Natural Treatments For Enlarged Prostate

Our guest author today shares some great insights about natural enlarged prostate treatments.

It is estimated that over half of men between the age of 40 and 59 have enlarged prostates. Also, nearly 25 percent of 50 year old males have cancerous cells in their prostate. Prostate disorders are normally due to age related changes in sex hormones. As testosterone begins to decline around age 40, a variant called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) begins to increase. Cell growth is stimulated by DHT which causes enlargement of the prostate.

The prostate is a walnut sized gland that is located below the bladder. Its purpose is to produce seminal fluid. Prostate problems sometimes affect urination because the prostate surrounds the urethra which drains the bladder.

Most prevalent among possible disorders are:

1) Prostatitis which is an inflammatory infection

2) A non cancerous enlargement of the prostate called Benign-Prostatic-Hyperplasia, and

3) Cancer of the prostate.

Disease of the prostate is often referred to as a 'nutritional disease' because it is considerably more common in developed western countries where diets include red meat and dairy products.

Some scientific studies have changed the view that dairy products are nutritionally beneficial. In fact, countries that consume the most milk have the highest occurrence of prostate cancer. Nine different studies have shown the strongest and most consistent dietary factor linked with prostate cancer was a high consumption of milk and dairy products.

On the other hand, men who consume tomatoes, guavas, watermelon, and pink grapefruit have been found to be less likely to contract prostate cancer. All of those foods contain an antioxidant called lycopene. Lycopene is also available as a supplement and is beneficial for the prevention of prostate cancer and may also be helpful in reducing the size of existing tumors. There are several alternative medicine possibilities for the treatment of prostate disease that can be used to avoid drugs or surgical procedures but these should be used in addition to regular prostate screening examinations.

Other foods that are beneficial to a healthy prostate include fructose, garlic, and soy based products. Fructose assists in the production of vitamin D and garlic contains sulphur compounds that are natural cancer inhibitors. In addition, there are several vitamins and trace nutrients that are especially effective in the battle against cancer such as; vitamin D, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, saw palmetto, pyguem and cernilton.

Many clinical studies have demonstrated saw palmetto's effectiveness. In fact, the herb saw palmetto was found to work better in treating prostate enlargement than the widely prescribed drug Proscar. Saw palmetto was proven to be effective in nearly 90% of patients after 4-6 weeks, while Proscar was effective in fewer than half of the patients after a year. Since Proscar is less effective and much more expensive, choosing saw palmetto seems elementary.

Herbal remedies are widely accepted and frequently used to treat prostate disorders in European countries. Meanwhile, America is bogged down by a regulatory bureaucracy. As scientific studies continue to verify the validity of vitamin and herbal therapy as medicinally favorable, the FDA continues to label them as nothing more than folk remedies. Economic factors influence our health industry. For example, the dairy supporters relentlessly promote the benefits of milk for adults in spite of much evidence to the contrary. And physicians, who many of us rely on for advice, are primarily influenced by profit-motivated drug companies when it concerns our medicines and they have little training in nutritional, herbal, and alternative healing procedures.