A new study finds no evidence that men's health supplements help prostate cancer patients. Although popular, researchers found that these supplements do not appear to lower the risk for experiencing radiation treatment side effects, the risk that localized cancer will spread, or the risk that prostate cancer patients will die from their disease.
The study is focused on supplement use among men newly diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. Dr. Nicholas Zaorsky, resident physician in radiation oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, stated that they suspected these pills were junk. Our study confirmed our suspicion. The patients in this study were 36 and older, who underwent radiation treatment sometime between 2001 and 2012.
About 10 percent were taking one or more of about 50 different men's health supplements either during treatment, Zaorsky said. Many products has the wording "clinically proven," on them or suggested they had anti-cancer benefits, without showing what had been proven. None of the different brand formulations had been studied in a clinical trial, the study authors claimed.
According to CBS news, more than 90 percent of the supplements contained "saw palmetto". This plant extract is often promoted as a treatment for an enlarged prostate even though it never had any definitive proof. Some ingredients, sometimes listed as "other" or "trade secret enzyme," are still unidentifiable. Supplement used was not related to any negative side effects. After accounting for lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet and smoking, overall survival didn't turn out to be good for supplement users. And by all measures, the research team concluded that men's health supplements offered no benefit with respect to prostate cancer outcomes.
Duffy MacKay, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association for the dietary supplement industry, do not agree with the findings. Mackay said he doesn't know what research databases they're looking at, but they are not offering scientific proof to support their position. None of these products claim to treat disease because they're not allowed to.
