Milk Thistle �?Nature’s Liver Detoxifier and Protector

Hundreds of research studies, mostly in Europe, have confirmed the remarkable ability of milk thistle to protect the liver against virtually all types of damage: from accidental exposure to chemical pollutants, toxic side effects of medications, liver diseases like hepatitis and even the self-inflicted damage from overindulgence in rich food and alcohol.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the liver to our general health. The second largest organ in the body after the skin, it processes all nutrients, toxins, drugs, and any other substances entering the body through the intestines, lungs, or skin.

Medicinally, milk thistle has always been used for the liver, and here is where its most exciting implications lie. For more than ten thousand years it has been associated with relief from conditions now known to be the result of liver disease or damage.

People with chronic illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia frequently suffer from impaired liver function as demonstrated by elevated liver enzyme test results. Timothy Tupper, L.Ac a California chiropractor, nutritionist, and acupuncturist, holds postgraduate degrees in Clinical Biochemistry and Parasitology, and lectures frequently throughout the country on the importance of nutrition in treating chronic diseases. He notes that milk thistle is most helpful to CFS patients suffering liver involvement. According to Dr. Tupper, milk thistle helps treat liver damage and helps to work as a preventive measure. Among other things, it has powerful antihistamine and detoxifying properties.

The National Library of Medicine in Washington has catalogued more than 300 scientific studies of milk thistle and its active compounds in their medicine database. Milk thistle extract was studied in 1990 at a liver pathology institute in France, and found to have two main actions. First, it decreased the ‘activation�?of carbon tetrachloride (that is, its conversion into more toxic substances) and secondly, it acted as a potent antioxidant, which prevents these toxic compounds from damaging intact liver cells. In the experiment, milk thistle extract allowed only half of the damage to liver cells, which occurs without treatment.

Silymarin, the active component extracted from milk thistle, demonstrated significant protective active against toxins that usually damage the liver. Researchers also found that silymarin is anti-inflammatory and inhibits anaphylactic shock (a life threatening allergic reaction) by preventing histamine release. It acts as a ‘stabilizer of mast cell membranes,�?preventing them from releasing immune-inducing inflammation.

Milk thistle also protects blood cells. Silymarin’s strong anti-oxidative properties inhibit both oxidation of the cell membrane in red blood cells and ultimately are able to protect blood cells under conditions in which they would normally be destroyed.

Milk thistle extract has a wide range of benefits and can be very helpful for people with liver disease, chronic illness or for people with multiple chemical sensitivities. HW

From: 'Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions Bible' by Richard Harkness, Pharm.,FASCP (page 6, 295)
Milk Thistle: Supplementation Possibly Helpful
the herbal product silymarin, or milk thistle (Siluburm marianum), has been used for hepatitis and various other liver-related disorders.

Supplementation with milk thistle may help prevent acetaminophen toxicity, as well as poisoning from other substances that are toxic to the liver, including the Amanita 'deathcap' mushroom.

In one study, rats were divided into three groups and treated with acetaminophen alone, acetaminophen and silymarin combined, or placebo. Rats getting only acetaminophen showed significant increases in lipid per-markers for liver damage. these findings suggest that silymarin may protect against acetaminophen liver toxicity through its antioxidant properties, possibly by acting as a free radical scavenger.

WARNING: Acetaminophen overdose can be fatal! Do not count on milk thistle to protect you from the effects of excessive acetaminophen intake.

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(Page 295)
Milk thistle is believed to possess very little toxicity. Animal studies have not shown any negative effects even when high doses were administered over a long period of time.

A study of 2,637 participants reported in 1992 showed a low incidence of side effects, limited mainly to mild gastrointestinal disturbance. However, on rare occasions severe abdominal discomfort may occur.

On the basis of its extensive use as a food, milk thistle is believed to be safe for pregnant or nursing women and researchers have enrolled pregnant women in studies. However, safety in young children, pregnant or nursing women, and individuals with severe renal disease has not been formally established.

No drug interactions are known. However, one report has noted the silibinin (a constituent of silymarin) can inhibit a bacterial enzyme called beta glucuronidase, which plays a role in the activity of certain drugs, such as oral contraceptives. This could reduce their effectiveness.

