Prostaphil-2

 

A Powerful Award Winning Formula for an Enlarged Prostate and Related Symptoms

 
 
 
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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Carefully crafted blend of European pollen extracts

  • Reduces the size and relieves symptoms of an enlarged prostate (BPH)

  • Reduces discomfort associated with prostate inflammation

  • Lowers PSA levels

  • Also helpful for urinary incontinence in women

 
 
 

BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) affects nearly all men to some degree beginning in late middle age. It is a non-cancerous swelling of the prostate gland, leading to discomfort, nocturia (the need to get up in the middle of the night for a trip to the bathroom), frequent and sudden urges to urinate even when the bladder is not full, intermittency (dribbling at the end of the urinary stream), and incomplete emptying of the bladder when urinating.

Prostaphil-2 is a product designed to relieve symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Its main ingredient is defined pollen extract, which is not the same thing as bee pollen. Bee pollen is a random mixture of whatever pollens the insects happen to have come into contact with, while defined pollen extract is a very specific mixture of pollens from several cereal grasses using a precise process to isolate the key fractions from the pollen. Whereas bee pollen is covered with a microscopic husk which interferes with absorption, defined pollen is extracted under special low temperature conditions, thereby incorporating a specific 20:1 ratio of lipid-soluble and water-soluble components and eliminating the pollen’s protective sheath for superior absorption

Prostaphil-2 has been clinically shown to reduce the enlarged prostate and lower levels of PSA (prostate-specific antigen), an indicator of both BPH and of prostate cancer. Other natural therapies used for prostate issues such as saw palmetto, stinging nettle (pygeum africanum), beta-sitosterol and some pharmaceuticals such as Hytrin and Flomax merely relieve the symptoms of BPH without reducing the size of the prostate. One of the concerns with these agents is that if there is symptomatic relief without addressing the underlying problem, men may actually put off necessary interventions for too long, thus increasing the overall risk of complications. In contrast, defined pollen extract addresses the fundamental problem by reducing the size of the enlarged prostate, an effect that has not been demonstrated by any other herbal remedy.

Finasteride (Proscar), a well known pharmaceutical, has also been shown to reduce prostate volume. However, finasteride takes a long time to relieve symptoms, does not work with several classes of patients, is very expensive, and has significant potential side effects, including erectile dysfunction and loss of libido. Furthermore, despite long-standing hopes that this drug would reduce the risk of prostate cancer because of its ability to reduce levels of the cancer marker prostate-specific antigen (PSA), the first clinical trial to test this hypothesis has found that finasteride has pretty muddled results: it decreases the overall risk of prostate cancer ‒ but was actually associated with increased risk of the most aggressive, deadly forms of the disease: The men in the finasteride group had a 25 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, but a 68 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with a high-grade disease defined by a Gleason score of 7 to 10! (This high-grade type of cancer is usually more difficult to cure.)

So until now men were left with a choice: symptomatic improvement without adressing prostate enlargent, or a treatment which addresses the core problem, but causes problems of its own. Defined pollen extract is a compelling alternative due to its proven ability to shrink enlarged prostates, its established effect of reducing inflammation of the prostate and early evidence of inhibition of prostate cancer cell lines. While relatively new in North America, defined pollen extract has been successfully used in Europe for two generations, and clinical trials have proven its superiority to other prostate supplements. AOR’s Prostaphil-2 provides an exciting solution for prostate problems!

 

OTHER BENEFITS

Prostaphil-2 is also a powerful anti-inflammatory, bringing relief for those who suffer from painful conditions such as prostatodynia and prostatitis. In fact a preliminary study suggests that administering bee pollen extract for 30 days may help avoid unnecessary prostate biopsies by reducing increased PSA levels which are due to prostatitis as opposed to prostate cancer. Research also suggests that defined pollen extract can also support detoxification and liver protection. Furthermore, in some parts of the world, the extract is used by more women than men because they have found the extract to be useful for the relief of urinary incontinence.

 

RESEARCH STUDIES

BPH Studies
In one study, sixty men with symptomatic BPH received either the pollen extract or placebo for six months. More than two thirds of the men receiving the pollen extract experienced improved overall symptoms, compared to less than a third of the placebo group. There were statistically significant differences in the number of incidences of nocturia, decreased leftover urine in the bladder after urination (“residual urine volume”). Compared to the placebo group,

there were also more improvements reported by men receiving the pollen extract in hesitancy (inability to release urinary flow) and intermittency, but these results were not strong enough, in this small a group over this short a period, to be statistically meaningful. But most importantly, this study reported that men using defined pollen extract experience significant reductions in the volume of the prostate as measured by ultrasound. In fact, every trial of defined pollen extract in men with BPH, which has measured prostate volume, size, or weight has reported significant reductions in the gland.

Another study administered defined pollen extract to men with BPH for 3 months, while some men continued with the treatment for a year. Flow rate and residual volume improved significantly after 3 months, while reduction in prostate size (by 7cm3!!) was not noticeable until 1 year. This means that the symptoms improved in the first few months but the prostate size began to shrink sometime between 3 months and 1 year.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 100 men with BPH found that defined pollen extract improved nocturia in 69% of the men compared to 37% of those taking the placebo. After 6 weeks, peak urine flow rate was more than three times greater in the defined pollen group versus placebo (3.3ml/sec vs. 0.9ml/sec). Moreover in the pollen group, residual urine volume continually decreased over 12 weeks; while the placebo group actually experienced an increase between 6 and 12 weeks.

