Saw Palmetto Treatment

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) is a low growing palm native to the southeastern United States, particularly Florida. The part of the plant used for medicinal purposes is the berries, which are harvested, dried, and ground for preparation as a tea or in capsules. It is often prescribed for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or as an anti-inflammatory. Interestingly, saw palmetto berries do not seem to reduce the size of an enlarged prostate, but rather relieve the symptoms associated with BPH such as frequent urination. Saw palmetto is not believed to interfere with accurate measuring of prostate specific antigen, or PSA (a marker for prostate cancer).

All of the studies show that Saw Palmetto extract is effective for both subjective and objective measurements of prostatic enlargement . Other studies show that Saw Palmetto extract selectively antagonizes 52% of the dihydrotestosterone receptors in the prostate, thus inhibiting the hormone from binding to them, and therefore minimizing its stimulation of cell growth.