TOXICITY, CAUTIONS & CONTRAINDICATIONS
None Known

HISTORICAL USES
· Liver disease, acute, chronic hepatitis
· Protect liver from toxins, heavy metals, alcohol, poisons
· Cholagogue
· Fatty degeneration of the liver
· Jaundice
· Psoriasis
· Uterine tonic, menstrual difficulties
· Spleen, kidney, gall bladder tonic
· Varicose veins

History
Milk thistle was named Silybum by Dioscorides in 100 AD for its large purple thistle like flower heads. Since ancient times, the plant was valued for its nutritional and medicinal properties. ....  also known as Marian, St. Mary, and Our Lady's thistle, is a member of the daisy family.  By the Middle Ages the seed of the Milk Thistle was commonly used to treat liver diseases, to promote the flow of bile, and as a general tonic for the stomach, spleen, gallbladder, female organs, and liver.  It is used to treat gallstones, inflammation, and other liver conditions, including hepatitis and cirrhosis.  Taken orally, it contains a compound, which protects the liver against a variety of toxins.  It also stimulates protein synthesis, which accelerates the growth and regeneration of liver cells.

PHARMACOLOGY
Milk Thistle contains three potent liver protective flavonoids: silybin, silydianin, and silychristin, known collectively as silymarin. Numerous clinical trials have shown that silymarin and milk thistle extract can protect the liver. Silymarin counteracts the toxic effects of a wide variety of poisons, including alcohol, carbon tetrachloride, acetaminophen over dose, and the Deathcap mushroom, (Amanito or Amanita) phalloides which causes death within a day. The mechanism of action of silymarin involves altering the membranes of hepatic cells to inhibit passage of toxins and increasing cellular regeneration by stimulating protein synthesis. Silymarin also has antioxidant activity and inhibits inflammatory enzymes. Recent research has indicated that silymarin helps to protect against depletion of the antioxidant glutathione in liver cells.    
(Excerpted from:  Vitamin & Herbal Digest)

Focus on Milk Thistle
Daily Health News, Nov. 8, 2004
Milk thistle has been a staple in European medicine for more than 2,000 years to treat liver diseases, due to its ability to both protect the liver from damage and help stimulate production of new liver cells. To learn more about one of the classic "great herbs," .... Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council, and James A. Duke, PhD, former chief of the USDA Plant Laboratory.
Here's a rundown on milk thistle's many liver-related uses...

· In alcoholic liver diseases: Milk thistle helps the liver regenerate and detoxify, explains Blumenthal, by stimulating RNA (a sister to DNA) synthesis in the liver and by coating the liver cells so they are less susceptible to insult from foreign compounds.
· In hepatitis: So effective is milk thistle in treating hepatitis that Dr. Duke says he would take it before he would take interferon for the disease. Blumenthal reports that he has taken milk thistle instead of getting a preventive hepatitis A shot before a trip to Africa. Result: No hepatitis, although Blumenthal admits that preventive effects are difficult, if not impossible, to prove.
· As an antioxidant: Milk thistle is now a recognized antioxidant. According to Dr. Duke, silymarin (one of the active compounds in milk thistle) is 10 times more potent in antioxidative power than vitamin E.
· In reducing hepatotoxic drug effects: Milk thistle is of great benefit when taken with medications that are known to have toxic effects on the liver, such as Tylenol and some other over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers. It helps the liver process toxins produced by these drugs while not adversely influencing the medications' effectiveness.
· Before and after drinking alcohol: Milk thistle is good to take before you drink alcohol as well as after, says Dr. Duke. First, because of its protective effect on the liver cells, and second because of the regenerative activity. Note: This should not, however, be an excuse to abuse alcohol.

Dosage: For all of the above conditions, patients are encouraged to seek a health-care provider's assistance for milk thistle sourcing and dosage recommendations. The upper recommended dosage on the bottle (400 mg) is typical.
The only known and reported adverse side effect of milk thistle is that it may have a slight laxative effect. There are no known contraindications with medications. Pregnant or nursing women may want to avoid it, however, because there is insufficient data on its safety for this group... and some feel that milk thistle should be avoided by people who have hormone-sensitive tumors, such as breast, uterine and ovarian cancer. However, as with all herbs, make sure your doctor is aware that you are taking milk thistle.

Sources:
· M. Blumenthal, founder and executive director, American Botanical Council, and senior editor, The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs

Milk thistle extract could help diabetes control

By Stephen Daniells
 
30/10/2006- A daily supplement of extracts from Milk Thistle significantly lowered fasting glucose levels by 15 per cent, says a randomized clinical trial ..... published in an international, peer-reviewed journal.

The herbal supplement was also found to have significantly beneficial effects on glycosylated haemoglobin levels, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels on the diabetics who took part in the trial.

“The results are very encouraging, and we now need to do further large multi-centre studies,�?said lead [the] author ....

