Vitamin D3 and BPH

Men's health
1

Recently I've been reading that Vitamin D3 can be a very potent anti-inflammatory agent. In particular various studies have shown that it can help reduce BPH symptoms associated with inflammation.

Has anyone tried D3 and seen some help in reducing prostate inflammation?

Thanks Neil

2

Hi Neil,

     Very interesting. Can you point us towards the studies? Thanks!

Rich

3

Hi Neil, There has been discussion on this on another thread https://patient.info/forums/discuss/vitamin-d-and-bph-521581

I can't see any harm in trying the D3 supliment as vitimin D appears to lacking in many men over 55 and beneficial in a variety of areas affecting our health.

4

Hi Neil,

I've been taking 4000iu for about 2 months but haven't noticed any difference.

5

Thanks Captain Al.

6

Neil--

I tried it last year.  I suspect my level was pretty low before I began (Most people around here seem to have blood levels of D under 20).  I pushed the dose, taking at least 50,000 per week (upwards 10 of the 5000 iu caps) and pushed the dose (it seemed to truncate head cold symptoms).  Kept it up in high doses until I think I became borderline toxic--then had a blood level checked and it came back at 98 (upper limit of normal 100 at that lab) a week after I stopped the D3.   And FWIW, as nearly as I could tell, it did absolutely nothing to my BPH symptoms.  Went on to the PAE a few months later.   

7

That's an important anecdotal report, I hope everybody concerned on this forum notices it.  I take 2,000 mg of D daily in 2 doses, based on several studies & recommendations, none of which mentioned prostate connections.  You took a surprisingly high dose, and the result pretty much ought to debunk D as a partial solution.

8

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

 

9

Hi kmd - it does seem you performed the D3 experiment I was thinking about doing myself - disappointing results.

How did you PAE work out? I had mine 4 weeks ago at UNC with Dr. Isaacson but no change yet in my BPH symptoms.

Thanks

Neil

10

Thanks Neil.

What USA Vit D3 analogue?

11

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

12

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

13

Let's try that again.

What Is Vit. D3 analogue?

 

14

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?

15

Apart from the possible benefits for BPH.  From what I understand about vitamin D3 is that it's important to have adequate levels to keep in general good health.  

It appears to be a important supplement to take for populations living in the Northern hemisphere, particularly in autumn and winter time, as the body makes vitamin D3 through exposure to sunlight.

Related to this.  It would be interesting and perhaps useful to compare different health issues between populations living in the northern and southern hemispheres that share similar general lifestyles and diets.  Say comparing countries such as the UK and Australia.  And perhaps North America and Australia.  I would imagine some studies would have been carried out along these lines.

16

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

17

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

18

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

19

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.

20

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.