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.)

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.