Even High Doses of Saw Palmetto Do Not Reduce Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

High doses of saw palmetto extract are no more effective than placebo in improving urinary tract symptoms attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia, according to a JAMA study.

Some 370 men with lower urinary tract symptoms were randomized to increasing doses of saw palmetto or placebo for 72 weeks. Men in the saw palmetto group began with the widely used, 320-mg daily dose, and then increased to a double dose at 24 weeks and a triple dose at 48 weeks.

Although there were small improvements in urinary symptoms in both groups during the study, there were no significant differences between the groups.

The authors note that their findings concur with those from the 2006 STEP trial, in which the standard dose of saw palmetto proved no better than placebo for benign prostatic hyperplasia.