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been used for a long time as a food in Europe. Young leaves are used in salads, the stalks eaten like asparagus, and the heads boiled like artichoke.

According to the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (Canada) milk thistle ranked 12th among the top selling herb supplements in the U.S. mass market, with sales of over $3m (m) in 1997.

The researchers recruited 51 people with type-2 diabetes to take part in the four-month randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Subjects were assigned to receive either a daily milk thistle supplement (200 milligrams three times per day) or a placebo (three times per day).

The patients continued their conventional oral hypoglycaemic treatments and were examined at monthly.

The researchers, writing in the journal Phytotherapy Research on-line ahead of print (doi:10.1002/ptr.1988), reported that fasting glucose levels of the supplementation group decreased from 156 milligrams per decilitre (mg/dL) of blood to 133 mg/dL, while the placebo group’s fasting glucose levels increased from 167 to 188 mg/dL.

Average glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels also decreased in the milk thistle extract-supplemented group, by 1.04 per cent after four months, compared to the 1.16 per cent increase in the placebo group.

Blood levels of total cholesterol (12 per cent), LDL cholesterol (12 per cent) and triglyceride levels (25 per cent) were also significantly reduced as a result of the milk thistle extract supplements. No significant change in the placebo groups�?total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol levels was measured, while triglyceride levels increased by 12 per cent.

“The results show that although there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of patients at the beginning of the study, silymarin [milk thistle extract] significantly lowered HbA1c and fasting blood glucose levels in diabetic patients at the end of the study,�?wrote the researchers.

The researchers could not say however what the actual mechanism behind the effects was, and called for more large multi-centre studies to further investigate the potential role of milk thistle extracts in type-2 diabetes.

“We don’t know the exact mechanism of action for this effect, but this work shows that silymarin could play an important role [against] type II diabetes,�?said [the author].

An estimated 19 million people are affected by diabetes in the EU 25, equal to four per cent of the total population. This figure is projected to increase to 26 million by 2030.

In the US, there are over 20 million people with diabetes, equal to seven per cent of the population. The total costs are thought to be as much as $132 bn, with $92 bn being direct costs from medication, according to 2002 American Diabetes Association figures.
 
From http://www.nutraingredients.com/news-by-health/

Milk Thistle Compound Provides Protection Against Lung cancer

08/ 30, 2006:-  A flavanone compound in milk thistle, silimarin, stopped lung cancer growth and spread in mice, says research from the University of Colorado.
“Our research findings suggest that milk thistle (with active compound silimarin) could inhibit lung cancer growth and progression�?We expect that after supplement consumption a sufficient level of silimarin must be achieved in blood circulation/lung to have an anticancer effect,�?said lead researcher Rana Singh.

Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer worldwide with over 1.2m new cases diagnosed annually, according to the European School of Oncology. It has one of the lowest survival rates with only 25 per cent of patients surviving more than one year after diagnosis (England and Wales).

It should be stressed that the new research, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Vol. 98, pp. 846-85), did not use milk thistle dietary supplements, but pure silimarin, the active component in milk thistle.

“Milk thistle extract dietary supplements generally contain 80 per cent silymarin, a flavonolignan mixture; and silymarin contains approximately 40 per cent silimarin,�?explained Singh.

“Therefore, we expect about 32 per cent (w/w) silimarin in milk thistle dietary supplements,�?she said.

The researchers divided 90 mice into six groups and injected 75 mice with cancer-causing urethane (cancer development in two to three weeks) and 15 mice with a saline solution (control).

After two weeks of eating a normal diet, the urethane-treated mice (five groups of 15) were fed a diet supplemented with different doses of silimarin (zero, 0.033, 0.10, 0.33, 1.0 per cent).

After 18 weeks, the silimarin supplemented group had between 32 and 38 per cent less tumours than the urethane-only group, across all the dose range. After 29-weeks, the silimarin supplemented group had between 64 and 70 per cent less tumours than the urethane-only group, across all the dose range.

Mice that received the 1.0 per cent silimarin supplement had 93 per cent fewer large tumours than the urethane-only group.

In terms of cancer spread, the tumours in the silimarin supplemented mice had between 41 and 74 per cent fewer cells that tested positive for proliferation (spread) markers.

The formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis) was also found to be reduced i n the silimarin groups, with reductions up to 89 per cent recorded.

“Our most clinically relevant observation was that silimarin prevented tumours from growing beyond a small size in a dose-depended fashion,�?said the researchers.

“We believe that this inhibition is due, at least in part, to the inhibitory effect of silimarin on angiogenesis.�?/FONT>