What Is Saw Palmetto Used for Today?
Saw palmetto oil is an accepted medical treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in New Zealand and in France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and other European countries. Typical symptoms of BPH include difficulty starting urination, weak urinary stream, frequent urination, dribbling after urination, and waking up several times at night to urinate. Most, thought not all, research suggests that saw palmetto can markedly improve all these symptoms. Benefits require approximately 4 to 6 weeks of treatment to develop. It appears that about two-thirds of men respond reasonably well. Furthermore, while the prostate tends to continue to grow when left untreated, 1 saw palmetto causes a small but definite shrinkage. 2-4 In other words, it isn’t just relieving symptoms, but may actually be retarding prostate enlargement. The drug Proscar does this too (and to a greater extent than saw palmetto) but other standard medications for BPH have no effect on prostate size. Some studies sugges
