Saw Palmetto Berries come from a small palm tree, which grows in the southeastern US. It has been used by Native Americans and researched in Europe and Japan, where it is widely consumed

STUDIES for SAW PLAMETTO:

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia/ Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to BPH, are common medical conditions in older men. Forty percent of men 70 years or older have lower urinary tract symptoms consistent with BPH. Treatment for BPH is to relieve urgency, frequency, nocturia, and obstructive symptoms. Treatment options include surgical procedures, pharmaceutical and phytotherapeutic preparations or lifestyle modification. Saw palmetto is a dietary supplement widely used to treat the urinary symptoms of BPH.

• A study was done on 44 men aged 45 to 80 with symptomatic BPH. Each patient was given either an herbal blend of 106 mg of saw palmetto berry lipoidal extract and other herbs (nettle root, pumpkin seed, lemon bioflavonoid extract, vitamin A as beta-carotene and other minor ingredients) or placebo three times a day for 6 months. Saw palmetto herbal blend for symptomatic BPH resulted in the contraction of prostatic epithelial tissues, possibly via a non- hormonal mechanism. No adverse effects were observed. Saw palmetto herbal blend may be a safe and desirable alternative for men with moderately symptomatic BPH.
• A review analyzed 18 randomized controlled trials involving 2,939 men. The mean study duration was 9 weeks (range 4-48 weeks) and the most frequent reported dose was 160 mg of saw palmetto 2 times a day, although studies used different doses and preparations of saw palmetto in combination with other phytotherapeutic compounds. The review suggested that saw palmetto improved urologic symptoms and flow measures. When saw palmetto was compared to finasteride (5 a-reductase inhibitor), it produced similar improvement in urinary tract symptoms and urinary flow. In addition, there were fewer adverse treatment events and cost for treatment was less. Overall, further research is needed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness and safety of saw palmetto and to determine its ability to prevent complications from BPH.
• Fifty men with previously untreated lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were treated with 160 mg of saw palmetto two times a day for 6 months. Mean Interated Prostate Symptom Score improved from 19.5 ± 5.5 to 12.5 ± 7.0 among the 46 men who completed the study. An improvement in symptom score of 50% or greater after treatment with saw palmetto for 2, 4, and 6 months was noted in 21%, 30% and 46% of patients, respectively. There was no significant change in the measures of peak urinary flow. Overall, saw palmetto was well-tolerated and significantly improved lower urinary tract symptoms in men with BPH. Placebo-controlled trials are needed to further evaluate saw palmetto's effectiveness.
• A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial was conducted to look at effect of saw palmetto in men with LUTS. Men, 45 years or older, with an Interated Prostate System Score of > 8 were entered. Eighty-five men were randomized to receive either saw palmetto or placebo for 6 months. Mean systems were decreased from 16.7 to 12.3 in the saw palmetto group compared with 15.8 to 13.6 in placebo group (p=0.038). Saw palmetto led to significant improvement in urinary systems in men with LUTS but had no measurable effect on urinary flow rates.

Intraoperative Hemorrhage: A case report of a 53-year old male with left petroclavial meningioma had surgical resection of the tumor. During the procedure, the patient had brisk bleeding that was difficult to control. Later, it was discovered that the patient had been using saw palmetto for benign prostate hypertrophy. The prolonged bleeding time in this patient may have been a result of platelet dysfunction caused by cyclooxygenase inhibition from saw palmetto.

Prostate Cancer: Treatment for prostate cancer is hormonal or androgen-ablative therapy which induces apoptosis in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells. Hormonal therapy is 70 to 80% effective, but most tumors progress to androgen-independent tumors. These tumors are resistant to androgen withdrawal induced apoptosis due to mutation of androgen receptors in these cells. Human prostatic carcinoma LNCaP cell line is the most widely used in vitro model of prostate cancer and their growth is increased by androgen. Extract from saw palmetto, serenoa repens, may induce a mixed type of cell death, apoptosis or necrosis in LNCaP cells.

• Cell viability was examined in LNCaP cells, an in vitro model for hormonal therapy-resistant prostatic tumor. Results indicated that exposure from serenoa repens extract resulted in of LNCaP cell death. It was demonstrated that the extract from Serenoa repens and myristoleic acid induces mixed cell death of apoptosis and necrosis in LNCaP cells. These results suggest that the extract and myristoleic acid may help develop new tools for the treatment of prostate cancer.
• A study used three human urological cancer cell lines, PC-3, LNCaP and SKRC-1, to investigate the effects of the extract from serenoa repens on tumor cell invasion. The invasive activity of PC-3 cells exposed to the extract was significantly suppressed in a dose-dependent manner while that of LNCap and SKRC-a cell were not altered. Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) in PC-3 cells was more strongly suppressed by the extract as compared to the other two cell lines. It was also found that purified uPA activity is inhibited by the extract from Serenoa repens in a dose-dependent manner in vitro, suggesting that the suppression of PC-3 cell invasion by the extract is based on an inhibition of uPA activity which is necessary for tumor cell invasion. These data suggested that extract from serenoa repens specifically inhibits the uPA activity and may therefore be useful for the therapeutic treatment of prostate cancer.