Prostate Health

• What's new with prostate health

• Changes in the prostate
• Causes for changes
• Nutritional alternatives

What's new with prostate health

Prostate cancer is diagnosed more often than breast cancer, and cases are expected to rise. Doctors and researchers are calling for more funding and public awareness, but treatment approaches remain divided.

Between 1990 and 1994, nearly 170,000 men died from prostate cancer. Today, about 400,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. Yet physicians disagree on the best prevention and treatment strategies.

Some organizations—the American Cancer Society, American College of Radiology, and American Urological Association—recommend routine screening for men over 50 using a PSA blood test and digital rectal exam. The American College of Physicians argues routine screening has no proven benefit.

While doctors debate, one fact is clear: prostate cancer develops in unhealthy prostates. The rise in prostate cancer cases parallels another common condition—benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or prostate enlargement.

Changes in the prostate

BPH is common in aging men—men over 40, not necessarily elderly. Until age 40, the prostate stays normal-sized, about the size of a walnut. It sits below the bladder and surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body.

As the prostate grows, it squeezes the urethra and causes urinary problems. This usually takes time—often five to ten years pass without symptoms before the prostate reaches a size that causes noticeable trouble.

Most symptoms involve urination: needing to go more often, waking at night to urinate (sometimes several times), a weaker urine stream, and a sense that the bladder isn't completely empty after urinating.

Some men experience hesitation or straining before urination starts, sudden urgency, or incontinence. Sexual desire and performance often decline as well.

Causes for changes

As men age, prostate growth accelerates due to several factors, including nutritional deficiencies that compromise prostate health.

Age also brings hormonal shifts: increases in dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a potent form of testosterone, and estradiol, a female hormone. These changes can trigger prostate cells to multiply and the gland to enlarge.

By age 50, about half of men have BPH. By 80, nearly all do. In the United States, roughly 30 million men experience prostate enlargement.

In most cases, prostate cell growth remains benign and does not become cancer. Still, the rising rates of BPH and prostate cancer suggest a connection between the two.

European physicians treat this seriously and often aggressively address even benign enlargement—in part because they have effective treatments, not just symptom management.

For over 20 years, European doctors have used natural substances proven in medical studies to improve symptoms and actually shrink enlarged prostates.

Nutritional alternatives

Saw palmetto, pygeum africanum, and stinging nettles are the main natural treatments. European doctors prescribe these instead of drugs like Hytrin, Cardura, or Proscar. The natural substances produce better results without the side effects.

Studies show saw palmetto reduces prostate size in over 60% of patients. Pygeum africanum works even better—over 70% of study participants experienced shrinkage. Historically, other nutrients have supported prostate health: zinc (essential for prostate function), amino acids like alanine, glycine, and glutamic acid, ginseng, pumpkin seed extract, essential oils, and B vitamins.