Milk Thistle - The Jury is still out!!

[Guest guest]

I found this article, but do not wholehartily agree with it. My wife was

taking Milk Thistle (at 420Mg of the silymarin content daily) for Hepatitis

C, and consequently dropped her viral load from over a million to 99000

within a 6 month period

 

Milk Thistle for Liver Disease: The Jury's Still Out, Researchers Say

 

by John C. Martin

Article 05-11-05

 

 

 

A commonly used alternative medicine has not been proven effective in

reducing the chances of death for people with hepatitis B, C, or alcoholic

liver disease. That's the conclusion of a group of researchers who conducted

a review of previous clinical trials testing the alternative therapy, known

as milk thistle (silymarin).1

 

" Our results question the beneficial effects of milk thistle for patients

with alcoholic and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver diseases and highlight

the lack of high-quality evidence to support this intervention., " wrote the

study team led by Andrea Rambaldi, MD, a visiting researcher and Internal

Medicine Specialist at the Centre for Clinical Intervention Research at

Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

 

Plant's Seeds Being Studied

Milk thistle is an alternative therapy commonly used as a dietary supplement

in the United States, meaning it is not subject to FDA regulations as are

drugs. Milk thistle an herbal plant whose active ingredient is known as

silymarin (sill-ee-MARE-in), a flavonoid found in the plant's seeds that is

being studied as a possible therapy for liver disease. Silymarin contains

four structurally similar compounds, and silibinin is believed to be the

most active. Researchers have studied the role that silibinin may play in

the treatment of hepatitis and cirrhosis.2

 

Rambaldi and colleague Christian Gluud, MD, DMSc, at the Institute of

Preventive Medicine at Copenhagen University Hospital have been conducting

research for the past 15 years in liver disease. " We have been working on

alternative drugs for liver diseases since 1999, " Rambaldi told Priority

Healthcare in an e-mail interview.

 

Checking for Positive Findings

In their review of the medical literature on the efficacy and safety of milk

thistle for people with liver disease, Rambaldi's team did find some studies

that suggested the dietary supplement may significantly reduce liver-related

mortality, but the findings were not confirmed in higher quality clinical

trials. They did determine that milk thistle is safe with no serious side

effects and with study participants perceiving an improvement in symptoms,

though no greater than that perceived after taking a placebo. Rambaldi and

her colleagues published their results in the latest issue of The Cochrane

Library, a publication of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international

organization that evaluates medical research.

 

For their review, Rambaldi and her associates analyzed the findings of more

than a dozen previously published randomized clinical trials involving 915

patients who had been treated with milk thistle or one of its extracts.

 

The studies' participants had been diagnosed with acute or chronic alcoholic

cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, hepatitis and/or steatosis, or hepatitis-induced

liver disease.

 

All of the trials analyzed for this study compared the effectiveness of milk

thistle or one of its components with placebo (an ineffective intervention

used as a comparison in clinical trials). The rest of the studies compared

milk thistle or one of its extracts with no intervention. The trials were

either blinded (neither patients nor clinicians knew which patients were

given milk thistle or placebo) or unblinded (everyone knew which patients

were receiving a specific intervention).

 

The authors consulted several clinical trials registries, two well-known

online databases, and performed full text searches as part of their

analysis. Investigators from the previous studies were also contacted.

 

Insufficient Evidence

In the end, Rambaldi's team determined that the majority of the trials'

methods were of low quality. Only about one-quarter of them were

sufficiently blinded, they found. In addition, taken collectively, the

studies reported that milk thistle had no more effect on a patient's risk of

death, liver disease complications, or liver health than placebo.

 

" Liver-related mortality was significantly reduced by milk thistle in all

trials, but not in high-quality trials, " Rambaldi and her colleagues wrote.

 

In conclusion, they wrote that their findings " highlight the lack of

high-quality evidence to support this intervention " , and as such,

" adequately conducted and reported randomized clinical trials on milk

thistle versus placebo are needed. "

 

The Jury's Still Out

But Rambaldi isn't writing off milk thistle for people with liver disease

just yet. " Milk thistle could be an interesting drug, " she said, adding that

these future trials should include higher doses of silymarin to determine if

this elicits more of an effect.

