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Prostate Problem Guide
How Effective Is Super Prostate Formula?
Super Prostate Formula is perhaps the best known of a range of supplements on sale to the general public and is aimed at men you wish, for whatever reason, to self-medicate for the problems associated with an enlarged prostate.
Like most products of this nature it contains a range of natural ingredients which, according to the manufacturer, have been shown to be beneficial to people who are suffering from an enlarged prostate and it is in this claim that the first problem lies.
One of the main ingredients of Super Prostate Formula is saw palmetto which is extracted from the berries of the palmetto palm tree seen growing along the Atlantic coast of the United States from South Carolina down to Florida. Saw palmetto has been widely advertised both on and off-line for some time now with claims that it can reduce the size of the prostate gland and improve a range of urinary symptoms. But just what evidence is there to support these claims?
Certainly there have been a number of studies conducted and several suggest that saw palmetto may be similar in its effects to at least one of the standard prescription drugs used to treat an enlarged prostate. Other studies have produced less clear cut results and some have suggested that saw palmetto has no effect at all. But just how good are these studies and how reliable are the results? There are really two issues here.
The first is that supplements such as Super Prostate Formula do not require approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they are released for sale and so there is no clearly defined standard for testing such supplements and no specifically stated standard that must be reached.
ANTIBODY: protein produced by the immune system as a defense against an invading or 'foreign' material or substance (an antigen);for example, when you get a cold, your body produces antibodies to the cold virus.
EDEMA: swelling or accumulation of fluid in some part of the body.
OSTEOPOROSIS: a reduction in bone density resulting in a T score of -2.5 or less; a loss of bone due to increased osteoclastic activity leading to bone resorption.
URINARY SYSTEM: the group of organs and their interconnections that permits excess, filtered fluids to exit the body, including (in the male) the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder, the urethra and the penis.
The second is that testing is usually carried out by, or on behalf of, the manufacturer who clearly wishes to see a positive result for his product. As a result, while it would be rare for a manufacturer to deliberately falsify the results of any tests, it is not at all uncommon to see tests that are carried out in a manner that is likely to be beneficial to the manufacturer. It is also common practice for manufacturers to use only those studies that produce beneficial results and to discard results that do not favor their product.
Much of the literature suggests that saw palmetto may be effective but, in almost every case, that same literature will add a rider to say that the quality of the studies on which this conclusion is based is certainly variable and may also be questionable.
At the end of the day whether or not an individual chooses to use a product such as Super Prostate Formula is very much a personal choice but perhaps it would be a good idea before making a final decision to at least run the idea past your doctor and see what he has to say.
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