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Title: The Silent Alarm
Author: Michael Tennesen
Source: NATURAL HEALTH, July-August 2004 v35 i7 p48(5).
Data Base: InfoTrac Web
THE SILENT ALARM
by Michael Tennesen
(Your liver filters the fallout from a toxic world, but symptoms of disease
can stay dormant for decades. Here, the diet, supplements and proactive
approach you need to keep this vital organ strong and healthy.)
Europeans eat bitter foods, drink lemon juice, go to spas, and attribute
everything (rightly or wrongly) to their livers from moods to queasy stomachs.
Americans, however, seem to ignore it. That's because the liver is the silent
organ. It doesn't have any nerve endings on the inside. Says says Caroline
Riely, MD, associate medical director of the American Liver Foundation, "Even
patients with cirrhosis often don't have any symptoms at all."
Because you may not feel it doesn't make your liver any less important. It's
the largest organ in the body and has critical duties. It neutralizes toxins
in the blood, produces immune agents to fight infection, and filters germs
and bacteria from the blood. It makes proteins that regulate blood clotting,
produces bile to help absorb fats, and it stores glucose for when you need
energy. "Without the liver you cannot live," says Leonard Seeff MD, a senior
scientist for hepatitis research at the National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Disease, "It is the metabolic factory of the entire
body."
Western physicians and alternative practitioners don't always agree over how
to care for the liver. According to Dr. Riely, "It's not like a muscle; you
can't make it better." But alternative practitioners like Frank Lipman MD
author of Total Renewal, believes that in today's polluted environment you can
assist the liver by decreasing the toxins you put into your body and improving
the nutrients you give it.
Dr. Lipman advises his patients to eat organic as much as possible. "That way
you can avoid pesticides and herbicides on vegetables and fruit and the
hormones, steroids, and antibiotics that come with various animal proteins,"
says Lipman. He recommends water filtration.
He also encourages adding blueberries, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts,
watercress, walnuts, and almonds to the diet since they contain liver
detoxification properties. Spices like ginger, rosemary, and garlic are also
good.
Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, author of The Miracle of Magnesium and Natural
Prescriptions for Common Ailments, says that the best foods for the liver
tend to be the bitter foods. Things like artichokes, dandelion greens, beet
tops, beets, chard, spinach, and arugula. She encourages patients to eat a
lot of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to get the proper vitamins and
minerals. She also recommends green tea and saunas.
At the top of her list of supplements for liver health is milk thistle. A 250
to 300 mg supplement taken 2 to 3 times a day is "very safe and very
effective." She says alpha lipoic acid, a powerful antioxidant, which helps
support liver detoxification. She tells her patients to try 2 or 3 of these
liver friendly things each day rather than a dozen. "If you get too obsessive
about it, you'll just stop, and that defeats the purpose."
Physicians warn against taking too many drugs, whether pharmaceutical, herbal,
or over the counter medications. Acetaminophen (a common pain reliever) can
become unusually toxic when mixed with alcohol. And acetaminophen is found in
a number of medications including pharmaceutical painkillers as well as
certain cold remedies. Read the label and don't exceed the recommended daily
allowance even on vitamins.
What happens if you don't take care of your liver? For one, you can get
cirrhosis. It's a scary word. But according to Dr. Riely, "Cirrhosis just
means scarring, it is the end stage of a the progression of liver disease,
but it is not necessarily a death threat." It is, however, the twelfth
leading cause of death by disease, killing 26,000 people each year. It can
also lead to liver cancer.
Chronic alcoholism is one of the big causes of cirrhosis. About 50% of those
who drink too much get cirrhosis. Dr. Dean advises drinking no more than two
alcoholic beverages a day for a man, one for a woman.
Though alcoholism gets the most press, hepatitis is responsible for more
cirrhosis. According to Dr. Seeff, hepatitis B is the most common cause of
cirrhosis worldwide, but hepatitis C is the leading cause in the U.S.
That's because both these forms of the disease can become chronic ailments,
which may wear down the liver even 25, 30, or 40 years after they are
contracted.
Both hepatitis B and C can be acquired by the exchange of body fluids or
blood from mother to infant or with an infected person during unprotected
sex, or sharing needles or snorting cocaine, even, according to Dr. Seeff,
"if you only did it once."
Hepatitis can also be transmitted through improperly sterilized
body-piercing and tattooing needles. The American Liver Foundation estimates
that there may be as many as 4 million affected with Hepatitis C in the U.S.
"The trouble is the vast majority of people affected with Hep B and C, but
particularly Hep C have no symptoms at all," says Dr. Seeff. "So that many
don't know they have the disease."
There are a number of other less common diseases: autoimmune hepatitis;
several inherited diseases including Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, Wilson's
disease, and others. According to Dr. Riely, "Women have a greater variety of
liver diseases, but men have more liver problems because a greater number of
them have hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease."
An annual blood test may tell you how healthy your liver is. Elevated ALT or
AST scores are an indication something is wrong. Your doctor may then test
for specific diseases.
