By Ofelia M. Sierra
Hailing from Europe, South and North America is an herb used for over 2,000 years for its de-toxing abilities. Ancient Greeks and Romans used Milk Thistle for a variety of liver ailments. It was renowned during the Middle Ages to treat liver toxins. Recently, the German government has recommended it for liver damage due to toxins, cirrhosis, and as a support for chronic liver inflammation. Modern homeopathic practitioners have also used compounds from milk thistle seeds to treat a range of disorders including jaundice, gallstones, and peritonitis. Further findings from the government agency, AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) suggests "Evidence exists that milk thistle may be hepatoprotective through a number of mechanisms: antioxidant activity, toxin blockade at the membrane level, enhanced protein synthesis, antifibriotic activity, and possible anti-inflammatory or immunomodulating effects." The NCCAM (National Center for Comlimentary and Alternative Medicene), a compound of the National Institute of Helath, has also taken interest in this promising herb.
Despite milk thistle's long history of use for liver complaints, it was not until 1968 that researchers extracted silymarin from milk thistle seeds and suggested that it might be the plant's active ingredient. ¹ This medicinal extract is composed of 4 compounds, but most research has been conducted on the most active one, silybin. It is considered an antioxidant that protects against cell damage by blocking toxins from entering the cell or by moving toxins out of the cell before damage begins. The National Cancer Institute website also sites the following findings from studies on silymarin and silybin in laboratory research:
It acts as an antioxidant by:
· Strengthening cell walls to prevent toxins from crossing into the cell.
· Stimulating enzymes that make toxins less harmful to the body.
· Blocking damaging substances called free radicals from attacking cells.
· Silybin may help cisplatin and doxorubicin (chemotherapy drugs) work better against ovarian and breast cancer cells.
· Silybin may have direct anticancer effects against prostate, breast, and cervical cancer cells.
· Silybin may slow down cell growth, as shown in prostate cancer cell lines.
There is 1 case report describing the use of silymarin in a patient with promyelocytic leukemia who required breaks in chemotherapy due to abnormal liver enzyme levels. During 4 months of treatment with silymarin, the patient had normal liver enzyme levels and was able to undergo chemotherapy without breaks.
Another case report describes a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma whose symptoms improved when he took 450 milligrams of silymarin per day, without anticancer therapy. These case report findings have not been shown in a clinical trial.
The beneficial effects of silymarin shown in some studies also suggest it might play a role in preventing hepatitis and/or liver cancer.
These exciting reports on the use of milk thistle as a protectant against cancer cells and harmful toxins in the liver may be a helpful aid to those who seek a natural alternative to drugs. Though more clinical trials are needed, few, if any, bad side effects from the use of milk thistle or silymarin have been reported when taken as recommended. ◊
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