Permixon is a drug made up of fatty acids, extracted from the fruits of palm trees. According to its manufacturers, it has been found to have an anti-androgenic effect—that is, to block the effects of male hormones like testosterone—in rats and mice. These results, however, have not been confirmed by others. Comparisons of this drug to placebos and finasteride have not found it to be of substantial help for men with BPH. In one British study, seventy men with BPH were given either Permixon or a placebo. In both groups, 60 percent of men had a progressive, nearly identical improvement in urinary flow rates. That was the problem—the results were the same in men taking Permixon and- men taking nothing but sugar pills.
“The most remarkable feature of the results,” the British researchers wrote, “. . . is a demonstration that dramatic improvements, even in such quantifiable variables as urinary flow rate, can result from placebo treatment.” However, they concluded, “it is clear that the results obtained offer no support to the suggestion that Permixon is of benefit in prostatic hypertrophy.”
In another study (done by scientists at Merck, which makes finasteride) finasteride was compared to a host of over-the-counter plant extracts that included Permixon, Bazoton, Talso, Strogen Forte, Prostagutt, Tadenan, Re-migeron, and Harzol. None of the over-the-counter drugs was found to have any significant inhibition of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme or anti-androgen effect that could cause the prostate to shrink.
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