As I understand the action of SP, it inhibits the conversion of T to DHT, but does little or nothing to reduce prostate enlargement. Thus while it should help prevent further DHT caused enlargement of the prostate, it may do little or nothing to treat existing damage and thus little to reduce symptoms. The same is probably true of beta sitosterol. Finasteride on the other hand is supposed to produce at least some small degree of shrinkage, although it does not seem to be one of the more effective pharmaceuticals around.
At least some of the problems of BPH arise not from constriction of the urethra within the prostate, but from effects on the sphincter at the exit from the bladder into the prostate which in turn affects the rest of thedetrusor muscle which lines the bladder and causes it to empty. Spasms of this muscle and of the sphincter produce irritable bladder/BPH symptoms. Since stinging nettle root is apparently effective to treat irritable bladder, this may be what makes it effective in treating BPH symptoms. Alpha blockers such as tamsulosin act by relaxing the sphincter at the exit from the bladder, and are even more effective taken together with oxybutinin which acts to reduce spasm of the detrusor muscle. I am currently taking this combination which seems highly effective, although I have become convinced that my cuurrent symptoms are due to irritation of the bladder lining by stones , while constriction by BPH is no longer a significant factor. My nurse practitioner seems to agree. She has done digital exams and says that my prostate is somewhat enlarged but she has no basis for comparison with previous (pre-PM) exams done by urologists (my original urologist left the province for pastures greener, and the present one is apparently a specialist in pediatric urology - I hope that I am not yet too far into my second childhood). I have only been taking oxybutinin for about two months (well after my PSA dropped to near zero) but the relief of BPH-like symptoms has been remarkable, and my flow is better than I can ever remember except that occasionally it suddenly cuts off, I think because a stone temporarily blocks the bladder exit. One way and another I have had a number of abdominal X-rays in the last 18 months and the stones have been a repeated subject of comment by radiologists. As a side issue possibly more relevant to this forum, I was once brought back for a repeat X-ray with opaque nipple markers applied so as to help determine whether something the radiologist saw was breast tissue or something on my lung!
At least some of the problems of BPH arise not from constriction of the urethra within the prostate, but from effects on the sphincter at the exit from the bladder into the prostate which in turn affects the rest of thedetrusor muscle which lines the bladder and causes it to empty. Spasms of this muscle and of the sphincter produce irritable bladder/BPH symptoms. Since stinging nettle root is apparently effective to treat irritable bladder, this may be what makes it effective in treating BPH symptoms. Alpha blockers such as tamsulosin act by relaxing the sphincter at the exit from the bladder, and are even more effective taken together with oxybutinin which acts to reduce spasm of the detrusor muscle. I am currently taking this combination which seems highly effective, although I have become convinced that my cuurrent symptoms are due to irritation of the bladder lining by stones , while constriction by BPH is no longer a significant factor. My nurse practitioner seems to agree. She has done digital exams and says that my prostate is somewhat enlarged but she has no basis for comparison with previous (pre-PM) exams done by urologists (my original urologist left the province for pastures greener, and the present one is apparently a specialist in pediatric urology - I hope that I am not yet too far into my second childhood). I have only been taking oxybutinin for about two months (well after my PSA dropped to near zero) but the relief of BPH-like symptoms has been remarkable, and my flow is better than I can ever remember except that occasionally it suddenly cuts off, I think because a stone temporarily blocks the bladder exit. One way and another I have had a number of abdominal X-rays in the last 18 months and the stones have been a repeated subject of comment by radiologists. As a side issue possibly more relevant to this forum, I was once brought back for a repeat X-ray with opaque nipple markers applied so as to help determine whether something the radiologist saw was breast tissue or something on my lung!