Should Men With An Enlarged Prostate Use Saw Palmetto As An Alternative Treatment?

Dr. Brent Bauer answers the question: 'Saw Palmetto As Treatment For Prostate?'

ByABC News
December 23, 2008, 5:52 PM

Jan. 13, 2010 -- Question: Should men with an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia ) use saw palmetto as an alternative treatment?

Answer:So a lot of men who are getting older have enlarged prostate, and a lot of men then look for ways of dealing with that, and one of the most common dietary supplements is saw palmetto. Now it's very interesting, most of the studies on saw palmetto suggest it does have some benefit. It can reduce the symptoms associated with a large prostate. Now one of the things we don't do, here in the program that I run, is make specific recommendations for the use of dietary supplements. We always have these concerns about the quality or purity, so we try and do have our patients be well informed. What are the pros? What are the cons? What are the challenges about the things on the market? And then make an informed decision personally whether they want to use that or not.

So I don't specifically recommend it, but I make sure my patients have all the information they need to make an informed decision about whether it might work for them or not.