Palmetto & the prostate.Extracts of the saw palmetto saw palmetto Any of several shrubby palms chiefly of the southern U.S. and West Indies that have spiny-toothed petioles (leafstalks), especially a common palm (Serenoa repens) of the southeastern U.S., with a usually creeping stem. berry may not ease the symptoms of a benign enlarged prostate Enlarged Prostate Definition A non-cancerous condition that affects many men past 50 years of age, enlarged prostate makes urinating more difficult by narrowing the urethra, a tube running from the bladder through the prostate gland. , as earlier studies concluded. In a well-designed government-sponsored study, researchers randomly assigned 225 men with moderate-to-severe symptoms to take either saw palmetto (160 mg twice a day) or a placebo. After one year, the palmetto palmetto or cabbage palmetto Tree (Sabal palmetto) of the palm family, occurring in the southeastern U.S. and the West Indies. Commonly grown for shade and as ornamentals along avenues, palmettos grow to about 80 ft (24 m) tall and have fan-shaped leaves. takers did not differ in symptoms, prostate size, urinary flow, or quality of life from the placebo takers. What to do: Men who take saw palmetto for a benign enlarged prostate shouldn't expect much improvement (or side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. , which were no more common in the palmetto takers than in the placebo takers). Supplement makers charge that the study recruited men with symptoms that were too severe and used too low a dose. But the men were similar to those in earlier studies, and the dose matched what's recommended on most labels. Nevertheless, the National Institutes of Health is planning to test higher doses. New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. 354: 557, 2006. |
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