Prostate is a leading killer among men of any age, and is the No. 1 cause of death for men over the age of 75. The disease can cause significant urination, hip and back pain. Traditional treatment for prostate cancer may include hormone therapy, chemotherapy and surgery, but these can lead to side effects or additional pain. One alternative to these types of treatments is regulating the amount of the amino acid phenylalanine you consume. Always speak to your doctor about alternative treatments before attempting to augment your prescribed therapy.
Acupuncture Aid
Acupuncture has been shown to be an effective pain treatment after the removal of the testes, spread of prostate cancer to the bones or for nausea and vomiting associated with prostate cancer, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. A 2000 article appearing in "Medical Hypotheses" states that DL-phenylalanine can be a useful aid to your body's own analgesia system by supporting the preservation of pain relieving chemicals in the brain. The authors of the study cite their own clinical experience as evidence for DL-phenylalanine's pain relieving properties, particularly when used in conjunction with acupuncture.
Proposed Benefit
There have not been clinical trials examining DL-phenylalanine for pain relief as of this publication, but researchers did examine the use of D-phenylalanine in the early 1980s for this purpose. Two small trials appearing in the journal "Advances in Pain Research and Therapy" at that time stated that D-phenylalanine --- a purely synthetic form of the amino acid --- stopped the degradation of the pain relieving brain chemical enkephalin. Researchers attributed D-phenylalanine's benefit to the blockage of an enzyme responsible for breaking down enkephalin.
Questionable Methods
The initial studies claiming D-phenylalanine is effective for the treatment of chronic pain were quickly labeled as questionable. The studies contained flawed methodology, including the lack of a control group. Studies with better design were unable to replicate the results showing D-phenylalanine as effective for pain management. One example is a 1986 double blind, placebo controlled study in the "Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation," in which patients reported placebo just as effective as D-phenylalanine for their pain.
Amino Acid Restriction
Though there is little evidence to support DL-phenylalanine as a treatment for prostate pain, more recent research indicates that avoiding phenylalanine may actually cause prostate cancer cell death. In a 2010 "Journal of Cellular Physiology" article, researchers from Washington State University successfully showed that restricting the intake of the related amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine can cause cancer cell death by altering glucose metabolism. This is a complex metabolic process, however, that can easily be slowed by the presence of glucose or pyruvate --- a salt from an acid needed in the production of glucose.
References
- New York University Langone Medical Center: Phenylalanine
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Prostate Cancer; Steven D. Ehrlich, N.M.D.; September 2009
- "Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation"; Analgesic Effectiveness of D-Phenylalanine in Chronic Pain Patients; N. E. Walsh, et al; July 1986
- "Medical Hypotheses"; DL-Phenylalanine Markedly Potentiates Opiate Analgesia -- An Example of Nutrient/Pharmaceutical Up-Regulation of the Endogenous Analgesia System; A. L. Russell and M. F. McCarty; October 2000
- "Journal of Cellular Physiology"; Cell Death of Prostate Cancer Cells by Specific Amino Acid Restriction Depends on Alterations of Glucose Metabolism; Y. M. Fu, et al.; August 2010
