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Prostate - Tiny But Troublesome Michael Lam, MD, MPH
www.DrLam.com
(READING
TIPS: For fast reading, scan through the topic headings in BOLD BLACK, important
conclusions in BOLD BLUE, and " Must Know " in BOLD RED. To jump to specific sections in this article, click on the
respective LINKS
in the Contents.)
Before You Begin
Information presented here is for general
educational purposes only. Each one of us is biochemically and metabolically
different. If you have a specific health concern and wish my personalized
nutritional recommendation, write to me by clicking
here. |
Contents
Introduction
Prostate 101
Causes of Prostatic
Hypertrophy / Prostate Cancer
Therapeutic Options for BPH
Saw Palmetto
Pygeum
Stinging Nettle
Diet
Conclusion
Introduction
If
you are a male and you live long enough, you're going to have prostate problems.
It's a natural consequence of aging.
Men need to be aware that their prostate can cause them some significant symptoms.
Some 180,000 American men this year will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Celebrities afflicted by this disease include U.S. Senator Bob Dole, golf legend
Arnold Palmer, comedian Jerry Lewis, and race car driver great Richard Petty.
34,000 Americans will die from the disease. Prostate cancer is the leading non-skin
cancer in men. You have a higher chance of something going wrong with your
prostate than any other organ in your body, and yet people don't think about
that.
 Prostate
101
Few men ever consider the walnut-sized gland located just below the bladder,
until it starts to give them trouble. In fact, a 1995 survey in the London Times
found that 89% of the men surveyed did not even know where the prostate was
located.
The prostate is a single, doughnut-shaped gland about the size of a walnut that
lies below the bladder and surrounds the urethra. It secretes a thin, milky
fluid that increases sperm motility and lubricates the urethra to prevent infection.
The fluid is extremely important for successful fertilization of the egg.
After the age of 50, the prostate begins to hypertrophy, or increase in size.
This condition is known as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The urethra
(the tube that carries urine from the bladder) runs through the middle of the
prostate. Consequently, when the prostate enlarges, the urethra is squeezed
and therefore compressed. This can pinch off the flow of urine, cause difficulty
in urinating, and make many men get up three or four times during the night
to urinate. Most men don't know enough about the symptoms. Many think
that it's just normal aging if you're getting up four to five times a night
to go to the bathroom. But it's just not the case. In reality, they are having
a prostate problem and they do not even know about it.
Other symptoms of BPH include hesitancy, dribbling, reduced force of the urinary
stream, and occasional bleeding or infection. This condition may even proceed
to the point of complete urinary obstruction, which is a surgical emergency.
5 to 10% of men at age thirty are already affected by this disease. 50% of
men between 40-60 years of age suffer from BPH, escalating to 90% of men by
age 85. If you live long enough, you are going to get it.
Fortunately, BPH is not deadly and can be
treated. Untreated BPH can lead to more serious complications such
as urinary tract infection and kidney damage. Severe cases of BPH may even require
surgery.
BPH is a medical diagnosis requiring professional expertise of a qualified
physician. Diagnosis is by digital rectal exam, where the prostate gland
feels boggy and may be two to three times larger than normal. Definitive diagnosis
of BPH can be made with ultrasound measurement. To differentiate between prostate
cancer and BPH, as the symptoms can be similar, a blood test called PSA (prostate-specific
antigen) is used. The PSA test is regarded as a highly significant and sensitive
marker for prostate cancer. The normal value for PSA is less than 4 ng/ml. A
level above 10 ng/ml is highly indicative of prostate cancer with a sensitivity
of over 90 percent.
Causes
of Prostatic Hypertrophy or Prostate Cancer
Conventional medical thinking holds that both prostatic hypertrophy and prostate
cancer are due to or are promoted by testosterone and/or dihydrotestosterone
(DHT). This increase in levels of testosterone and DHT is largely due to
a decreased rate of removal combined with an increase in the activity of the
enzyme 5-alpha-redcutase, which converts testosterone to DHT. Consequently,
standard medical therapy for these conditions includes blocking DHT formation
by drugs, avoiding testosterone replacement, or (in the case of prostate cancer)
orchiectomy (surgical removal of the testicles) to reduce testosterone output.
This hypothesis is not without its flaws. Some researches, such as Dr. William
Campbell Douglass, a pioneer in alternative medicine, supports the opposite
hypothesis that testosterone actually is protective against prostate cancer.
Another researcher, Dr. B. de Lignieres,
conducted a nearly two-year survey of men aged 55-70 years of age who were treated
with testosterone. He found that high levels of testosterone induced a number
of clinical benefits, while reducing prostate size and prostate-related symptomatology.
Dr. G. Debled, a European urologist, also believes that testosterone deficiency,
rather than excess DHT, is a major causative factor of BPH. In fact, Dr. Debled
uses testosterone to treat BPH. Furthermore, Dr Debled reports that in over
20 years of administering testosterone for patients with BPH, he has not had
a single case of prostate cancer develop - despite the fact that approximately
50 cases should have been discovered, based on statistical averages alone.
The final jury is still out on this
controversy. It is clear that the link between
testosterone and prostate cancer is not that firmly established, even among
the most mainstream of medical communities.
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