 

Thomas Strickland, MD, PhD, a professor in the department of Epidemiology

and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland, concurs. " I would

certainly double it, " he says of the dose, " especially since at the current

dose [typically 140 mg three times daily], we're not seeing any improvement

in acute viral or chronic hepatitis, and we've shown that silymarin is

totally safe. "

 

Rambaldi added that " very few adverse events occurred in the articles we

reviewed. "

 

1. Rambaldi A, Jacobs B, Iaquinto G, Gluud C. Milk thistle for alcoholic

and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver diseases. Cochrane Database Syst Rev

2004 Apr 18;(2):CD003620.

2. National Cancer Institute. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Milk

Thistle. Available at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/

milkthistle/HealthProfessional/page2. Accessed May 5, 2005.

 

John Martin is a long-time health journalist and an editor for Priority

Healthcare. His credits include coverage of health news for the website of

Fox Television's The Health Network, and articles for the New York Post and

other consumer and trade publications.

 

 

 

 

Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.9 - Release 12/05/2005

[Guest guest]

I have learned to be leery of studies of naturopathic treatment by medical

teams...

 

 

-

" Jeffrey Sutton " <suttjef

<herbal remedies >

Friday, May 13, 2005 7:32 AM

Herbal Remedies - Milk Thistle - The Jury is still out!!

 

 

>I found this article, but do not wholehartily agree with it. My wife was

> taking Milk Thistle (at 420Mg of the silymarin content daily) for

> Hepatitis

> C, and consequently dropped her viral load from over a million to 99000

> within a 6 month period

>

> Milk Thistle for Liver Disease: The Jury's Still Out, Researchers Say

>

> by John C. Martin

> Article 05-11-05

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Milk Thistle is a good protector of the liver but I

don't think it can drop the viral load. Is there

anything else that she was doing?

 

--- Jeffrey Sutton <suttjef wrote:

 

> I found this article, but do not wholehartily agree

> with it. My wife was

> taking Milk Thistle (at 420Mg of the silymarin

> content daily) for Hepatitis

> C, and consequently dropped her viral load from over

> a million to 99000

> within a 6 month period

>

> Milk Thistle for Liver Disease: The Jury's

> Still Out, Researchers Say

>

> by John C. Martin

> Article 05-11-05

>

>

>

> A commonly used alternative medicine has not been

> proven effective in

> reducing the chances of death for people with

> hepatitis B, C, or alcoholic

> liver disease. That's the conclusion of a group of

> researchers who conducted

> a review of previous clinical trials testing the

> alternative therapy, known

> as milk thistle (silymarin).1

>

> " Our results question the beneficial effects of milk

> thistle for patients

> with alcoholic and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver

> diseases and highlight

> the lack of high-quality evidence to support this

> intervention., " wrote the

> study team led by Andrea Rambaldi, MD, a visiting

> researcher and Internal

> Medicine Specialist at the Centre for Clinical

> Intervention Research at

> Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

>

> Plant's Seeds Being Studied

> Milk thistle is an alternative therapy commonly used

> as a dietary supplement

> in the United States, meaning it is not subject to

> FDA regulations as are

> drugs. Milk thistle an herbal plant whose active

> ingredient is known as

> silymarin (sill-ee-MARE-in), a flavonoid found in

> the plant's seeds that is

> being studied as a possible therapy for liver

> disease. Silymarin contains

> four structurally similar compounds, and silibinin

> is believed to be the

> most active. Researchers have studied the role that

> silibinin may play in

> the treatment of hepatitis and cirrhosis.2

>

> Rambaldi and colleague Christian Gluud, MD, DMSc,

> at the Institute of

> Preventive Medicine at Copenhagen University

> Hospital have been conducting

> research for the past 15 years in liver disease. " We

> have been working on

> alternative drugs for liver diseases since 1999, "

> Rambaldi told Priority

> Healthcare in an e-mail interview.

