Acetylcysteine

[JuanMilo]

Hi, hope I'm not intruding with this thread, but this hasn't been mentioned anywhere on the site. Who knows, it might be of use to somebody.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2696679/

Apparently it cured nonbacterial prostatitis in one man (the researcher). The research was refused entrance in a larger urological paper, I think it was because it was extremely limited due to there only being one test subject, no placebo etc. The man was a doctor in another field. I think he had true nonbacterial prostatitis, in the sense that it was his prostate that was causing the issues, so it may not help CPPS sufferers. Nonetheless, I thought it might be worth having this information available.


Anyway, I hope this info is welcome here, as I said it hasn't been mentioned anywhere.

It is meant to be relatively safe - may be worth asking a doctor about it. The study discusses 'AAC', I can only find 'NAC' it appears that these two substances may be the same thing under different names. But I emphasise, ask a doctor, I just wanted to put this out there!

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplemen ... 20CYSTEINE

[webslave]

The letter's author, Kuno Kirschfeld, is his 70s and suffering from BPH, and his letter is actually about treating BPH (aka benign prostatic syndrome)
http://www.aerzteblatt.de/pdf.asp?id=58639

In Reply:

The proposal to treat lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH) with secretolytics and mucolytics is unconventional. This group of substances is used mainly for the management of bronchial diseases. Although they are theoretically interesting for this therapeutic indication, convincing proof of clinical efficacy is still lacking, and a recently published Cochrane meta-analysis describes only minor effects (1). The use of alpha-1 adrenoceptor antagonists and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors in LUTS/BPH described by us is based on numerous placebo-controlled, double-blind studies and meets the highest evidence-based medicine standards.

A characteristic feature of LUTS/BPH is that the symptoms fluctuate considerably between different individuals and may also decrease markedly on placebo in some individuals. Consequently, case reports, non-controlled studies, and even placebo-controlled studies with small patient samples are unsuitable for demonstrating therapeutic efficacy in this indication area. Great importance also attaches to accurately defining the study sample, and it seems somewhat bold to extrapolate data from abacterial prostatitis to LUTS/BPH. Finally, the evaluation of therapeutic results also requires a precise description of which symptoms were examined or improved. Recent data suggest that not all therapeutic agents influence all LUTS/BPH in the same manner (2). Against this background, the use of secretolytics or mucolytics for LUTS/BPH cannot be recommended at present.

DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2008.0053b

REFERENCES

1. Poole PJ, Black PN: Mucolytic agents for chronic bronchitis (Cochrane review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3, Art. No. CD001287. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001287.pub2

2. McVary KT, Monnig W, Camps JL et al.: Sildenafil citrate improves erectile function and urinary symptoms in men with erectile dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia: a randomized, double-blind trial. J Urol 2007; 177: 1071–7

[JuanMilo]

Oh ok'! Was confused by the term 'abacterial prostatitis' in the letter.