Phytotherapy and other alternative forms of care for the patient with prostatitis

Chronic prostatitis is a very common and poorly understood condition with significant impact on quality of life. Given the lack of proven efficacy of conventional therapies such as antibiotics, it is not surprising that patients have turned with increasing frequency to phytotherapy and other alternative treatments. Although alternative therapies are plentiful, few have been subjected to scientific scrutiny and prospective controlled clinical trials. This review discusses therapies commonly used by patients with prostatitis and focuses in detail on those with published data. These treatments include zinc, cernitin pollen extract (bee pollen), quercetin, saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), and acupuncture. Complementary therapies may indeed have much to offer patients, particularly those with chronic degenerative conditions in which allopathic therapies have proven less successful. Alternative therapies, however, require the same scientific criteria for validation and acceptance as do conventional medical therapies.