* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Description
Name
Silybum marianum, L. Gaertner (Compositae), also Carduus marianus L., commonly called milk thistle. In French, it is Chardon Marie; in German, it is Mariendistel.
Source
Milk thistle is in the same family as the daisy and artichoke. It grows wild in Europe and was first brought to the United States by European colonists. It is now grown commercially on both coasts of the United States. Because mature plants are covered with sharp spines, milk thistle was, and to some extent still is, planted as a barrier to keep out intruders. An extract made from milk thistle is referred to as silymarin, but silymarin actually contains three different flavonoid isomers (mirror images) called silybin, silydianin and silychristin. Silychristin is the most active of the three molecules, but most herbal remedies contain a mixture of all three isomers. The highest concentrations of silychristin are found in the seeds and roots.
History
The name is thought to derive from the appearance of the leaves, which have white veins. In the Middle Ages it was believed the veins carried the milk of the Virgin Mary. The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides first recommended milk thistle as a treatment for snake bite, but by the time of Pliny, in the second century A.D., mixtures of plant juice and honey were prescribed for liver and gallbladder disease, and that practice continues to this day. During the Middle Ages, milk thistle was also used in place of ergot, to cause the uterus to contract.
Traditional Claims
Milk thistle is used as a cholagogue and emmenagogue.
Commission E Recommendations
Milk thistle is used to treat dyspeptic complaints, and for supportive treatment in chronic inflammation of the liver and in cirrhosis of the liver.
Proven Effects
In animal studies, silymarin protects liver cell membranes against an assortment of toxins probably by preventing or inhibiting membrane peroxidation. In addition to being an antioxidant, the results of other animal studies suggest that silymarin can prevent stomach ulcers and decrease total cholesterol, while, at the same time, increasing good cholesterol (HDL), protect against DNA damage, increase protein synthesis in liver cells, and decrease the activity of substances that are known to promote tumor growth. Not surprisingly, many patients with liver disease have begun medicating themselves with silymarin extracts.
In the most recent trial, where silymarin was given to alcoholic patients with cirrhosis, no improvement could be documented. Some clinical reports from Mexico and South America suggest that silymarin helps patients with mushroom poisoning to recover more quickly, and the results of other clinical trials suggest that milk thistle extracts do help prevent the liver from damage by external toxins, and speed recovery after infection with several types of hepatitis virus.
Dosage
A range of dosages has been evaluated in clinical trials. In one study of patients with type A and type B hepatitis, 140 mg of silymarin was given three times a day. In a separate study, 60 patients with mushroom poisoning were treated with 20 mg/kilogram/day (In a 150 pound individual that would amount to approximately 400 mg three times a day). The effective dosage is probably somewhere in between.
Commission E recommends 12-15 grams of ripe seeds per day, or 200-400 mg per day in an extract containing at least 70 percent silymarin.
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Directions
Take 1 capsule, 3 times daily, with meals.
Cautions
Concerns
None. This is a very old remedy, and there are no reports of toxicity in the modern medical literature. Not enough patients have been treated in clinical trials to be certain about this plant's clinical effectiveness, but no untoward side effects have ever been observed in any of the trials, even though efforts were made to detect them.
Warnings
None.
Drug Testing
None of the flavonoids present in milk thistle is likely to have an effect on standard urine drug screening tests.
Additional Information
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
