Milk Thistle helps PD: research study

[kickingandscreaming]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27040041

Study shows increase in albumin and hemoglobin levels.

Abstract

Hemodial Int. 2016 Apr 4. doi: 10.1111/hdi.12413. [Epub ahead of print]
Effects of silymarin on biochemical and oxidative stress markers in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.
Firuzi O1, Khajehrezaei S2, Ezzatzadegan S3, Nejati M1, Jahanshahi KA2, Roozbeh J3.

Introduction End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients especially those undergoing dialysis are vulnerable to several complications, in particular those related to oxidative stress. Silymarin is an herbal medicine commonly used as an antioxidant in different pathologies. Methods To evaluate the effect of silymarin on biochemical and oxidative stress markers, 50 ESRD patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis were randomly divided into two groups of silymarin (n = 28) and control (n = 22) and received silymarin (140 mg every 8 hours) or placebo for 2 months, respectively. Ferric reducing antioxidant power and total 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α were measured in plasma, while catalase enzyme activity was measured in erythrocytes of both groups before and after treatment. Findings Ferric reducing antioxidant power values after treatment were significantly decreased in silymarin group compared to before treatment values (17.2 ± 2.9 and 15.9 ± 3.1 µM equivalent of quercetin/dL, respectively, P < 0.05). Conversely, catalase levels were increased 17.3% after silymarin consumption, while it was decreased 9.1% in control group. Further, hemoglobin (from 10.94 ± 2.17 to 11.54 ± 2.03 g/dL, P < 0.05) and albumin levels (from 3.48 ± 0.67 to 3.61 ± 0.53 g/dL, P < 0.05) were significantly increased after silymarin administration. Discussion It is concluded that silymarin could be regarded as a supplementary therapy for ESRD patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis in order to reduce complications.

[Whamo]

I use ultra thistle.  It's super potent.  My fibrin numbers for Hep C after 30 years are less than stage one.  My liver doctor was amazed.  I also used liver restore which works really well.  I should be on hep c drug soon.

[kickingandscreaming]

I shared this article with my center's dietition and she was interested enough to send it on to her supervisor.  She said it is very rare that there is actual research on the impact of herbs on ESRD or dialysis patients, especially little on PD.  She is always harping on all of her PD patients to raise their albumin levels.  Apart from mainlining protein foods, it's good to know that this herb--with a very long tradition for both liver and kidneys-- has shown the ability to raise albumin levels.  The hemoglobin rise is gravy.