| Pygeum is also known as
african pygeum. It is a large evergreen tree that grows in the high plateaus of
southern Africa. This herb is often used in men's herbal blends. The pygeum bark
is traditionally powdered and drunk as a tea for genito-urinary complaints.
Double-blind clinical trials have shown efficacy for many parameters of
prostatic hypertrophy, including failure to urinate, nocturnal urination,
frequent urination, residual urine, abdominal heaviness, voiding volume,
prostate volume and peak flow. Results included significant reduction of
symptoms and prostate size, and clearance of bladder neck urethra
obstruction.
The pygeum bark contains three groups of active constituents:
phytosterols (including beta-sitosterol), pentacyclic triterpenoids (including
ursolic and oleaic acids) and ferulic esters of long-chain fatty alcohols
(including ferulic esters of docosanol and tetracosanol).
Natural Health 1994 Jul/Aug;24(4):44,46-47
Steinman D
942530
More than half of all men over sixty have enlarged prostates, known as benign
prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Advanced cases can cause bladder
infections, kidney damage, or sexual disability Standard treatments
include expensive surgical procedures that can result in bleeding, bladder
damage, and impotence, and drugs that cause dizziness, fatigue, fainting, and
impotence. The European medical community uses Pygeum africanum, a safe, natural
remedy for BPH that is largely unknown in the United States. The treatment is
effective in more than half of all patients. The tribes of Natal have long
used pygeum's brown bark as a cure for bladder pains and urinary difficulty.
Studies indicate that pygeum reduces the symptoms of BPH, postponing the
need for more powerful drugs or surgery.
However, most American urologists are unaware pygeum even exists. Others assert
that the reports of pygeum's success are not supported by well-controlled
scientific studies. However, when one of them, Charles E. Shapiro of the
University of Southern California, was asked to review some of the European
studies, he acknowledged that pygeum appears to work as effectively as Proscar
or Hytrin, the drugs most commonly prescribed for American men, without the side
effects. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research is seeking to issue
new BPH treatment guidelines because of the rising cost and mixed results
of established treatments. Transurethral dilation of the prostate has fallen out
of favor as a surgical treatment, to be replaced by transurethral resection
of the prostate. This procedure may result in incontinence and possibly
increased risk of heart disease. In contrast, there are no known serious side
effects of pygeum, and it is inexpensive.
Pygeum is also known as:
African Pygeum, Pygeum africanus
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