One of the most startling diseases now in our country is nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis (NASH), which is related to the rise in obesity. As fat
builds up in the liver it creates scar tissue. According to Dr. Seeff, "The
number one cause of death in overweight people is liver disease."
To manage weight, get plenty of exercise and watch your diet. According to
Dr. Dean, the body is constantly regenerating itself. "Every seven years of
so you have a new body. If you give it the right building blocks you can
overcome incredible odds."
TEN GOOD THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR LIVER.
1. Drink no more than one alcoholic beverage a day for a woman, two for a
man.
2. Avoid over medicating yourself.
3. Don't mix acetaminophen with alcohol. Don't exceed the maximum daily
dosage.
4. Don't inject or inhale drugs.
5. Use condoms if you have multiple sex partners.
6. Insist that tattoo or piercing needles be sterilized.
7. Don't share toothbrushes or razors with others.
8. Avoid fatty foods.
9. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.
10. Get regular exercise.
HERBS, BOTANICALS, AND FOODS
Milk thistle: The extract contains silymarin, a free radical fighter that
optimizes liver function, and helps the liver counteract toxins and
pollutants. It can interfere with some HIV medication. Ask you doctor.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid: a powerful antioxidant that supports liver function. It
recycles antioxidants like vitamin C and E. It can interfere with some
diabetes medication. Ask your doctor.
Bitter herbs: Things like artichokes, dandelion greens, beat tops, chard,
spinach, and arugula have an astringent quality that keeps bodily fluids
moving through the liver and gall bladder.
Beverages: Green tea, ginger tea, chicory, warm lemonade, and dandelion root
tea all have liver supporting properties.
HEPATITIS
There are 5 types of hepatitis: Hep A, B, C, D, and E. According to NIH
hepatitis researcher Leonard Seeff MD, only A, B, and D are serious health
risks in the U.S.
HEPATITIS A: The virus is transmitted by eating foods containing
contaminated fecal material. Its symptoms are flu-like but can include
jaundice. There is no chronic or long term infection, but 15% of people
infected will have re-occurring symptoms over 6-9 months. Hepatitis A
vaccine or immune globulin can prevent the disease.
HEPATITIS B: The disease is transmitted with the exchange of body fluids or
blood from an infected person--unprotected sex, sharing needles, or from
mother to infant. The symptoms are jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss
of appetite, nausea, and joint pain. 30% of patients have no symptoms. The
chronic infection rate is 90% at birth but decreases to 6% after age 5 years.
Between 15-25% of chronic infections will die of the disease. Hepatitis B
vaccine is the best protection. Avoid unprotected sex outside a monogamous
relationship and illicit IV drug use. Adefovir dipivoxil, alpha interferon,
and lamivudine are three drugs used to treat this disease.
Hepatitis C: Is transmitted by the exchange of body fluids or blood from an
infected person--unprotected sex, sharing needles, or mother to infant. The
symptoms include jaundice, fatigue, dark urine, abdominal pain, loss of
appetite, nausea. 80% of persons have no signs of symptoms. Chronic infection
occurs in 75% to 80% of infected persons and 1%-5% of infected persons may
die from chronic liver disease. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C.
Interferon and ribavirin are used to threat this disease.
THE COMEBACK KID: Though the liver is susceptible to toxins and disease it is
nevertheless remarkably resilient. In living donor transplants where
physicians take half the liver of the donor, it takes only three to six weeks
for the donor's liver to completely regenerate.
LIVER FAST, ANYONE? Carolyn Dean MD, ND cautions against liver fasts since
starvation can release a flood of toxins stored up in fat cells and because
it also deprives the body of protein which the liver needs to regenerate.
HELPFUL WEB SITES: The American Liver Foundation's web site,
www.liverfoundation.org, has basic information about the liver. The National
Center for Infectious Diseases, www.cdc.gov, has descriptions of liver
diseases. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases, www.niddk.nih.gov, lists conventional treatment options for liver
disease. The American Botanical Council, www.herbalgram.org, can tell you
about beneficial herbs. The web site for Environmental Working Group,
www.ewg.org, lists fruits, vegetables, and other food products that contain
pesticides or dangerous chemicals like mercury.
MILK THISTLE (sidebar)
The gold standard of liver protective herbs, according to Carolyn Dean MD,
ND, is milk thistle. She advises patients to take 200 to 300 mg capsules,
2 to 3 times a day. "It is very, very safe."
German scientists were the first to isolate a mixture of chemicals from the
milk thistle fruit, which they named sylymarin. It is sold in Germany as a
supportive treatment for chronic liver disease. (It can, however, interfere
with some HIV medication.)
That's not to say that if you overindulge regularly that taking milk
thistle will prevent liver damage. But once you've stopped drinking, it may
help you recover from the abuse. Milk thistle may also help reduce liver
enzyme scores for hepatitis patients, though it won't irradiate the virus.
Still, according to Dr. Seeff, hepatitis patients with lower enzyme scores
have less a chance of advancing to cirrhosis.
-- The End --