Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia / Hypertrophy (BPH), Dr. Weyrich's Naturopathic Functional Medicine Notebook

Overview

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also called benign prostatic hypertrophy, is an annoying disorder that afflicts men as they get older.

This web page focuses on non-conventional treatments for BPH.

Note that nutritional supplements and testing are not covered by most insurance policies, but may be eligible for payment out of Health Care Savings Accounts.

Please see conventional, complementary, and alternative medical treatments for important background information regarding the different types of medical treatments discussed on this page. Naturopathic, Complementary, and Alternative treatments that may be considered include:

Etiology

The processes leading to BPH are distinct from the processes leading to prostate cancer. The prostate gland is composed of an undifferentiated mass of epithelial and stromal cell types. BPH involves the inappropriate growth of stromal cells, whereas prostate cancer involves the inappropriate growth of epithelial cells [Friedman2013, pg 85].

Differential Diagnosis

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Prostate Cancer

References

[Friedman2013] Edward Friedman, William Cane. The New Testosterone Treatment: How You and Your Doctor Can Fight Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, and Alzheimer's. Prometheus Books (2013). Amazon

This is an excellent presentation of recent advances in the understanding of hormone receptors and their relationship to prostate cancer, breast cancer, and Alzheimer's disease.
However, the author does not consider the possibility of epigenetic changes due to long-term exposure to hormones that may span multiple generations of cells, resulting in cumulative changes in gene expression.
In addition, the author proposes that the lengthening of telomeres is a necessary step in cell immortalization in cancer. Dr. Weyrich notes that other researchers have proposed lengthening of telomeres to be a positive outcome that should be promoted by various interventions.