S. repens is safe in its application .
We suggest that strong placebo effect , potentially influenced by positive patients ' expectation on S. repens , shapes both the clinical practice outcomes and the findings of clinical trials .
Hitherto , the totality of evidence continues to suggest that S. repens is a prudent therapeutic option as part of the naturopathic treatment for LUTS/BPH .
OBJECTIVES Benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH ) commonly affects men above 40 years old .
The progression of BPH is often accompanied with lower urinary tract symptoms ( LUTS ) that can significantly affect the quality of life of the patients .
Serenoa repens ( saw palmetto ) is a popular herbal remedy indicated for LUTS/BPH .
We review ed the current research on the efficacy of S. repens on LUTS/BPH as a monotherapy as well as combination therapies .
RESULTS The latest evidence , based largely on the Cochrane review , suggests that S. repens is not superior to placebo in treating LUTS/BPH as a monotherapy , even at double and triple doses .
Initial clinical trials on treatment of LUTS/BPH using S. repens with lycopene and selenium , as well as S. repens with Urtica Dioica , have shown positive results .
Effects of Difaprost® on voiding dysfunction, histology and inflammation markers in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia who are candidates for surgical treatment.
AIM Although previous studies assessed the effects of Serenoa repens , quercetin and β-sitosterol on inflammatory parameters , no r and omized studies have tested the combination of these agents neither on BPH symptoms nor on the inflammatory pattern . The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effects of Difaprost ® on voiding dysfunction , histological inflammatory alterations and apoptotic molecular mechanisms in BPH patients . METHODS We included 36 patients affected by BPH with obstructive symptoms eligible for surgery . Patients were r and omly assigned to two groups : 18 patients received Difaprost ® for three months before surgery , and 18 patients did not receive any additional therapy and were scheduled for surgery . All patients receiving Difaprost ® were evaluated with uroflowmetry with post-void residual volume ( PVR ) evaluation , serum PSA , and IPSS question naire before and after treatment . Moreover , we evaluated inflammatory patterns in prostatic specimens at final pathology . RESULTS Even without statistically significant differences on inflammatory pattern between patients receiving Difaprost ® and controls , patients receiving Difaprost ® had lower presence of edema and angiectasia at histological evaluation of prostate specimens . Moreover , patients included in the treatment group had a clinical ly significant reduction of PVR ( 46.1 vs. 25.2 mL ; P=0.1 ) and a slight increase in Qmed ( 5.6 vs. 6.5 mL/s ; P=0.9 ) after three months of chronic treatment with Difaprost ® . No statistically significant differences were recorded in other clinical parameters between patients receiving Difaprost ® and controls . CONCLUSION Although not statistically significant , patients treated with Difaprost ® showed an improvement in voiding function compared to controls ( namely , an increase in Qmed and a reduction of PVR ) . Future trials with a larger number of patients and a longer treatment period could be necessary to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Difaprost ®
S. repens is safe in its application .
We suggest that strong placebo effect , potentially influenced by positive patients ' expectation on S. repens , shapes both the clinical practice outcomes and the findings of clinical trials .
Hitherto , the totality of evidence continues to suggest that S. repens is a prudent therapeutic option as part of the naturopathic treatment for LUTS/BPH .
OBJECTIVES Benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH ) commonly affects men above 40 years old .
The progression of BPH is often accompanied with lower urinary tract symptoms ( LUTS ) that can significantly affect the quality of life of the patients .
Serenoa repens ( saw palmetto ) is a popular herbal remedy indicated for LUTS/BPH .
We review ed the current research on the efficacy of S. repens on LUTS/BPH as a monotherapy as well as combination therapies .
RESULTS The latest evidence , based largely on the Cochrane review , suggests that S. repens is not superior to placebo in treating LUTS/BPH as a monotherapy , even at double and triple doses .
Initial clinical trials on treatment of LUTS/BPH using S. repens with lycopene and selenium , as well as S. repens with Urtica Dioica , have shown positive results .