I got this in my mail today. Because we have been talking about this I thought that I'd post it....... I HOPE that it's OK to do so..... For me, I've been searching for anything to help, and sifting through posts links etc. for information. Much of the information that one recieves on Alternatives is anecdotal, which is to say, people just reporting their own experiences. When I post this..... it IS NOT to support the article...... but to simply make it available to you....we all must make our own decisions about our treatment. I will also say...... another thing about researching HEP is that one learns to read between the lines. The article seems to suggest that any benefits one gets from alternatives may be the "placebo effect". And of course they may be right. When I got my blood work done in May.... and the DR saw my scores were 25% reduced...... he didn't ask or comment on my reduced scores on my ALT or AST. He just mentioned that they were still high and that therefore the disease was still probably doing my liver damage. (We all look at things from different perspectives)
I also saw that they ARE doing a comparison between the two treatments for HEP (Roche vrs Scherring-Plough)....... and that it would be
2-3 years before the results were made public. I will note that genotypes 2's and 3's are traditionally treated in less than half a year. Good thing that it wasn't a ten year study......
I'm sure that there are some people out there that are eagerly awaiting the results.
Ahhh YES! here's the article:
From Hepatitisneighborhood
Docs Find Chinese Herbs Hold Little Value for Hep C
by John C. Martin
Article Date: 07-14-04
A small study has found that a Chinese herbal therapy used widely in Asia and also used by some people in the U.S. as a treatment for hepatitis C has no therapeutic value.1
One piece of evidence on which the study investigators based their conclusions is that after 3 months on the treatment, none of 45 patients had decreased their levels of the virus.
Embarking on Unexplored Paths
The study was launched to try to put some science behind the safety and efficacy of these herb combinations, said study investigator Jeffrey Albrecht, M.D., an associate professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, in a telephone interview. There haven't been many blinded, randomized clinical trials on this topic, particularly in the U.S. and other Western countries, since most of the studies to date have originated in Asia, he said.
And of those, Albrecht said the methods used were of such low quality, the findings can't be reliable.
Another factor is patients' use of herbs as therapy for HCV without the benefit of sage advice. "Obviously, in the United States, there has been an explosion in interest in non-traditional medications like herbal medicines," said Albrecht. As their popularity soars, patients are often able to obtain these herbal remedies without oversight from their doctor, and do so because they value this sort of "autonomy", he explained. "[But], not every patient is trained to assess the data in regard to their efficacy or safety."
Testing Herbal Effectiveness
Patients in the double-blind clinical trial "were randomized to receive a combination of Chinese herbal medications or a matched placebo for 12 weeks," wrote the study team led by Mrudula Jakkula, M.D., in the University of Minnesota's department of Medicine. In all, 10 Chinese herbs were tested.
The researchers' were aiming to evaluate changes in health-related quality of life using specific questionnaires, and liver enzyme levels; specifically, alanine aminotransferase (ALT). This enzyme is used as a marker of liver disease; the higher the level, the more likely the patient is infected.2 The test is not perfect,3 but it is widely used.
The research team also monitored HCV viral levels, and the incidence of any potential side effects. After 12 weeks, the investigators found that the herbal medications "had no effect" on the patients' quality of life, on liver enzyme levels, nor on hepatitis C viral load.
No side effects were observed, as well.
Finding the 'Right' Combination
But Albrecht acknowledged that the herbs may have not have worked because he and his colleagues used the wrong dosage or combination of herbs."The question is whether using a different dose or a different combination of these herbs might work in other patients," he told Priority Healthcare. "Really, we can't say."
Despite the negative findings, Albrecht says the long tradition of herbal use in China and Japan is reason enough to test them further.
He said the herbs used in the current study were likely safe, but other herbal treatments have been associated with liver problems.
"It's an exceedingly complicated area because the composition of a particular herb depends on where it's harvested, the time of year, and all sorts of variables, ," Albrecht pointed out. "And obviously there are thousands of different herbal remedies out there."
Increasing Popularity of CAM
Herbs fall under the category of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). According to a new nationwide federal survey, 36 percent of Americans have used some form of CAM in the past.4
But while some scientific evidence exists about the effectiveness of CAM therapies, there are still important questions that remain to be answered, such as whether they are safe, how they work, and whether they work for the diseases for which people use them.5
People turn to alternative medicine, experts say, because conventional therapy—pegylated interferons and the anti-viral drug, ribavirin—isn't effective in all cases. In people infected with HCV genotype 1, for example, the response rate to conventional combination therapy is only about 40%-50%.6
Other patients are not willing to take drugs for treatment because of the side effects or the length of therapy. In other cases, patients turn to alternative therapies to help support their body's fight against the damage that is caused by HCV.5
Herbs and other alternative treatment approaches often used in HCV include milk thistle, licorice root, ginseng, thymus extract, shisandra, and colloidal silver.7
Albrecht hopes future clinical trials on herbals can include collaborative efforts between U.S. and Asian scientists.
'You Can't Argue With Success'
In the meantime, what's the advice for patients? "Obviously, you can't argue with success," Albrecht said. If a patient taking a safe herbal remedy winds up feeling better, then that is likely one reason to continue taking it, he said, adding that a possible placebo effect could also be to blame.
In addition, there is sufficient evidence showing that milk thistle extract is safe to use, Albrecht said. "Whether it's effective is still an open question. So I'm not sure that patients need to stop if they're not having any harm from them. On the other hand, it's quite possible that it's a waste of money for the patients."
"I don't know that I would make any strong statement either way, except to say, 'buyer beware,'" he said.
1. Jakkula M, Boucher TA, