Even a natural medicine as good as saw palmetto works only in about two-thirds of cases. There's a new kid on the block when it comes to complementary and alternative approaches to prostate health....
These days, men have a lot more options than simply the venerated Serenoa repens, the dwarf palmetto native to the southeastern United States—and which by all measures ranks as an excellent herbal solution for men’s health. But here’s the rub, as good as this herb is, other herbs now are known to bring to men complementary or alternative benefits. Saw palmetto doesn’t always work, as good as it is. In fact, studies show it fails in at least one third of men. That’s a good record, well good enough, but leaves many men out in the cold, wishing there was something else to try. Sometimes, men need to try something else because the saw palmetto supplements don’t help them.
And sometimes they might like what it is doing but they want additional help.
All of this bodes well for two herbs, well known in Europe, but not in the United States, as they begin their unstoppable market climb into men’s health consciousness.
The key for men’s prostate health is to protect the prostate cells themselves and to aid function and make the plumbing system work better.
These two herbs were recently shown in studies at Columbia University’s Department of Urology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Columbia University Medical Center, to do so remarkably well. The studies have found that they not only inhibit prostate cancer cells from multiplying (which is a very good thing, indeed) but that they also seem to be able to help men urinate less often with higher voiding (completely emptying the bladder) and relieve discomforting symptoms. In the study that was undertaken among men with rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) counts with no evidence of cancer, this was a very welcome yet not really anticipated finding, we learned. But when the questionnaires were filled out and answered, men were indeed responding well. Some of these studies are ongoing with more results to be published and we don’t want to overhype anything because that is misleading. But among men who have used the product, including ace journalist Dr. Morton Walker, they have found excellent results. Dr. Walker uses a product called Prostabel from Natural Source International. Upon listening to Dr. Michael Schachter’s presentation at the May 2003 American College for the Advancement of Medicine (in which Dr. Schachter discussed the landmark findings of Dr. Mirko Beljanski) and having been introduced to the formulas, he began swallowing a formula containing Pao pereira and Rauwolfia vomitoria extracts. He found it helps a lot. “With my increasing the Prostabel® dosage now to six daily, three at breakfast and three after dinner, many nights I sleep through the whole seven or eight hours without a need to urinate at all.” This from a man who was going so frequently at times he had to carry a jar with him in a car!
Now while saw palmetto has an impressive list of publications, so do these herbs.
In the November 2006 International Journal of Oncology, Dr. Debra L. Bemis together with Dr. Aaron Katz and other Columbia investigators looked at Rauwolfia vomitoria, a medicinal plant used traditionally to treat a variety of ailments.
[i]
Rauwolfia vomitoria extract standardized for beta-carboline alkaloids, as found in the studied product, was tested for ability to influence the growth and survival of the human LNCaP prostate cancer cell line. Tumor volumes were decreased by 60%, 70% and 58% in the varying groups. “The Rauwolfia vomitoria extract significantly suppressed the growth and cell cycle progression of LNCaP cells, in vitro and in vivo,” wrote Dr. Bemis.
Dr. Bemis continued to study this product and published a second study on its
Pao Periera extract in the spring 2009 issue of the
Journal of the Society of Integrative Oncology.ii] Again, her team at the alpha-carboline alkaloids have significant anticancer activities in certain preclinical models. “Because of the predominance of prostate cancer as a cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality for men of Western countries, we preclinically tested the in vitro and in vivo effects of a pao pereira extract against a prototypical human prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP. When added to cultured LNCaP cells, pao pereira extract significantly suppressed cell growth in a dose-dependent fashion and induced apoptosis.” Tumor growth was suppressed by up to 80% in some groups…
Saw Palmetto has a wonderful history of use and science and everybody should be thankful that we have not only this powerful herb but others that also offer tremendous potential benefits for cell protection and prostate health. Prostabel with both Raulwolfia vomitoria and Pao Periera—both with a rich scientific and clinical history—belongs on the shelf of every serious natural food and health store, natural pharmacy, and probably in the medicine chest of many conventional medical doctors who want to offer their patients a full complementary prostate health program.
Resources
References
Carl says:
I already knew it, but whatever thanks.
August 31st, 2010 at 9:48 AM