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The Natural Prostate Cure
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Chapter 10: Melatonin, Pregnenolone & HGH
In the research for this book, melatonin was often mentioned, yet we rarely hear any recognition of it as critical for prostate health. Until 1958, melatonin wasn’t even identified as the pineal gland’s hormone, and it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that it became available inexpensively. Scientists around the world have independently found it to be absolutely vital to prostate health and function. The hallmark of this research is that the prostate actually contains melatonin receptors, which are necessary for the prostate to function. Almost no medical doctors, including urologists, are aware of these well-established scientific facts. How can the medical profession be so uninformed about such basic facts? These studies were published prominently in leading medical journals.
The chart shows that melatonin peaks at about age 13, and then falls severely until it’s almost nonexistent by age 60. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, at night, so it is important to take it only after the sun goes down. It is very safe, nontoxic, and has been studied extensively. The popular media tries to portray melatonin merely as an aid for jetlag, when in reality it largely governs our aging-clock and immune system. Melatonin’s most important benefit is in extending our life span. Lab animals given melatonin in their drinking water have lived as much as 1/3 longer. It also boosts the immune system, and may be the most powerful of all known antioxidants. According to new research, melatonin promotes good cardiovascular health, exhibits anti-cancer and cancer-preventive properties, and is very important to prostate metabolism. At the University of Lodz in Poland,1 it was shown that melatonin has beneficial effects on cancer in general. The doctors said, “Melatonin may exert its oncostatic (cancer defeating) effect indirectly, via modulation of the endocrine and immune systems.” At the University of Milan in Italy,2 researchers said, “Melatonin exerts a direct oncostatic activity on human androgen-independent prostate cancer cells, by affecting cell cycle progression.”
More recently, human studies have been done as a result of most impressive animal studies. At the University of Tuebingen in Germany, men with both BPH and prostate cancer were found to have low melatonin levels.3 The researchers said, “The depression of serum melatonin in PC [prostate cancer] is due to a reduced pineal activity...” In a later study at the same university,4 they found the same phenomenon in men with prostate cancer and suggested using melatonin supplements to treat prostate cancer, as a standard therapy. A progressive decline of pineal melatonin secretion was observed parallel to the growth of primary breast and prostate cancer indicating substitution therapy to be promising.” The same university also did a long review5 with seventy-one references that consistently showed low melatonin in breast and prostate cancer patients and suggested using it as part of standard therapy. “Reduction of melatonin is most pronounced in patients with advanced localized primary tumors…” In a fourth study there,6 the doctors said, “Since the observed depression of melatonin in cancer patients may contribute to or even cause severe endocrine aberrations, the use of melatonin as a substitutive therapeutic agent in these patients should be considered.” Gotta give those Germans credit. Yet another review7 found low melatonin in prostate cancer patients and suggested melatonin therapy be considered.
Again, at the University of Lodz in Poland8 researchers came to the same conclusion: to use melatonin as a standard means of treating prostate cancer. “Moreover, preliminary results of use of melatonin in the treatment of cancer patients suggest possible therapeutic role for melatonin in human malignancy.” It is progressive and pioneering doctors like these who are bringing reality to the medical profession.
Studies around the world, in some of the most important hospitals, universities, and clinics are finding low melatonin levels not only in patients with various types of cancer but in other illnesses as well. It is only in the last two decades that actual melatonin receptors have been discovered in breasts and prostates. These receptors are vital for proper function, regulation, and metabolism. Only recently has it been shown that melatonin could inhibit prostate cancer in laboratory animals, and now in humans. Strangely enough, doctors never recommend, measure, or even talk about melatonin. That includes endocrinologists who specialize in hormones, cancer specialists, and urologists.
Research turned up eleven studies done at the University of Tel Aviv in Israel. These were published in such journals as Prostate, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Pineal Research, and Journal of Urology. One study demonstrated that melatonin receptors in human prostate glands can suppress prostate enlargement. Another found, “Human benign prostatic epithelial cells contain functional melatonin receptors that can suppress [abnormal] cell growth and viability.” They found that higher estradiol levels interfere with melatonin receptors as men age, again showing that it is estrogens that cause prostate diseases, and that androgens like testosterone help prevent and cure them.
The University of Hong Kong did three studies showing melatonin has powerful anticancer activity. “Melatonin inhibited the growth of LnCaP tumors,” and “the anti-proliferative action of melatonin on LnCaP tumor growth was demonstrated in vivo…”9
At the University of Milan in Italy10 doctors again studied the effect of melatonin on human prostate cells. They had already published a previous study on the benefits of melatonin on prostate cancer. They concluded, “Our results, together with previous reports on different human neoplasms [tumors], seem to suggest that melatonin might be considered as an effective cytostatic agent, either alone or in combination with standard anticancer treatments. This hypothesis is further supported by the well-known immunostimulatory and antioxidant properties of the hormone.” In other words, they strongly felt that melatonin is an effective treatment for cancer. You didn’t see the media report that.
There are too many more such studies to list here, and the scientific proof is overwhelming. Great benefits may be seen by simply taking a 3 mg tablet every night. You must saliva-test your levels once a year at 3 a.m. to make sure you are taking the right amount. Take and test melatonin only at night, as it is only produced at night when our eyes don’t detect sunlight. Never take it during the daytime!
