Milk Thistle

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Hi folks,

I have a friend whose found material on the benefits of mild thistle

for PSC, including this paper:

Silymarin in the Treatment of Patients with Primary Sclerosing

Cholangitis: An Open-Label Pilot Study.

Angulo P, nsen RA, Kowdley KV, Lindor KD.

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic and

Foundation, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA,

angulohernandez.paul@....

No effective medical therapy is available for patients with primary

sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). We evaluated the safety and estimated

the efficacy of silymarin in patients with PSC in a pilot study.

Thirty patients with PSC were enrolled. Silymarin, 140 mg orally

three times daily, was given for 1 year. A statistically significant

improvement in serum alkaline phosphatase activity (1131 +/- 216 vs.

861 +/- 139, P = 0.007), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels

(116 +/- 15 vs. 83 +/- 11, P = 0.01) occurred with treatment. Serum

bilirubin levels were not significantly affected by the treatment,

while serum albumin and the Mayo risk score remained essentially

unchanged. Overall, 34% of patients had a positive response to

silymarin as defined by >/=50% improvement or normal status in liver

tests. The results of this pilot study warrant further evaluation of

silymarin in patients with PSC in a large-scale, controlled trial.

I'm surprised Dr. Lindor is on this paper, because he didn't say

anything to me about it. What do you all know about it? I'm thinking

of calling him to ask about it, but I assume that if he wanted me to

take it, he would have done so. So why didn't he in light of this

suggestive evidence? My only thought is that my liver values are

currently normal, so maybe there would be no benefit?

Thanks!

Ruth