Overview:

Milk thistle is a hardy annual plant native to southern Europe and the Middle East but is now found world wide. It prefers warm, dry soil and is often found growing in locations inhospitable to other plants.  These hardy plants grow from 4-10 feet in height.  The leaves are wide with white blotches and are at the top of a single branched stem.  The red-purple flowers appear from May through September.  The flower of the milk thistle produces a small, brown hard skinned fruit from July to October.

The history of Milk Thistle’s use in traditional healing dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans.  They used it to treat a variety of ailments with milk thistle, particularly  those connected with liver.  In fact, Pliny, a first century naturalist, said that it was “excellent for carrying away bile”. 

Active Ingredients:

Milk thistle main constituents are:

• Silymarin a flavonoligand that is responsible for the liver healing and detoxifying properties of milk thistle.
• Flavonoids
• Volatile oils

Traditional uses:

Milk thistle has been used in traditional medicine treat liver and gallbladder disease.  Many of these traditional uses for milk thistle are being confirmed by research.  Some of its many uses are:

• To treat alcoholism and related disorders
• An effective antidote for  Amanita or death-cap mushroom poisoning
• As an anti inflammatory
• To stimulate the appetite
• Antioxidant
• Gastrointestinal upsets
• Hormone imbalances
• Bile defiency
• Fatty congestion of the digestive system
• Virally induced organ damage

Clinical uses:

Milk thistle is well known for its proven ability to counteract the effects of death-cap mushroom poisoning.  All across Europe, poison control centers keep milk thistle extract on hand.  It reduces the death rate from death-cap mushroom poisoning from 30-50% to 10% and significantly reduces the risk of liver damage.

Studies are confirming milk thistle’s ability to reverse the toxic effects on the liver from alcohol abuse, industrial toxins (especially carbon tetrachloride), and drugs like acetaminophen (this drug can cause liver damage when taken in large amounts).  In five out of 7 studies involving milk thistle and liver disease caused by alcohol abuse, there was marked improvement in liver function.  Those with the mildest forms improved the most wile those suffering from end stage liver disease, cirrhosis showed the least.

Its anti-inflammatory properties are showing promise in the treatment of viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis C, while in vitro (test conducted in a test tube) have shown the active ingredient in milk thistle to inhibit the growth of human prostate, breast, and cervical cancer cells.  Further studies are needed to see if theses anti-tumor and anti hepatitis activities happen inside the human body.

Recommended Dosage:

As the active ingredient in milk thistle is hard to absorb, standardized extracts in capsule form is considered the optimum way to take this herb.  Treatment for liver damage is long term. Improvement should be seen in 8 to 12 weeks.

Pediatric

Pediatric dosages are calculated by a child’s body weight.  Since adult dosages are calculated using a body weight of 150 lbs to calculate a pediatric dose simply take the child’s weight and divide by 150 lbs.  For example, if a child weights 50 lbs and the adult dose for a supplement is 150mg:

50lbs/150lbs=.33 or 1/3 of adult dose so take the 150mg adult dose and divide by 3 to obtain the child’s dose of 50mg.

Adult

• 12 to 15 grams of dried herb per day
• 100 to 200mg of silymarin-phosphatidycholine complex twice a day
• For the treatment of liver damage 120mg of the silymarin complex should be taken 3 times/day.

Contra-indications:

Side effects from taking milk thistle are rare but may include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  It can also cause headaches joint pain, impotence allergic skin reactions and in extremely rare cases anaphylaxis. Although milk thistle in considered safe, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should consult a health care provider before using milk thistle.

Drug interactions

If you are using any of the following drugs, consult your health care practitioner before taking milk thistle.

1. Antipsychotic such as butyrophenes (haldol) and phenothiazines.
2. Phenytoin
3. Halothane used during general anesthesia

 Milk thistle may enhance the effectiveness of aspirin.

 Preliminary research has shown that silybin may enhance the tumor fighting effects of cisplatin and doxorubicin when tested against breast and ovarian cancer cells.

Web References

1. Holistic Online
2. Flora Health
3. UMM.edu

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