The right dose of saw palmetto - Ask the experts: answers to your questions from the leaders in natural medicine - Brief Article

Natural Health, Dec, 2002

I've been taking 320 mg of saw palmetto daily for benign prostate hyperplasia. My symptoms have disappeared. Can I halve my dose or even stop taking the herb?

ROBERT ANDERSON, M.D., REPLIES: Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) can greatly improve symptoms of benign prostate enlargement (also called hyperplasia), and it may even reduce the size of the prostate, according to more than a dozen well-controlled studies. Nearly all the studies on the herb used the dose that you mention--320 mg daily--because early research found better results with this dose than with 160 mg. However, some of my patients have successfully tapered to 160 mg daily. I suggest you try that dose for three months to see if it continues to suppress your symptoms. If not, go back to 320 mg.

You will have to take saw palmetto indefinitely, since symptoms like nighttime urination and difficulty initiating urination tend to return after ending use of the herb. Fortunately, saw palmetto appears to be safe for long-term use. Researchers have followed patients who have been taking saw palmetto for several years, and they reported no significant side effects.

Even though your symptoms are gone, it is still wise to see your physician yearly after you reach age 50 to have your prostate evaluated, since cancers have been known to develop in prostate glands whose enlargement was thought to be benign.