Guest guest Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Hi all....I have a good friend, female/40's, who recently -- out of the blue -- had an acute attack, was rushed to the hospital and spent five days in ICU, lost a lot of blood, and was diagnosed with advanced liver disease. The doctors have her on all sorts of meds, which are not helping her condition. She has bad edema right now, is very swollen in the midsection area, and is pretty sick. I'm pretty sure she won't/can't stop taking the allopathic meds at this point, but what can she do in concert with them to begin to heal herself? I don't think she's healthy enough for any kind of a rigorous cleanse, but there must be something gentle that she can begin to do to heal. Herbs? Diet? Fast? Although fasting may be too much for her right now. I'm truly worried that she's going to die if she continues on this allopathic path and would like to give her some alternatives. Not to mention that the cost is out of this world and she has no insurance. Thanks for any feedback, and please let me know if I have your permission to forward the information on to her in your post. Sharyn --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.772 / Virus Database: 519 - Release Date: 10/1/2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Pugh wrote: > I've read that one shouldn't take milk thistle willy nilly - that is, > unless one has a liver problem. Do you think there's any truth to this? > > and the K9's ============================ Well, if it isn't broke why try to fix it? However, why wait until your liver is about dead before you do something for it? Your liver will get pretty toxic and in pretty sad shape before you realize that you have liver problems. This is why fasting, cleansing, changing ones diet to a natural one are so important to our health. Taking milk thistle once in a while along with some dandelion root won't hurt anything and will help your liver to detoxify. Also lecithin is very good for the liver as it helps the liver get rid of the excess fat that can get stored there. Just use common sense and don't take the herbs every day you will be alright. Take them maybe once a month for a week. This will help keep you from coming down with serious liver problems, as long as you change your diet and lifestyle too. Drinking, drugging and eating cooked dead food won't do your liver any good at all. -- Peace, love and light, Don Quai " Spirit sleeps in the mineral, breathes in the vegetable, dreams in the animal and wakes in man. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Vitamin K is suppose to be Excellent for ones liver. Pam ========== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 The Secret Life of K Health Sciences Institute e-Alert October 07, 2004 ************************************************************** We hope you enjoy this free e-letter from the Health Sciences Institute e-Alert. You have received this e-mail because you have either signed up for our e-letter through a promotion on an affiliate website, subscribed to one of Agora Health's print newsletters, or visited our website and signed up there. If you're an existing subscriber to the e-Alert, you should note it is now being sent from a different server. Please make sure to add this new address to your " friends " list or to " whitelist " it if necessary. If you wish to permanently remove yourself from this mailing list, follow the instructions at the bottom of this page. ************************************************************** Dear Reader, Well over four million Americans have hepatitis C, the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the U.S. In fact, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop calls it an even graver threat to our public health than HIV and AIDS. But it's not just the staggering numbers behind this disease that make it so frightening; it can also be deadly, because hepatitis C sharply increases the risk of developing viral cirrhosis (a debilitating liver disease) and liver cancer. Now a new study reveals that an increased intake of one vitamin may significantly help prevent liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis. ------------------------------------------------------------ Hidden protection ------------------------------------------------------------ When researchers in the Graduate School of Medicine of Japan's Osaka City University began their study of vitamin K use among women with cirrhosis of the liver, their goal was to evaluate potential advantages in using vitamin K to prevent bone loss. But the final analysis of data reaped an unexpected benefit, as reported in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Osaka team recruited a group of 40 women with viral cirrhosis. Most of the subjects also had hepatitis C. The average age for the group was about 60. For two years, 21 subjects took a daily 45 mg dose of vitamin K2. The other 19 women took a placebo. Of the women in the K2 group, only two developed liver cancer, while nine of the women in the placebo group developed cancer. Larger studies will be needed to confirm any liver cancer preventive benefits of vitamin K2, but because of the length of the study, the researchers feel confident that K2 supplements may reduce the risk of liver cancer by as much as 20 percent in patients with viral cirrhosis. The study also found that vitamin K2 supplementation helped prevent bone loss in women with cirrhosis of the liver. ------------------------------------------------------------ Plenty of benefits ------------------------------------------------------------ " Do we really need