Treatment BPH Medications (Bluff and Help)

This article contains key answers to questions from the topic: “Pharmacology in case of BPH”. Here I objectively describe so-called generally accepted medications for treatment of BPH. However, I will use not medical terms or Latin to make my explanations unintelligible (like some doctors do), but simple and understandable language not diverting from scientifically- proven knowledge.

Benign prostate hypertrophy, treatment with medications

Usually, personnel of private urological clinics consulting rooms are fully engaged in business and know how to deprive sick people of their money using websites or billboards. They repeat: “Avoid self-medication** in treatment of BPH, otherwise complications will lead to unpredictable consequences and surgery. Employ our services. We know how to help you”.

They divide the disease in three stages in order to shock a patient, frighten him (they don’t care about medical ethics) or merely as a warning. Doctors like classifying things. Initial stage is tolerable, second stage is intermediary, and third stage is pre-surgical with serious complications. Let’s find you what kind of “help” they offer in fact. Naturally, it involves prescription of a medication.

Alpha-adrenoblockers in the treatment of prostate

First group of medications: alpha – 1 – adrenergic blocking agents. If you are interested in their effect, do not read instructions for medical use. Read reliable and serious medical literature instead. These are medications that lower arterial pressure by means of reduction of spasms of small arteries (arterioles) that precede capillaries. So, they should temporarily decrease pressure of blood on prostatic gland, thus slightly improving quality of urination and partially reducing pain. And that’s it. There is no other treatment effect. Don’t even think of anything else. Those who want to empty your pocket invent other effects of such medications. Using such medications makes sense, if volume of your prostate is large (in such case antispasmatic effect is most likely) and in combination with 2nd or 3rd degree hypertension (systolic blood pressure reaches 180 mm of mercury, diastolic pressure – 110 mm of mercury). But there is one condition: if such medications alleviate symptoms. In other cases (including those described in instructions), they have little effect. Here is a list of the most common medications of this type: Alfuzosin, Alfuprost, Atrezine, Dalfaz, Doxazosin, Hyperprost, Zoxon, Kamiren, Cardura, Kornam, Omnik, Omsulosin, Proflosin, Revokarin, Setegis, Sonizin, Tamsulosin, Terazosin, Tonocardin, Tanyz-K, Tulosin, Tamzelin, Urorek, Urocard, Fokusin.  This list is not exhaustive. There are subtypes like “Omnik-Okas” and “Omnik-Super” (probably they quickly realized that they went too far with the name and stopped the production of the label), “Cardura Neo”, Tamsulosin retard”, “Tanyz-Eras”. There are composite alpha-adrenoreceptor antagonists. Such a long list of crap to treat only one symptom of disease! Somebody needs to sell it, so they continue lying in instructions. However, they do not break any law.

Seller of old bread will never tell a customer where to find fresh bread. The same situation is in our modern health-care. No instruction for medical use states that there are rules for nutrition, remedial gymnastics, breathing, and that these rules will help you stabilize arterial pressure and improve quality of blood circulation (nowadays they say “blood flow”) reliably and without any harm**.

Inhibitors in the treatment of BPH

Next group of medications: 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. They are supposed to suppress and inhibit production of testosterone by the endocrine system, which is alleged intermediary factor in tumor growth. In a couple of months after beginning of administration (at the soonest) this medication may (or may not) improve your condition (and poison your body!). Manufacturer states that internal secretion glands restore their function after administration of medication is discontinued. Thus, the effect of the medication is weak and temporary. This in only on paper (instruction for medical use). You may use it as a toilet paper. Other papers (more serious and reliable) do not contain even suggestions of some treatment effect.

Here is a list of such medication: Avodart, Alfinal, Zerlon, Penester, Proscar, Prosterid, Finast, and combination of Finasteride with Tamsulosin – “Sonirid Duo”. The picture is the same. Nobody will tell you that you can alter your metabolism and even more by means of combination of physical exercises with a balanced diet***.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia and supplements

Two types of medications described above are considered official. But when official pharmacology fails to provide results, swindlers quickly find their niche. Drug stores are filled with tones of so-called biologically active additives (BAAs) homeopathic medications. They are so widely promoted that many people mistakenly believe that they are real medications. Some doctors even include them in prescriptions. However, the best name for them is placebo or dummy. Instructions for their medical use contain unintelligible general phrases. You cannot find out their physiological effect from such descriptions, or rather there is no effect. Despite that such products find their customers mostly due to effective TV advertisement on one hand and ignorance on the other hand. Here are some examples: Gentos, Postatilen, Prostamol, Prostasabal, Vitaprostum, Afala, Pravenor, Ziman, Cefagil, Tribestan. Tomorrow manufacturers might change their names and labels creating new brand names. Or they might simply change package and the product will cost two times as much as the previous one. In recent years number of names of these products has increased dramatically. You just can’t know the m all. Other crooks (manufacturers) lie that their use recipes of ancient folk medicine in development of their products. There are a lot of speculations around beekeeping products. Some manufacturers say dead bees, royal jelly (which is more expensive than gold, where do they get so much?), propolis or bee glue honey is included in composition of many medications, thus discrediting beekeeping. All positive feedback on the internet and to such “medications” is a lie. Such feedback is created at the initiative of stakeholders (manufacturers or often large wholesalers). They put it not only on their main websites, but they also on some forums created or controlled by them. They simply post the necessary opinion there.

There is a saying that each doctor has his own cemetery. I believe most medications have their own cemeteries too.

All instructions recommend long-term (from 2-3 months and longer) administration of aforementioned medications. Significant decrease in sexual activity or sexual debility is among problems cause by use of such medication. Non-organic and organic components of pills (alpha  magnesium, reductase  stearate and potassium stearate, carbopol, polyethylene oxide, cellulose, talc, kaolin, etc.) overload kidneys and liver causing disturbances in their function. Those who have weak kidneys or liver might develop some new diseases due to such overload.

