WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Health Alert: prostate drug combo

Health Alert: prostate drug combo

(Dallas) Dec. 18, 2003 - Like many men over 60, Jim Haskell added trips to the bathroom to his nightly routine, but a radio ad prompted him to seek help, "All of a sudden I realized I have some of those symptoms."

For instance, Jim says he was having problems urinating, often the first sign of an enlarged prostate. He ended up in a study that tested the combination of two common drugs typically prescribed alone, Proscar and Cardura.

John McConnell, a researcher at US Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, says, "We had an idea a combo of these two drugs would be more effective than these drugs alone, but the magnitude of the benefit was much greater than anticipated."

Men on the Proscar and Cardura combination therapy had a nearly 70 percent reduction in the progression of their disease and symptoms, almost twice the rate of men who were on a single drug therapy. Side effects included dizziness and sexual dysfunction and occurred in similar numbers among all groups.

Dr. Claus Roehrborn, another researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says, "I think it really gave a final answer to combo therapy, and I think it is really significant endorsement of combo therapy."

Researchers note that, not only do the findings confirm the effectiveness of Proscar and Cardura, they will also help doctors decide which patients make the best candidates. Age, prostate size and symptoms all play a role. Jim says the drug combo made a big difference for him, "I knew something was improving. I hadn't changed my eating habits, drinking habits, I just continued to do as I had always done, and things got better."

Along with improving his quality of life by slowing his disease, the prostate drug combo may also help patients like Jim avoid more invasive treatments like surgery.

posted 1:20pm by Chris Rees