to take a vitamin K supplement? " V. , M.D., posed that question in his Nutrition & Healing newsletter, and provided this answer: " If there's a family history of osteoporosis, definitely. There's also enough preliminary evidence to say that if there's a family history of arteriosclerosis ('hardening of the arteries'), you probably should. " When I asked HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., about vitamin K, he told me that K intake also provides another kind of protection: " An old study from the late '40s showed that vitamin K was clearly helpful against tooth decay. But the biggest news more recently has been concerning vitamin K as a strong bone-builder. It seems to not only help with poorly healing fractures, but at the same time helps prevent excess calcium from getting deposited in arterial walls. " The plant-based source of vitamin K (K1, or phylloquinone) seems to have no toxic effects in most any reasonable dose. But the synthetic form (K3, or menadione) has caused some liver toxicity and, rarely, a form of anemia when taken in high doses. There's also K2 (or menaquinones), but K1 and K2 are fine. As usual, it seems best to avoid synthetic forms, if possible. If the individual is on coumadin (blood thinner), he needs to talk with his doctor, as vitamin K can interfere with its effect. " Dr. agrees that vitamins K1 and K2 are " very safe, " and recommends 5 to 15 mg per day. Note that the K2 dosage in the Osaka study was quite higher than that. Nevertheless, the supplement was well tolerated by the Osaka subjects. ------------------------------------------------------------ In the garden ------------------------------------------------------------ As for dietary sources of vitamin K, Dr. Spreen tells me that dark, leafy green vegetables, such as kale and carrot tops, are the best for vitamin K1. " The highest amounts of it are in chestnut leaves and fish meal. Spinach leaves, cabbage leaves and cauliflower are also right up there. " In addition to those sources, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, endive, and lettuce are also abundant in vitamin K1, as are olive oil and avocados. Vitamin K1 is converted into K2 in the intestine, but we get some amount of K2 in meat, liver and egg yolk, and fermented products such as yogurt and cheese. And these sources reveal the basic difference between K1 and K2; K1 comes from plant sources, and K2 from animal sources. So if you enjoy a spinach, avocado and cheese salad with an olive oil dressing, by all means, indulge often and you'll be treating yourself to a variety of vitamin K benefits. ************************************************************** ============================================= > Sorry to disagree, Milk Thistle is excellent for HEPC, I know, my wife has it and it helps her tremendously, it helps to repair the liver's cells. (talk to Doc!!). > Kind regards > Jeff > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Sutton wrote: > Hi > Please, please be very careful with Vit.K. Those with heart problems etc, > Vit.K, can be very dangerous. Vit.K, thickens the blood!!. > Kind regards > Jeff ========================================== Actually that isn't quite true. Vitamin K does not thicken the blood. It only helps blood to coagulate when needed. Now people who are anti-coagulants should not take Vit. K as it inhibits the action of the anti-coagulants. -- Peace, love and light, Don Quai " Spirit sleeps in the mineral, breathes in the vegetable, dreams in the animal and wakes in man. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Sorry, but I don't understand your situation. I've always understood that the whole reason for having regular LFTs whilst taking drugs like MTX and Arava was so that treatment could be suspended if adverse effects start to show in the liver. There are now a lot of alternative drugs, such as etanercept, that I would have expected your doctor to consider moving you on to. But some of the even newer biologic agents now seem to be an even better treatment. Of course, they're expensive and I don't know how things stand for you in that respect, or there may of course be other reasons that you can't take any of these other, newer drugs. Perhaps you should consider consulting another rheumatologist, for a second opinion? > > Hi everyone, > > I don't post very often, but I read this digest every day. I was > diagnoised with RA in March 2004. I have been on methatrexate (2 > yrs.), plaquneil (8 mths.),arava (3 mths), humaria (4 mths) and now > Orencia (5 mths. for now). > > My liver enzymes started being elevated in Feb. 2005, they have > remained elevated. My GP sent me to a gastroenterologist about 8 > mths ago, he just watched to see if they went higher. They haven't > but they don't come down either. In Jan. 2006 the GI dr. did a > complete liver panel lab work up. The lab work indicated auto > immune hepitis. He then ordered a liver biospy (painful). This > biospy showed inflamation and scarring of the liver. I do not and > have never drunk acohol of any kind (#1 cause of liver scarring). > Now he isn't sure what it could be, auto immune hepitis of NASH. On > a scale of 1 to 4 my inflamation and scarring were rated a 4 for > both. He is now referring me to a Liver specialist at Duke > University Hosp. here in NC. Has anyone else had any liver problems? > Needless to say I am very bummed right now. I homeschool my 9 year > old special needs child and I don't need this to deal with now. > > Thanks for all your input and support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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