.

Overall, no exciting thing in medical science. For studies in which a proof of effectiveness does not succeed, there are almost every drug. The process becomes annoying only when the data of this preparation are used to cover all saw palmetto extracts and their effectiveness is denied. Because the effectiveness of a combination of saw palmetto and nettle leaf extract in particular has been proven in several clinical studies. At night, not all cats are gray - even if some would wish! (KFN 12/2011)

Also read:
Saw palmetto extracts have no effect on prostate conditions