2 Responses to “Looking for: Anesthetic Uptake and Action”

1. admin says:

   November 5, 2009 at 4:43 pm

   In article <CpDtEv….@unx.sas.com>
   

   sas…@fang.unx.sas.com (Anne Albright) writes:
   >         My father is 78 and was diagnosed 2 years ago with idopathic
   > cirrhosis (unknown origin). He’s gradually gone down hill but recently
   > it’s accelerated.

   >         His problems are fatigue, nausea and vomiting, weakness,
   > mental confusion and "inappropriate thinking," and fluid retention. Like
   > I said it’s all getting worse fast. He is especially losing any
   > interest in trying to become better and seems very resigned to not being
   > around much longer.

   I am a physician; a large part of my practice deals with liver disease,
   as we have a high incidence of alcoholism. The therapy your father is
   on sounds appropriate. The main problem is not with the appropriateness
   of the therapy but with the fact that the treatment of liver disease
   has not advanced much during the past 20 years. As far as I am aware
   the only dietary modification that might be advisable is to reduce the
   amount of protein consumed. There are commercial preparations we use in
   the hospital for this, but the taste is very bad.

   I would ask his doctor two questions. (1) is he a candidate for a liver
   transplant? The answer is probably no considering his age, but ask
   anyway if you haven’t done so. (2) has hepatitis C been ruled out?
   There is some evidence that treatment with interferon is helpful in
   chronic active hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus. Your father’s case
   is probably too far advanced for this to be of benefit either, assuming
   that it has progressed to the point of actual cirrhosis. These two
   suggestions are both unlikely to help you, but I don’t know of any
   other possibilities. It does sound like his case is being managed
   correctly.
2. admin says:

   November 5, 2009 at 4:43 pm

   In response to  sas…@fang.unx.sas.com (Anne Albright) message regarding
   help with her father’s liver problem:
   

   I have read about an Herb called "Milk Thistle" which helps the liver.  According
   to "Herb Mindel’s Herb Bible", a good deal of research has been done on it and
   its purported effects seem to be real.  It is said to 1) stimulate the liver to produce
   more bile, which assist in the detoxification process; and 2) stimulate the liver
   to grow new liver cells, thus improving its overall health and efficiency.  According
   to the book and other things that I have read, it is actually prescribed in Europe to
   people with Hepatitis.  It is also recommended to people who smoke, drink, etc.
   as a way to help reduce or prevent liver damage from using these drugs.

   It is available in  health food stores as both raw herb and as a standardized
   extract containing  a constant percentage of a family of substances called
   "Silymarin". (I would probably go with the extract…with raw herb you can never be
   quite sure what you are getting….it seems best to spend money on something
   that it actually measured for quality.)

   This may help your Father.  He may not object to it as much because it is an
   herbal product; also, it may not upset his stomach as much as pharmaceutical
   drugs.

   - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

   >>> DOES ANYONE KNOW ANY MORE ABOUT THIS HERB AND ITS PURPORTED
   >>> EFFECTS AND/OR HAVE DETAILS ABOUT THE RESEARCH?
   >>> TESTIMONIALS?
   >>> IS ANYONE ABLE TO DO A SEARCH OF MEDICAL RESEARCH ON-LINE
   >>> RESOURCES TO FIND SUCH INFO?  (I know that such searches are possible,
   >>> but I have no ideas how to do one.)