Prostatitis Study
Over 2000 men with either prostatitis, BPH or the two combined were given defined pollen extract for 12 weeks. Prostate size, flow rate, residual volume and leukocyte presence (an inflammatory marker) decreased in all groups.

Defined Pollen Extract vs Paraprost Study
When these two prostate products were compared in about 160 men with BPH over 4 weeks, both the subjects and the physicians evaluated defined pollen extract as slightly more effective than Paraprost. Paraprost is a mixture of three amino acids.

Defined Pollen Extract vs Beta-Sitosterol Study
In a comparative study, subjective symptoms improved more with the pollen extract, and the latter also reduced prostate alkaline phosphatase (PAP) and prostate specific antigen (PSA), markers of prostate lesions, while beta-sitosterol did not reduce these markers.

Saw Palmetto Study

The effectiveness of saw palmetto for prostate problems has become controversial. While some studies have shown some reduction in symptoms, others have not. The most recent trial, a dose escalation study which was implemented due to a lack of significant findings in a large study, administered up to 960 mg of saw palmetto over 72 weeks. They found that saw palmetto didn’t lower PSA levels.

 

References

  1. Andriole GL, McCullum-Hill C, Sandhu GS, Crawford ED, Barry MJ, Cantor A; CAMUS Study Group. The effect of increasing doses of saw palmetto fruit extract on serum prostate specific antigen: analysis of the CAMUS randomized trial. J Urol. 2013 Feb;189(2):486-92.

  2. Becker H, Ebeling L. Phytotherapy of BPH with cernilton N ‒ results of a controlled prospective study. Urologe (B) 1991; 31: 113-6.

  3. Blumenthal M (ed). The Complete German Commission E Monographs. Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. Austin, TX: American Botanical Council, 1998.

  4. Brauer H. The treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with phytopharmata: a comparative study of cernilton vs. beta-sitosterol. Therapiewoche. 1986; 36: 1686-96.

  5. Buck AC, Cox R, Rees RW, Ebeling L, John A. Treatment of outflow tract obstruction due to benign prostatic hyperplasia with the pollen extract, cernilton. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Br J Urol. 1990 Oct; 66(4): 398-404.

  6. Dutkiewicz S. Usefulness of Cernilton in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Int Urol Nephrol. 1996; 28(1): 49-53.

  7. Ebeling L. Therapeutic results of defined pollen-extract in patients with chronic prostatis or BPH accompanied by chronic prostatitis. In , Schmiedt E, Alken JE, Bauer HW (eds). Therapy of Prostatitis. Munich: Zuckerschwerdt Verlag, 1986; 154-60.

  8. Wagenlehner FM, Schneider H, Ludwig M, Schnitker J, Brahler E, Weidner W. A pollen extract (Cernilton) in patients with inflammatory chronic prostatitis-chronic pelvic pain syndrome: a multicentre, randomised, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. Eur Urol. 2009 Sep;56(3):544-51.

  9. Iwamura H, Koie T, Soma O, Matsumoto T, Imai A, Hatakeyama S, Yoneyama T, Hashimoto Y, Ohyama C. Eviprostat has an identical effect compared to pollen extract (Cernilton) in patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: a randomized, prospective study. BMC Urol. 2015 Dec 7;15:120.

  10. Togo Y, Ichioka D, Miyazaki J, Maeda Y, Kameyama K, Yasuda M, Hiyama Y, Takahashi S, Nagae H, Hirota S, Yamamoto S; Japanese Research Group for Urinary Tract Infection (JRGU). Oral administration of cernitin pollen extract (Cernilton®) for 30 days might be useful to avoid unnecessary biopsy in prostate biopsy candidates: A preliminary study. Int J Urol. 2018 May;25(5):479-485.

  11. Jaton JC, Roulin K, Rose K, Sirotnak FM, Lewenstein A, Brunner G, Fankhauser CP, Burger U. The secalosides,novel tumor cell growth inhibitory glycosides from a pollen extract. J Nat Prod. 1997 Apr; 60(4): 356-60.

  12. Maekawa M, Kishimoto T, Yasumoto R, Wada S, Harada T, Ohara T, Okajima E, Hirao Y, Ohzono S, Shimada K, et al. Clinical evaluation of cernilton on benign prostatic hypertrophy ‒ a multiple center double-blind study with Paraprost. Hinyokika Kiyo. 1990 Apr; 36(4): 495-516.

  13. Roberts KP, Iyer RA, Prasad G, Liu LT, Lind RE, Hanna PE. Cyclic hydroxamic acid inhibitors of prostate cancer cell growth: selectivity and structure activity relationships. Prostate. 1998 Feb 1; 34(2): 92-9.

  14. Yasumoto R, Kawanishi H, Tsujino T, Tsujita M, Nishisaka N, Horii A, Kishimoto T. Clinical evaluation of long-term treatment using cernitin pollen extract in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Clin Ther. 1995 Jan-Feb; 17(1): 82-7.

  15. Zhang X, Habib FK, Ross M, Burger U, Lewenstein A, Rose K, Jaton JC. Isolation and characterization of a cyclic hydroxamic acid from a pollen extract, which inhibits cancerous cell growth in vitro. J Med Chem. 1995 Feb 17; 38(4): 735-8.

  16. Finasteride: Are the Risks Worth It? John Hopkins Health: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/brady-urology-institute/specialties/conditions-and-treatments/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-questions/finasteride-are-the- risks-worth-it



    Adapted from Advanced Orthomolecular Research:
    Dr. Juliette Hepburn
    Dermatologist & Medical Director
    The Skin Centre | Luminnova Health

 
AOR Advanced Supplements, Men's Health, Prostate Symptoms, BPHJosh Neimark