Raevti Bole, MD, on the role of lifestyle modifications in managing BPH

Author(s):

Key Takeaways

Lifestyle modifications, including yoga, hypnosis, and nutraceuticals, are increasingly used in BPH management, reflecting a trend towards integrating alternative medicine with traditional treatments.
The variability in complementary treatments, such as dosage and regimen, complicates the ability to provide specific medical recommendations for BPH management.
Emphasis on stress reduction, physical activity, and plant-based diets shows promise in improving BPH symptoms and overall health.
The integration of lifestyle changes with traditional medical treatments highlights a holistic approach to managing BPH.

"Over a third of Americans actually use some kind of what we term complementary or alternative medicine approach," says Raevti Bole, MD.

In this video, Raevti Bole, MD, discusses the role of lifestyle modifications in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). At the 2024 Sexual Medicine Society of North America Fall Scientific Meeting, Bole presented the talk “Updates in Nonsurgical BPH Management.” She is a urologist at Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.

Transcription:

What role do lifestyle modifications play in the management of BPH, and how do you integrate these approaches into your treatment plans?

This is really interesting. Over a third of Americans actually use some kind of what we term complementary or alternative medicine approach. And I think it's just people wanting to get healthy and integrate lifestyle changes into traditional medicine. A lot of these treatments have been studied, from things like yoga and hypnosis and exercise and stress reduction, and then nutraceuticals, so plant supplements. I will say the research is very interesting. It's difficult to interpret, just because there's such wide variability in all of these things. If you're doing yoga, what kind of regimen are you on? How long are you doing it? If you do hypnosis, what kind of hypnotic suggestions are you being exposed to? If you are taking a plant supplement, what is it? What's the dosage, what's the purity, what's the variation between the batches that you might pick up at a store? And so all of these things make it very difficult for your doctor to just sit down and tell you, "Take this or do yoga and your symptoms will get better." It's really not ever as clear as that, but I think there's a lot of promise in making certain lifestyle changes and just being up to date with the literature, and knowing what helps, what doesn't help but may not hurt. And overall, I think the focus on stress reduction, being active, eating healthy. In many cases, there are some data to support having more of a plant-based diet. I think all these things show the interest of all of our communities in trying to integrate not just drugs and surgeries but also their overall health and well being.

This transcript was AI generated and edited by human editors for clarity.