BPH, BETA SITOSTEROL,

QUERCETIN  & PROSTATE CANCER.

In the past we received letters , with queries about mail advertising that Focus readers had received asking specifically if the product being advertised would help with BPH, benign prostatic hyperplasia, (enlarged prostate), symptoms.

Many can best be described as a broad spectrum capsule, in that they contain almost every plant extract that has ever been mentioned in printed material as being of help with prostate disease. 

First I often have to tell the correspondent that I do not know how, or why,  they have been singled out for the mail shot.  Maybe these people go through the voters lists, I just don’t know. I do know that they have not received any list from the PHA as we have never, ever, distribute names to anyone.

“To save you writing to us...”

To save any of you taking up your time and stamp money writing to us I note below a reply I have recently made in respect of one such query. 

“Everyman and his dog seems to be receiving these brochures in the post.  The capsule base is saw palmetto.  When we did a trial on BPH capsules, beta-sitosterol came out as the plant extract which helped the greatest number, the most. 

That is why we sourced beta, and eventually found a reliable supplier. Our small trial was subsequently borne out by other trial literature.  For instance the medical publication ‘Lancet’ published the following trial result as far back as 1995 :-

“A randomised, placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol in patients with BPH, found that beta-sitosterol showed significant improvement in symptoms and urinary flow parameter in the treatment of BPH”.

I cannot think of any other BPH/alternative product receiving such a favourable quotation in such a prestigious medical publication.

Much the same can be said of Quercetin compared to any other product on sale for the treatment of prostatitis.  Users in letters to me find it of help.  Not just for pelvic pain but also a man who said it is helping his arthritis ! (I personally find it of help with indigestion.) I would refer subscribers of the Prostate Focus over the years to the article on Pelvic Myoneuropathy.  Quercetin is indicated as part of an overall relaxation, massage, method of treatment.

And for those with, or looking for, a preventative for prostate cancer I feel I should remind you of the continued comments about quercetin by medics and biochemists.  I must apologise to long term Focus readers for repeating this prostate cancer information but I really feel that it is too important to let it disappear forever into the dusty back issues.

“Dr Patrick Quillan of Cancer Treatment Centres of America assembled some interesting data.

Quercetin has ‘the potential to revert a cancerous cell back to a normal healthy cell’. It also induces apoptosis or programmed cell death in otherwise ‘immortal’ cancer cells. 

(Not everyone seems to have understood just what this means.  When all conventional treatments have failed including hormone treatment, leaving the patient with a rising PSA and no further treatments available, quercetin can, according to this statement, cause the death of those cells which are able to grow in-spite of hormone suppression. Ed.)

It inhibits inflammation by reducing histamine release and reduces tumour cell-proliferation. Dr. Quillan also refers to new studies that show that Quercetin ‘may be one of the most potent anti-carcinogens in nature’. Among the reasons for this may be the fact that Quercetin ‘competes with oestrogen for binding sites, thus defusing the damaging effects of oestrogen’ in breast cancer.

(Don’t forget that both breast and prostate cancers are hormone cancers, and there is a body of opinion that feels that it is oestrogen and not testosterone that is responsible for prostate cancer Ed.).

Quercetin is also ‘a potent antioxidant.’ It ‘inhibits capillary fragility which protects connective tissue against breakdown by tumors, in angiogenesis and metastasis. Quercetin also interferes with metastasis by reducing cell aggregation or ‘stickiness’, and ‘helps to eliminate toxic metals through chelation’.”

Terrance Leighton, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California at Berkeley claims that "….quercetin is one of the most potent anti-cancer agents ever discovered. It blocks cancer development and, if cancer is already present, its spread”, he states.

Apple antioxidants, mainly quercetin, protect nerve cells from damage that trigger Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

AND……

Hoffman et al in 1988 related both quercetin's direct anti-cancer activity, as well as its synergistic effect with several standard anti-cancer drugs. They also noted that quercetin "...is a licensed [anti-cancer] drug in many countries, and is non-toxic at the required dose range”.

J. Boik’s textbook Cancer & Natural Medicine, reports the importance of platelet aggregation in cancer. "The importance of platelet aggregation in cancer metastasis is more widely accepted. Activated platelets are sticky and may enhance the adhesion ability of tumour cells”.

And finally - test tube research seems to show that quercetin may prevent a wide range of viruses from infecting cells and reproducing once they are inside the cells.  Quercetin produced this effect against herpes simplex, polio virus, and various respiratory viruses including influenza. 

This is test tube research and may not be replicated in humans.

Assembled cast. “Shuush”

Just why have there been no major funded trials by the UK Cancer Charities following successful trials which show that quercetin has anti cancer activity. Why the silence for what appears to be a potent treatment for prostate cancer. Is it because pharmaceutical companies cannot make a fortune from its sale ?  It appears to have no side effects so what is the problem. Surely it is not a conspiracy ?

I was taken aback by 1988 advice that not only did quercetin have anti-cancer activity and helped to increase the activity of standard anti-cancer drugs but that it was a licensed anti-cancer drug in many countries. 

For something that costs pence per tablet you would have thought that the UK cancer charities would have been yelling this out from the rooftops and would have been funding trials. And as it has been known about for seventeen years, why are we not told there is a connection between platelet aggregation and cancer metastasis ?

I cannot recall one member of the PHA ever telling me that he had been advised to take quercetin either to prevent or treat his prostate cancer or to cut down the chances of metastasis. But then it has never been suggested, to my knowledge that it should be taken for any other medical problem!

So these two sets of research have remained hidden from view for years. I find it hard to believe that at least some researchers, oncologists, surgeons, and urologists have not read these same trials and advices over such a long period of time.  It appears they have remained silent and ignored this research.  I have so far been unable find out just which countries have licensed quercetin as an anti-cancer drug. (PD)

Both Quercetin and beta-sitosterol can be purchased here  see the bottom of the page.  (PD)