You may never have heard of pregnenolone, but it is the “grandparent” hormone from which all the other sex steroid hormones are derived. It is THE most important brain metabolism regulator and is responsible for memory, learning, and cognition. Pregnenolone can be called the forgotten or orphan hormone, as very little research has been done on this most basic and important steroid. It has been found to be the most potent memory-enhancer known to science. Even endocrinologists are basically unaware of the necessity of measuring and supplementing pregnenolone, especially in people over the age of forty. Why so little research on such a basic and powerful hormone?
Pregnenolone falls precipitously after the age of thirty-five. Saliva testing of pregnenolone is available from a few companies, or blood tests can be specially ordered by your doctor. It was almost impossible to find any information at all regarding pregnenolone and prostate health in the last three decades, since so little research has been done on pregnenolone. Fortunately, at the famous Marie Curie Hospital in Paris,11 doctors did an extensive, unusually sophisticated, and very detailed study where they measured fourteen different hormone levels in men with prostate cancer and compared them to normal levels.
They discovered that pregnenolone (and DHEA) levels were clearly lower in the afflicted men. Safe dosages are 25 to 50 mg a day, if you are past the age of 40. For those men over 60 the 50 mg dose is recommended. Hormone saliva testing has finally become available for measuring pregnenolone levels. You must monitor your levels yearly if you decide to take pregnenolone.
As we age, our growth hormone (GH) level falls and, as it falls, the possibility of developing prostate cancer rises. Raising our GH level will strengthen our immunity and allow us to live a longer and better life. At Federico II University in Italy12 a case control study was done on the effects of falling GH levels on prostate health. They said, “In conclusion, GH replacement restores prostate size to normal in both young and elderly patients with no increase in prostate abnormalities.” Real human growth hormone (HGH) is expensive- a month’s supply of 30 IU is currently at least $100 - and must be injected subcutaneously, used sublingually, or transdermally in DMSO. Many promotional products claim to raise HGH, but all of these are scientifically ridiculous, especially the “homeopathic HGH” (which contains none at all). Please do NOT fall for these well-done promotions, no matter how enticing they sound. NONE of them work, no matter how well the ads are written. You can help retain, or recover, a youthful level of growth hormone by eating well, eating a low-calorie diet, exercising, staying slim, fasting, and avoiding bad habits. HGH levels must be measured by blood draw; there are currently no saliva test kits for this. It can be difficult to accurately measure HGH because blood levels may vary quite a bit during the day. Go by results.
IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) levels do NOT parallel HGH levels, despite the conventional wisdom. The fact is that high IGF-1 levels are associated with prostate disease. Those who claim otherwise prove their ignorance in the matter. You can “spike” (but not consistently raise) your level by taking a gram of L-glutamine in the a.m. and another gram in the p.m., daily. Just because real HGH is so expensive does not mean it is a “Miracle Hormone”- it is expensive because the pharmaceutical corporations have colluded to make it so. Veterinary growth hormones are just as costly to produce, but are sold cheaply to farmers. You will probably get more dramatic effects from inexpensive basic hormones such as melatonin, DHEA, pregnenolone, testosterone, and your thyroid hormones T3 and T4, if you are low in any of them.
Yes, you should test both of your free thyroid hormone levels since all our hormones work together, in concert, as a unified system. Just test your free T3 and free T4 instead of your TSH or T3 uptake as your doctor will probably suggest. Unfortunately there are no saliva tests for T3 and T4 now, but there will be soon. It is the free levels of T3 and T4 you are interested in. Synthroid (T4) and Cytomel (T3) are bioidentical if you are low and need to supplement. Treat your T3 and T4 completely separately and do NOT use Armour Thyroid unless both your T4 and T3 are low since it contains both; there are no advantages here. Porcine (pig) thyroid extract (Armour) is no more bioidentical that Synthroid and Cytomel. High insulin levels have been correlated with BPH as well as cancer.13,14 High insulin is due to “insulin resistance” where your body’s cells don’t properly respond to normal levels of the hormone. The only way you can diagnose for this is with a glucose tolerance test (GTT). You simply drink a small cup of glucose solution, wait one hour, and test your blood sugar level. It is an inexpensive test that everyone over forty should get. Your fasting blood glucose should be 85 or less. Insulin resistance (and diabetes) can be cured with a whole grain based diet, proper supplements, hormone balancing and avoiding ALL sugars including honey, fruit and fruit juice.
Surprisingly, our thymus glands are not well understood. Unfortunately, the thymus does not just secrete one or two simple hormones. These important glands involute, or shrink, until they all but disappear by the time we are forty. Obviously, this has a lot to do with aging and illness. If you can find an inexpensive desiccated (dried) bovine thymus powder in 500 mg capsules, consider taking one a day to boost your loss of thymic metabolism. The very few available thymus extracts are only sold by prescription, and do not contain the full range of ingredients.
References: 1. Neuroendocrine Letters, v.20 (1999), pp. 139-44 2. Prostate, v.45 (2000), pp. 238-44 3. Clinical Chimica Acta, v.209 (1992), pp.153-67 4. Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 109 (1997), pp. 722-29 5. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 467 (1999), pp. 247-64 6. Int. Congr. Ser. Excerpta Med. 1017 (1993), pp. 311-16 7. Pineal Update (1996), pp. 369-76, ed. by Webb 8. International Journal of Thymology 4 (1996), pp. 75-79 9. Prostate 46 (2001), pp. 52-61 10. Oncology Reports, v.7 (2000), pp. 347-51 11. Journal Steroid Chem. and Molec. Biol., v.46 (1993), pp. 183—93 12. J. Clin. Endoc. Metab. 88 (2003) pp. 88-94 13. J. Urol., v. 168 (2002), pp. 599-604 14. JNCI 95 (2003) pp. 67-70
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