News--
Saw Palmetto Can Improve
Symptoms For Men With Urinary Problems
ScienceDaily
Dec 13, 2001
A six-month-long carefully controlled study by physicians at the University of
Chicago, published in the December issue of the journal Urology, shows that the
herbal remedy saw
palmetto can improve symptoms for men with lower urinary tract problems, but
that it has no significant impact on urinary flow rates, quality of life, or
sexual function.
Although several smaller, briefer and uncontrolled trials of saw palmetto (serona repens)
have implied benefits from this herb, many physicians have remained skeptical.
Men with urinary symptoms -- such as an enlarged prostate, which can
interfere with their efforts to empty their bladders -- have not shared these
doubts. They spend more than $140 million a year on herbal preparations
containing saw palmetto,
making it one of the 10 best-selling herbal remedies.
"Our study provides the best evidence to date that saw palmetto can have a
beneficial effect," said Glenn Gerber, M.D., associate professor of surgery at
the University of Chicago and director of the study.
Gerber and colleagues at the University of Chicago and at the Dekalb Clinic,
in Dekalb, Illinois, enrolled 94 men who complained of urinary retention in the
trial. During the first month of the study all participants received a placebo
capsule twice a day. After the first month, nine men who reported considerable
improvement were removed from the trial.
The remaining 85 men were randomly selected to receive two capsules a day of
either saw palmetto
(provided by Nutraceutical Corp., Ogden, Utah) or a placebo.
After the one-month placebo "run-in period,' the study subjects filled out a
standardized questionnaire about their urinary symptoms, a second questionnaire
about sexual function, and a third questionnaire about quality of life. They
also had their urinary flow rates measured. The tests were repeated two, four
and six months into the trial.
After six months on the mediction, the men who received saw palmetto had a 4.4-point
decrease (improvement) in their urinary symptom score, from an average of 16.7
down to 12.3. Men who received only the placebo also had a reduction but of only
half the size, 2.2 points, from 15.8 down to 13.6.
There were no significant differences between the two groups in the other
measurements. Peak urinary flow rates improved slightly in both groups.
Self-assessed quality of life improved slightly in both groups. There was no
change in sexual function.
This may not provide the final word on saw palmetto, which has not
yet been compared with standard medications for an enlarged prostate, but it
does "tell doctors how to talk to patients about this supplement," said Gerber.
"Saw palmetto clearly
offers symptomatic benefit as compared with placebo controls."
"We can tell patients that this appears to be a safe, well-tolerated
substance that can produce short-term improvement of urinary symptoms," said
Gerber. "But we also need to point out that we don't know why it works, and that
the dose can vary widely and unpredictably in over-the-counter preparations,
which may also include other untested herbal supplements."
This story has been adapted from a news release issued by
University Of Chicago Medical Center.
