Abstract: Phytotherapy can be integrated in medical treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia at the same level as alpha blockers, and 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors.
The objective of this study was to investigate the toxicity of local plants used by traditional medicine, namely Plantago major and Solanum aculeastrum in comparison with an alpha Blocker (Alfuzosin 10 mg).
Male patients aged 60 and above were randomly assigned to two groups. Each group contained of 68 patients who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer based on pathology. One group was given the phytotherapy and the other Alfuzosin. The study was conducted over a period of 27 months from 1st January 2019 to 31st March 2021. The phyto-medication was given for 3 months followed by 6 months break, with a total of 3 episodes. Alfuzosin was administered at dosage of 10 mg tablet per day.
Haematological, biochemical and urinary bacteriological tests were done at the beginning of the study, after each episode and at the end. The initial results were compared with the final results after treatment. Results were entered by the SPSS statistcs software version 23 and the χ2 test was used for significance.
The haematological and urinary bacteriological tests did not undergo any modification in the two groups whereas a significant improvement occurred in the biochemical tests on the kidney, the liver and the metabolism in favor of herbal medicine.
The conclusion was that phytotherapy of benign prostatic hyperplasia is not harmful. It is appropriate, and acceptable to patients who adhere to the treatment. Further studies could assess the pharmacokinetic aspects to establish the relationship between the pharmacochemical compounds of these plants with the prostate tissue. This also raises the possibility of developing a phyto-drug.
