Saw Palmetto Research:

Anecdotal Evidences?

Native Americans were well aware of the medicinal efficacy of saw palmetto fruits at least for hundreds of years. Interestingly, their traditional use (for treatment of stomachache and dysentery, etc) was quite different from current use of this botanical.

Scientific and Clinical Studies

The fruits of saw palmetto have been shown in vitro to inhibit 5-alpha-reductase and aromatase, which has significant implications in the prostate enlargement. 5-alpha-reductase is responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), signalling prostate gland to produce more testosterone by growing larger. Besides the prevention of BPH, saw pallmeto shows efficacy in erection and improvement of sexual function. Inhibitory effect of saw palmmetto on 5-alpha-reductase also suggests that saw palmetto could be helpful to ward off hair loss, since DHT influences the hair follicle cells to degenerate.

Some examples of recent research reports are provided:

Cell Biol Int 2001;25(11):1117-24 - Saw palmetto berry extract inhibits cell growth and Cox-2 expression in prostatic cancer cells

Urology 2001 Dec;58(6 Suppl 1):71-6; discussion 76-7 - Phytotherapy in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Urology 2001 Dec;58(6):960-4; discussion 964-5 - Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of saw palmetto in men with lower urinary tract symptoms

Planta Med 2001 Aug;67(6):489-500 - Extracts from fruits of saw palmetto (Sabal serrulata) and roots of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica): viable alternatives in the medical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and associated lower urinary tracts symptoms

J Urol 2000 May;163(5):1451-6 - Effects of a saw palmetto herbal blend in men with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia

J Urol 2000 May;163(5):1408-12 - Saw palmetto for the treatment of men with lower urinary tract symptoms

JAMA 1998 Nov 11;280(18):1604-9 - Saw palmetto extracts for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: a systematic review

Urology 1998 Jun;51(6):1003-7 - Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) in men with lower urinary tract symptoms: effects on urodynamic parameters and voiding symptoms

Urologe A 1995 Mar;34(2):119-29 - Status of phytotherapeutic drugs in treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

J Nat Prod 1997 Apr;60(4):417-8Biologically active acylglycerides from the berries of saw-palmetto (Serenoa repens)

Pharmacol Res 2002 Mar;45(3):213-220 - Inhibitory effect of herbal remedies on 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-promoted Epstein--Barr virus early antigen activation

Outlook

Prostate gland is located above the rectum and encircles urethra. The prostate gland becomes larger as men age, and restricts the flow of urine. Age-dependent BPH affects some 10 million men in the US each year. At least 50% of men in the age of 50 would develop enlargement of prostate. Almost 90% of men in the age 70-80 or older suffer from BPH and many of them resort to surgery.

Although saw palmetto presumably has been comsumed by human for thousands of years, unlike other herbs, such as ginseng and ginkgo, it has been kept only among a relatively small demographic group, and has not been exposed to large scale historical tests. Saw palmetto's efficacy for BPH and related conditions is quite clear, and more researches are required for the discovery of other medicinal value of this botanical.