Alcoholic Liver Disease

Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:

Milk Thistle [1, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: weakly in favor (Early reports support claims that Milk Thistle helps treat alcoholic liver disease. However, more research is needed, as current studies have yielded mixed results)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Licorice (Glcyrhiz Gaba) [1, 10, 11, 12, 13]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present. Licorice has been shown to have potentially harmful side effects in people with high blood pressure, liver or kidney diseases)

Recommendation: No recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that licorice helps treat alcoholic liver disease. More research is needed)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Gotu Kola (Centella Asiatica, Hydrocotyle Asiatica) [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that Gotu Kola helps in the treatment of alcoholic liver disease in any way. More research is needed.)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Celandine (Ukrain, Chelidonium Majus) [1, 2, 3]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: weakly against (There is insufficient evidence that Celandine helps to cure or treat alcoholic liver disease. In addition, the plant is mildly poisonous to humans. It may cause hepatitis as well as symptoms of pain, nausea, thirst, and fever.)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Neural Therapy:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recomendation (insufficient evidence to show that neural therapy helps treat Alchoholic Liver disease)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Vitamin B complex [19]:

Recommendation: Weakly in favor (Early studies show that vitamin B complex may be able to help prevent liver disease. More studies are needed)

Grade of Evidence: Low level of evidence

* www.gradeworkinggroup.org

Summary References

Treatments:

1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009

2. http://abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Chel

3. http://www.naturalstandard.com/index-abstract.asp?create-abstract=/monographs/herbssupplements/greatercelandine.asp

4. Winston, D., Maimes, S., Adaptogens: Herbs For Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief, 2007, pp. 226-7

5. "A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study on the Effects of Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) on Acoustic Startle Response in Healthy Subjects". Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 20(6):680-684, December 2000. Bradwejn, Jacques MD, FRCPC *; Zhou, Yueping MD, PhD ++; Koszycki, Diana PhD *; Shlik, Jakov MD, PhD

6.  B. M. Hausen (1993) "Centella asiatica (Indian pennywort), an effective therapeutic but a weak sensitizer." Contact Dermatitis 29 (4), 175–179 doi:10.1111/j.1600-0536.1993.tb03532.x

7. Cataldo, A., Gasbarro, V., et al., "Effectiveness of the Combination of Alpha Tocopherol, Rutin, Melilotus, and Centella asiatica in The Treatment of Patients With Chronic Venous Insufficiency", Minerva Cardioangiology, 2001, Apr; 49(2):159-63

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotu_kola#Medicinal_effects

9. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/gotu-kola

10. Winston, David; Steven Maimes (2007). Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief. Healing Arts Press.

11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15190039

12. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/licoriceroot/

13. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-licorice.html

14. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/milk-thistle

15. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/milkthistle/ataglance.htm

16. Kroll DJ, Shaw HS, Oberlies NH.(2007). Milk thistle nomenclature: why it matters in cancer research and pharmacokinetic studies. Integrative Cancer Therapies. 6: 110-119.

17. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16279916

18. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14506392

19. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7001889