|  Saw
Palmetto is primarily used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH),
an enlargement of the prostate gland that affects about half of all men
older than fifty. BPH is a noncancerous growth of the prostate gland.
If the prostate grows in mature men, it pinches the urethra, or urine
tube, and problems begin, including painful urination and frequent nighttime
trips to the bathroom. Researchers estimate that BPH affects about ten
million men in the United States -- some in their forties, half of all
men older than fifty, and four out of every five men older than eighty.
Research conducted in Europe since the beginning of the
1980's shows that saw palmetto reduced by nearly 50 percent the number
of times BPH sufferers had to get up to go to the bathroom during the
night and significantly reduced painful of difficult urination. More recently,
researchers compared a saw palmetto extract with finasteride, the conventional
BPH drug. The study involved 1,098 men diagnosed with BPH, and researchers
concluded that both treatments relieved BPH symptoms in about two-thirds
of the men. But while the finasteride reduced the prostate size it also
decreased sex drive and potency. Saw palmetto didn't show a significant
reduction in prostate size, but the men taking the herb did not see a
deduction in sex drive or impotency. Before scientists turned their microscopes
to saw palmetto, Native Americans used the berries as a general tonic
and to treat impotence.
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