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Comment by marvel_boy

2 days ago

So there is a cure for BPH?

You can use 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors like finasteride.

One of the primary causes of BPH is from androgens, specifically the conversion of testosterone -> dihydrotestoerone via the 5-ar enzyme.

The prostate is an androgen-sensitive tissue, and DHT causes enlargement.

It's not guaranteed to fix it, but it's one option.

  • I wish we all could agree on a terminology where taking a pill daily is management, not a cure.

    A cure should be a one-off measure after which one stays cured. If not forever then at least for years.

    Something that needs to be repeated, esp. daily, should have a different word. That’s not a cure.

  • I've heard a theory that baldness is related to tension in the scalp, which apparently is more prevalent in men.

Sounds like it reoccurs, but potentially the procedure is repeatable. I didn't see a frequency.

I wonder how many potential answers to such problems are out there, known to a few but not acted on by the masses.

  • > In any case, the paper makes no comment as to whether the problem can be solved the same way a second time; obviously in principle it can, but finding all the new bypasses and sclerosing them might be difficult in practice.

    Multiple surgeries is not sustainable. Too much uncertainty.

    • > Multiple surgeries is not sustainable. Too much uncertainty

      I'm not sure where this is coming from. Multiple cardiac bypasses have a ton of uncertainty, but they are effective because efficacy is measured by quality of life * increased lifespan.

      Multiple surgeries (the time it takes to regrow major veins from capillaries that aren't blocked off) to relatively non-lethal parts of the body seems very sustainable for a human lifespan after 60 or 55 or whatever.

    • > they then have the patient close off the bottom of the vein with finger pressure while they inject a sclerosing agent into the vein

      It seems highly failure prone. If you don't block the flow are you going to stroke out?