There I was thinking that I’d be able to find a natural cure for my prostate health condition when, WHAM! Someone banged me over the head and told me not to be so stupid and gullible. Natural cures just don’t work they said. They’re just trying to rip you off.
You see I’d been living with the discomfort that every man around 50 years old goes through. I’d noticed the symptoms of an enlarged prostate slowly coming into my everyday life.
• More frequent urination.
• Restricted flow, including dribbling before and after.
• Difficulty starting the flow.
• Feeling that the bladder wasn’t completely empty.
I didn’t have the other symptoms that may indicate prostate cancer like:
• Pain after orgasm.
• Blood in the urine.
• Burning sensation on urination.
Overall, I was a little uncomfortable. I went to my doctor and he outlined some facts about prostate Health:
• Men can get acute prostatitis, with the above symptoms, which can develop quickly, but not necessarily develop into anything permanent. The causes are generally unknown.
• Bacterial prostatitis, if present, develops slowly and over a longer period. Symptoms, again, are similar to the above. This is usually the result of urine remaining in the bladder for a long time allowing infections to develop. It is usually treated with drugs for pain, bed rest and increased fluid intake, and, perhaps, gentle prostate massage.
• Sometimes there are no real symptoms; the prostate becomes inflamed with nothing else evident. The enlargement may only be discovered during a digital examination.
In any case most men avoid the digital examination because it is embarrassing and painful. Some doctors don’t like doing it either! It is possible to use ultrasound but the real issue is whether or not it is all worth it. Why? Because the examination may not reveal anything you didn’t already know! You feel uncomfortable and now they confirm it for you!
So they suggest that a blood test known as a PSA test may reveal something the digital exam didn’t. But studies have shown that cancer was not detected in 20% to 30% of patients who had the test. Adding to the uncertainty is the 16% rate of false positive results. That is, diagnosing cancer when it isn’t there.
Imagine having treatment or surgery which causes impotence when it wasn’t necessary.
I simply didn’t want to get to that stage, so I started looking for natural cures as an alternative, and that’s when my friends started their ranting as I started to tell you about at the beginning.
But when they heard what I had to say after visiting my doctor they thought the same. What’s out there?
There is changing information coming in all the time about this but here are some suggestions:
• Saw Palmetto. A naturally occurring herb which is widely available in tablet form at most health food outlets. There are some issues to be settled about the effectiveness which I am following through and will report in the future.
• Increased dietary intake of isoflavons. This generally means more legumes and is based on the fact that those countries where there is a high legume component in the daily diet is accompanied by low incidence of prostate Cancer. Again, tablet supplements are also available containing isoflavones, biochanin A, formononetin and genestein.
• Lycopenes. This basically means, increase your intake of tomato based meals. It is important to note that the tomatoes need to be cooked and not raw, as cooking concentrates the presence of Lycopenes. Again there is still a long way to go in measuring the effectiveness of this natural cure, but I will be reporting at a future date.
So, hang on! There may well be a natural cure for prostate problems yet.
All I can say is I will keep on investigating and let you know.
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