Vitamin D3 and BPH

Hi Rich,

Here are 2 recent papers available on PubMed:

1. "Vitamin D and BPH - a review", by G. Espinosa et al 2013

2. " Vitamin D receptor as a theapeutic target for BPH",  by P. Manchanda et al. 2012

Hope this helps - i wish the Vitamin D3 analogues were available for us. Neil

 

Thanks Neil.

What USA Vit D3 analogue?

Hi Rich,

Hi doses of D3 can lead to hypercalcemia that has terrible health effects. So these labes have developed an analogue to D3 that still binds to the vitamin D3 receptor in the prostate and triggers the same signalling cascades that block inflammation BUT do not cause hypercalcemia even at the very high doses required for therapeutic effects to block the autoimmune cycle. Neil

Let's try that again.

What Is Vit. D3 analogue?

 

Thanks. (Got this reply after I corrected the typo in my question, so please ignore that post).

Have a follow up question. Is BPH inflammation or just normal hyper growth?

Hi Rich - The thinking seems to be that BPH is an auto-immune disease which means that the immune system runs amuck in an uncontrolled way which leads to chronic inflammation. The chronic inflammation is due to the immune system always trying to repair damaged prostate tissue - like when you cut yourself and the skin gets inflamed but after awhile the cut heals and the immune response stops. That chronic inflammation iin the prostate results in cell proliferation i.e. uncontrolled cell division which is also called hyper growth or hyperplasia. It seems that vitamin D3 is a natural limiter of the hyperplasia and can break the cycle but the concentrations needed once the diease becomes chronic are so high that it will cause hypercalcemia which can kill us. So these labs have developed molecules that mimic the D3 function ( hence analogues) but can be used safely at very high levels to break the cycle. I wrote all the authors about trying the drug but I guess it is still in trials - mostly in Europe and Asia. Neil

Thanks Neil. Very informative. Do you know if other anti-inflammatories have been explored? 

Hi Rich, As far as I know just steroids like prednisone which is dangerous with prolonged use and NSAIDS like ibuprofen. When I take prednisone for my COPD all my BPH symptoms clear up for a few days and I pee like I did 50 years ago. So this confirms it is an inflammatory disease, at least when no bladder obstructions exist like medain lobes which is also my case. This is why I was a good candidate for PAE but so far it has not worked. I did come across a recent paper last night by a scientist at Abbott labs who works on Vitamin D3 analogs for auto-immune diseases so I'll see if anything is available that we could try without the hypercalcemic side effects. Neil

Do you know if there's been any investigation of the effectiveness of ibuprofen? I know when I take ibuprofen I sleep much better. Fewer times waking up to pee or just waking up.

I was told not to take it because NSAIDS contribute to urinary retention; however, I agree that the pain releif it provides does help get to sleep.

I actually sleep better than I sleep in general. Not sure if it is related to pain relief. Seems more like it just knocks me out.

I also find that 2 tylenol help to get through the night. I haven't seen any clinical studies on ibuprofen and BPH. I don't find that it helped me at all. But prednisone restored my peeing back to my 20s when I had to take it for my copd - but of course steroids are very dangerous over a prolonged time. This is why I am trying to find out about these D3 analogs that allow very high dosages without the side effects of hypercalcemia and which mimic the anti-inflammatory effects of steroids without side effects.

Please keep us posted on what you find. Thanks.

Thanks Captain Al.

Thanks CaptianAl for this link - I thought I searched properly for this - sorry for the duplication! Neil