Such “modern, new, and up-to-date” methods of treatment of BPH are offered by our health-care businessmen.

For this reason experienced and honest doctors (they still exist) after having performed corresponding diagnostics recommend patients with initial stage of BPH not to do anything, because they know: there is no effective treatment within the framework of pharmacology (which they must follow). Physiotherapy is useless, because such procedures cannot be combined with remedial gymnastics. Motion is not widely advertised in our commercialized world. You can’t receive profit from such advertisement. While such things as low-frequency laser therapy is ineffective. Manufacturers deceive men with the help of various useless devices offered in every corner. Magnetotherapy and quantum therapy are complete nonsense.

About finalgon. There is an opinion that finalgon is developed from folk medicine. People were attracted by the fact that someone somewhere managed to recover using this product, it is not expensive, and (the main point) you don’t have to do anything. Even some official doctors make comments on the internet about its use. But this is wrong! Newspaper gossips use the same principle. Someone invents a poultice which alleviates symptoms for couple of weeks, but the inventor claims that he managed to cure BPH. What will happen next? Nobody knows. But certainly this man will not write a second letter to the newspaper informing that his symptoms are back. Finalgon dilates blood vessels and supplies oxygen to those places where it is applied. At first glance everything is fine. At first temporary increased circulation improves general state and even sexual potency. However, if you apply this product on your groin and warm up surrounding tissues, arteries, arterioles, capillaries, and the gland itself, the effect of the product will vanish and those blood vessels subjected to ointment and heat exchange will constrict. The greater the sudden heat effect and change in fluid balance in the area, the greater the subsequent constriction of blood vessels. Dehydration (one of the most subtle enemies of cardiovascular system and prostatic gland at advanced age) leads to decrease in quality of blood circulation. Such procedure will not solve the problem, moreover it will worsen it. But a sick person will think that the reason is in incurability of the disease and its further development, not in complications caused by finalgon.

And another point. Excessive use of finalgon with high degree of probability will cause slight burn, which will disturb elasticity of skin in pelvic area.

Tissues located in the vicinity of the affected area experience the opposite process, i.e. constriction due to slight drops in blood pressure caused by dilation (you cannot fool nature). It is very easy to worsen your condition using the ointment for treatment purposes, for example, in lower back (prostatic gland is near). And the last thing. There is a statement in the instruction for use that the period of use should not exceed 10 days (they do not warn you for no reason).

Once I saw a news report where a journalist interviewed some middle-aged man. He bought simple unremarkable heating pad (very bright and in a beautiful package), because somebody told him that it was a great invention that can cure BPH and chronic prostatitis. Price of the heating pad was comparable to the cost of a second-hand car. Having revealed the truth and having told about helplessness of simple people in judicial aspects, the journalist gave the best recommendation (in her opinion): “consult only official doctors”. I believe that man had already visited dozens of doctors before he decided to buy the heating pad! Tens of thousands of people visit various private and state clinics every day in the hope of getting some help! But nobody helps them. Doctors just don’t know how. So they just deceive people like street swindlers. I heard truth from the Health minister (former) of our country only once. He said: “Medication is the worst option, if you want to solve your health problems. Medications manage to maintain your heath for a year or two at best. Healthy lifestyle will add ten years or more to your lifespan”.  If I were in charge, I would transmit this statement in prime time of all main TV channels updating it from time to time. In such case out nation would have been healthier.

Pharmacology business is one of the most profitable. Businessmen earn billions, keep their banknotes in hangars (not pockets), dictate their interests to authorities, and establish strict rules of liquidity of their products. Doctors play a key role in their business. They make people buy stuff. Job descriptions oblige doctors to use only chemical medications as a basis of treatment. They cannot improvise, otherwise they will be banned. Official health-care, more specifically pharmacology, has already come to a deadlock (and not only in urology). It reminds me of medieval Inquisition. Everything that is not by the book is considered heresy. TV advertisements of “medications” are the longest. Here in Ukraine there was an attempt to forbid TV advertisement of medications, but in vain. Drug stores are the most privileged points of sale. You cannot return medications to the store, if they do not help. There is no mechanism of quality control of pills they sell. Most of them do not require a prescription. Often pharmacists perform two functions at once: seller and consultant. Despair and ignorance of sick people usually lead to disaster.

Everybody knows that you need to work to earn a living, but few people know that in order to be healthy you also need to work (though maybe less). Remedial gymnastics offers a lot of rules, but it will have treatment effect, only if you acquire certain knowledge. If you go for a walk in the morning or perform a set of exercises, or swim in a swimming pool, this does not mean you are on the right way. Mankind has made a lot of discoveries and has obtained a lot of knowledge in physiology of human body, and these discoveries and knowledge should be used in treatment process.

Beginning is often difficult. You don’t want to change your lifestyle. But if you make a rational effort, the result will not be slow to arrive. Sense of well-being will restore your strength and give you optimism. Thus, all those so-called “hypnotists and folk healers” will lose their influence upon you completely.

Do not hesitate to ask yourself questions about your health. Look for justified and scientifically-proven answers. Study your body. Do not harm your body. Protect your body. In most cases your conscious is the best helper.

** – In all cases the word “self-medication” means use of pharmacological medications at one’s own discretion without medical prescription. This word has nothing to do with remedial gymnastics, because it is not used in modern health care as a therapy. There are no significant schools of thought, practical research or certified professionals in this area.

***- Non-medicinal method “Living without BPH”.

Respectfully yours, Gennadiy Plotyan, Kryviy Rih, Ukraine, 2014.

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