Saw Palmetto for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

To the Editor: Bent et al. (Feb. 9 issue) 1 report that 160 mg of saw palmetto taken twice daily did not improve symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia. The authors indicate that the fatty-acid fraction of saw palmetto may be the active ingredient of the berry extract and that most products contai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 354; no. 18; pp. 1950 - 1951
Main Author Casner, Paul R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 04.05.2006
Subjects
Androgen Antagonists - administration & dosage
Humans
Male
Phytotherapy
Plant Extracts - administration & dosage
Prostatic Hyperplasia - drug therapy
Serenoa
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Summary:To the Editor: Bent et al. (Feb. 9 issue) 1 report that 160 mg of saw palmetto taken twice daily did not improve symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia. The authors indicate that the fatty-acid fraction of saw palmetto may be the active ingredient of the berry extract and that most products contain 85 to 95 percent fatty acids. Since saw palmetto is available in higher doses than 160 mg, would it not be expected that the higher-dose capsules contain more of the supposed active ingredient and thus would be more effective than the 160-mg dose? To the Editor: The study by . . .
Bibliography:SourceType-Other Sources-1
content type line 63
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
ObjectType-Commentary-2
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJMc060691