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The Natural Prostate Cure
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Chapter 7: Prostatitis
Prostatitis is simply an infection of the prostate gland, when the immune system becomes weak in that area. It can be triggered by various factors, such as anal intercourse (heterosexual or homosexual), urinary tract infections (urethritis), bladder infections (cystitis), or post-surgery complications. It can also happen for no known reason at all. Honest doctors admit that little is known about the causes of or treatments for this condition. Strong and dangerous antibiotics are the usual medical route.
Prostatitis can be either an acute or a chronic condition, and can cause symptoms similar to BPH, only with a lot of added pain. In fact, prostatitis can temporarily raise PSA levels very dramatically and make men fear that they may have cancer. Prostatitis can cause frequent urination, painful ejaculation, a sense of urgency, severe pain in the genital area, poor or no sexual functioning, and incomplete emptying of the bladder. In acute forms, the illness can even manifest flu-like symptoms, with fever, chills, cold sweats, pain, and nausea.
The medical profession can do little or nothing about this common condition. The usual medical treatment is to test the urine and see if specific bacteria can be found. Then an antibiotic is prescribed. These medications can have some serious side effects, and the patient must be monitored while taking them. Again, the doctor is treating the symptom and ignoring the cause of the infection. The bacteria are not causing the problem- they are growing because of low immunity and impaired metabolism of the prostate gland. Treatment with antibiotics is generally very ineffective, to say the least. Often, even if the symptoms go away during treatment, the improvement is unrelated to the antibiotic regimen. There is also a type of infection called non-bacterial prostatitis, where no specific harmful bacteria can be detected. Doctors may still try to treat this with a succession of antibiotics, hoping to find one that will stop the infection. It is usually not very successful at all. Often, patients who get no treatment at all recover just as quickly as those who take antibiotics.
Whether it is infection, enlargement, or outright cancer of the prostate, it all comes down to weak immunity. For the infection to take hold, the body’s immune system and metabolism must be impaired. Thus, all of these conditions can be treated with diet, supplements, and hormone balancing. It must be emphasized that prostatitis does not respond well to conventional medical treatment, especially the chronic variety. You must become very clear that you are going to have to treat yourself and depend on your own efforts to get well. Doctors have sometimes resorted to alpha-blockers, anti-inflammatories, physiotherapy, and even debilitating surgery in an attempt to deal with this problem. You must deal with your total health and your immune system, and treat them as you would actual cancer. You will have to make basic changes in your diet and lifestyle if you are to get well and stay well. Prostatitis is often literally harder to cure than outright cancer generally because it is usually chronic and long term. The best way to cure yourself is to treat your inflammation as if you did have cancer. Go on a very good diet without meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, sugars, or refined foods. Take your twenty-plus supplements even if you’re under 40. Test and balance your dozen basic hormones. Fast one day a week on water faithfully. Give up any bad habits such as alcohol, coffee, or cigarettes that can lower your immunity. You will make regular monthly progress this way.
It should be noted that the antioxidant quercitin has shown some benefit in cases of prostatitis, and is discussed in the chapter on supplements. At the Institute for Male Urology in California1 thirty men with prostatitis were studied. Half were given quercitin, 500 mg twice a day, in a double blind study. In only one month, two-thirds of the quercitin men showed improvements of at least 25 percent. Taking an inexpensive, over-the-counter, natural food supplement that offers many other health benefits certainly seems preferable to prescription drugs. Other studies2 have also shown the value of quercitin for infection of the prostate. It is important, as well, to take the other twenty-four supplements recommended in this book, as quercitin is not a magic supplement.
One would think much research is being done on such a common and hard-to-solve condition, but such is not the case at all. There are few studies done on finding the causes and possible treatments of prostate inflammation, especially natural cures. One interesting study, done at the Nauchno Institute in Russia,3 found that rabbits induced into having prostate inflammation had lower levels of testosterone and androstenedione. This shows the importance of hormone balance. We need more human research here.
References: 1. Urology 54 (1999), pp. 960-63 2. JournalAmerican Nutraceutical Assocication 2 (1999), pp. 18-21 3. Problema Endokrinoliga 23(1977), pp. 111-14
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