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Archives
April 16-30, 2000
Natural remedy for prostate disorders threatened to
extinction
Prunus africana, a slow-growing
evergreen found only in Africa, and proven remedy for
prostate disorders, could be extinct in five to ten
years' time. This, as announced on 7 April 2000 by scientists
from the Nairobi-based International Centrefor Research
in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the Washington-based FutureHarvest.
The bark of this African medicine contains
essential compounds found to benefit the prostate gland
in men. Prostate disorder is common to men over the
age of 50. This condition could worsen into prostate
cancer. Over the years, doctors were left with only
three choices in treating the swelling of the prostate
gland - the benign prostatic hyperlasia (bph) - either
through drugs, surgery or herbal medicines.
Accoridng to Dr. Tony Simmons, principal
scientist at ICRAF, results showed that resorting to
synthetic drugs often cause side effects such as nausea
and fatigue, while surgery causes problems like impotence
and urinary incontinence. The best way however, is the
use of natural altenatives through herbal medicine.
In this case, they use the bark of Prunus africana.
Prunus grows from 3,000 to 11,000 feet. It takes 15
to 20 years befor it produces seed. The bark of this
tree would produce the prostate remedy's active ingredient
only after 12 to 15 years.
The extract or powder from the bark of
this tree is sold in drugstores and health food outlets
under the name "pygeum." The demand for this
bark has increased and will continue to increase in
the coming decades as populations in industrialized
countries age. Unfortunately, the wonder of this medicinal
tree may diminish unless something is done, cautioned
by Dr. Simons. According to him, "the best way
to ensure that this endangered tree survives is to domesticate
it and encourage farmers to plant it on their plots."
ICRAF scientists are working to establish
a sustainable source of Prunus africana by conserving
the wild tree population and instigating sustainable
harvesting of bark for poor farmers who were encouraged
to plant prunus trees. They have also been conducting
on-farm research to map the strategies on encouraging
farmers to adopt the tree on their farms as a cash crop
and for their own use. Moreover, scientists have adapted
a technology mainly used for fruit trees to shorten
the time for seed production for 15 to only three years.
Aside from these, ICRAF has developed a program to produce
shortcuts for propagating this tree, one of which is
through the use of marcoting. This approach has been
proven to reduce the time it takes to produce seed.
Adapted from SAVANNA Press Release,
posted on http://www.futureharvest.org
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Natural remedy for prostate disorders threatened to
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