Articles on Milk Thistle

ANTIOXIDANTS LIVER HEALING
Dr. Vogel and other well-known plant researchers, including Hildebert Wagner, Ph.D., have found that the antioxidants in milk thistle called flavonoids are some of the most potent liver-protecting substances known. One important function of antioxidants is to protect the liver against damage from heavy metals and other toxic substances in the air and the food we eat. In case you think that heavy metal exposure is nothing to worry about, consider that more than 600,000 tons of lead are put into the atmosphere every year in the United States alone. Heavy metals are all around us—lead solder in tin cans, lead and cadmium in cigarette smoke, mercury in dental fillings and some cosmetics, and aluminum in antacids. Research conducted in Germany has shown that milk thistle helps protect the liver from drug and heavy metal poisoning. As a result, milk thistle is the basis for a number of German drugs used to treat liver problems.
Milk Thistle is a liver healing herb. There are no known drug interactions. The worst side effect includes of course a severe allergic reaction, which could possibly lead to anaphylactic shock and possible death. Researchers studied the effects of St. John's wort, ginger, echinacea, green tea and milk thistle on the white blood cells and nerve cells of mice. Milk thistle was the only herb that boosted both the immune and nervous systems, helping nerve cells produce more neurites and keeping cells alive longer.
MILK THISTLE
Herb-drug 2005 review discusses interactions of garlic, milk thistle, st. john's wort and more. Check with your physician for possible drug interactions. For more drug interactions, click here. For an alphabetical search listing try here. For a comprehensive discussion of milk thistle click the links.

MILK THISTLE TEA
Milk thistle is a diuretic. Increasing water intake may help diminish this. See water for pkd. For those with any liver cysts, some have tried milk thistle. A new tasty herb tea by celestial seasonings called sugar cookie sleigh ride. This is a special occasion tea. The ingredients of sugar cookie sleigh ride are: milk thistle, roasted barley, orange peel, natural sugar cookie flavor, with other natural flavors and vanilla bean. Calories 0, fat 0, sodium 0, carb 0, sugars 0, protein 0 contains gluten.
CAUTION if you take certain medications, milk thistle may interfere with these (cyclosporin, birth control pills).
This tea especially with a little tupelo honey tastes like a sugar cookie and it also contains milk thistle, an herb found by some to be useful when a cystic liver gets so very large. Milk thistle has noticeably relieved cystic liver pain. That is, some took it for a week, noticed the pain disappeared; then stopped it for a week, the pain returned; then took milk thistle once again and the pain left. For the moment enjoying sugar cookie sleigh ride herbal tea might be an alternative to caffeine drinks. The active ingredient of milk thistle is silymarin.
Milk thistle has been used to counteract mushroom poisoning.

MILK THISTLE Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been used since Greco-Roman times as an herbal remedy for a variety of ailments, particularly liver problems. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries physicians in the United States used milk thistle seeds to relieve congestion of the liver, spleen, and kidneys. Today, several scientific studies suggest that active substances in milk thistle (particularly silymarin) protect the liver from damage caused by viruses, toxins, alcohol, and certain drugs such as acetaminophen (a common over the counter medication used for headaches and pain; acetaminophen, also called paracetamol, can cause liver damage if taken in large quantities or by people who drink alcohol regularly.)
A comprehensive review by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently identified 16 scientific studies on the use of milk thistle for the treatment of various forms of liver disease. A European standardized extract of milk thistle was used in most of the trials.
CANCER
Preliminary laboratory studies also suggest that active substances in milk thistle may have anti-cancer effects. One active substance known as silymarin has strong antioxidant properties and has been shown to inhibit the growth of human prostate, breast, and cervical cancer cells in test tubes and animals. In dogs milk thistle reversed the kidney toxic effects of gentamycin.
MUSHROOM POISONING
Milk thistle most impressed the medical world when G. Vogel, M.D., used it to save lives in the 1970s. A leading milk thistle researcher, Dr. Vogel brought to his clinic 60 people suffering from severe mushroom poisoning. He gave them a compound called silymarin that was extracted from milk thistle and found that "results ranged from amazing to spectacular," even though most of the people were not treated until a full day after eating the bad mushrooms.
LIVER
From an article: There is strong preclinical evidence milk thistle protects the liver and is anti carcinogenic, including inhibiting cancer cell growth. Milk thistle is considered safe and well-tolerated, with gastrointestinal upset, a mild laxative effect, and rare allergic reaction being among the adverse events reported when taken within the recommended dose range. Check with your doc if it is safe.

A FEW MORE NOTES ON MILK THISTLE
Turmeric, milk thistle, and artichoke are known to help cirrhotic livers. This combo just happens to also relieve cystic liver pain. It was so long ago when I took this combo. It was my husband who first noticed this. I had been absentmindedly holding my liver constantly as I was in pain, a persistent low level of chronic pain. Then I took this combo from Wise Women Herbals and I took it for a week as prescribed by my naturopath physician. Then I stopped it for a week. When I stopped milk thistle, turmeric, and artichoke, my husband said,
"You are holding your liver once again; does it hurt you?"

I started back on the combo and it didn't hurt any more. My liver pain left. It was a genuine surprise.

Perhaps allopathic medicine might be complementing herbal medicines along these lines? In other cultures, in Germany for instance, herbal treatments are much more mainstream than here in the USA. It is only in the last 2-3 years that the Mayo Clinic has developed an alternative medicine department right alongside women's health, nephrology, and internal medicine. I read of a clinical trial with milk thistle for children on chemotherapy.