>

> Checking for Positive Findings

> In their review of the medical literature on the

> efficacy and safety of milk

> thistle for people with liver disease, Rambaldi's

> team did find some studies

> that suggested the dietary supplement may

> significantly reduce liver-related

> mortality, but the findings were not confirmed in

> higher quality clinical

> trials. They did determine that milk thistle is safe

> with no serious side

> effects and with study participants perceiving an

> improvement in symptoms,

> though no greater than that perceived after taking a

> placebo. Rambaldi and

> her colleagues published their results in the latest

> issue of The Cochrane

> Library, a publication of the Cochrane

> Collaboration, an international

> organization that evaluates medical research.

>

> For their review, Rambaldi and her associates

> analyzed the findings of more

> than a dozen previously published randomized

> clinical trials involving 915

> patients who had been treated with milk thistle or

> one of its extracts.

>

> The studies' participants had been diagnosed with

> acute or chronic alcoholic

> cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, hepatitis and/or

> steatosis, or hepatitis-induced

> liver disease.

>

> All of the trials analyzed for this study compared

> the effectiveness of milk

> thistle or one of its components with placebo (an

> ineffective intervention

> used as a comparison in clinical trials). The rest

> of the studies compared

> milk thistle or one of its extracts with no

> intervention. The trials were

> either blinded (neither patients nor clinicians knew

> which patients were

> given milk thistle or placebo) or unblinded

> (everyone knew which patients

> were receiving a specific intervention).

>

> The authors consulted several clinical trials

> registries, two well-known

> online databases, and performed full text searches

> as part of their

> analysis. Investigators from the previous studies

> were also contacted.

>

> Insufficient Evidence

> In the end, Rambaldi's team determined that the

> majority of the trials'

> methods were of low quality. Only about one-quarter

> of them were

> sufficiently blinded, they found. In addition, taken

> collectively, the

> studies reported that milk thistle had no more

> effect on a patient's risk of

> death, liver disease complications, or liver health

> than placebo.

>

> " Liver-related mortality was significantly reduced

> by milk thistle in all

> trials, but not in high-quality trials, " Rambaldi

> and her colleagues wrote.

>

> In conclusion, they wrote that their findings

> " highlight the lack of

> high-quality evidence to support this intervention " ,

> and as such,

> " adequately conducted and reported randomized

> clinical trials on milk

> thistle versus placebo are needed. "

>

> The Jury's Still Out

> But Rambaldi isn't writing off milk thistle for

> people with liver disease

> just yet. " Milk thistle could be an interesting

> drug, " she said, adding that

> these future trials should include higher doses of

> silymarin to determine if

> this elicits more of an effect.

>

> Thomas Strickland, MD, PhD, a professor in the

> department of Epidemiology

> and Preventive Medicine at the University of

> Maryland, concurs. " I would

> certainly double it, " he says of the dose,

> " especially since at the current

> dose [typically 140 mg three times daily], we're not

> seeing any improvement

> in acute viral or chronic hepatitis, and we've shown

> that silymarin is

> totally safe. "

>

> Rambaldi added that " very few adverse events

> occurred in the articles we

> reviewed. "

>

> 1. Rambaldi A, Jacobs B, Iaquinto G, Gluud C. Milk

> thistle for alcoholic

> and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver diseases.

> Cochrane Database Syst Rev

> 2004 Apr 18;(2):CD003620.

> 2. National Cancer Institute. National Institutes of

> Health (NIH). Milk

> Thistle. Available at:

> http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/

> milkthistle/HealthProfessional/page2. Accessed May

> 5, 2005.

>

> John Martin is a long-time health journalist and an

> editor for Priority

> Healthcare. His credits include coverage of health

> news for the website of

> Fox Television's The Health Network, and articles

> for the New York Post and

> other consumer and trade publications.

> >

>

> Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.9 -

> Release 12/05/2005

>

 

 

 

 

 

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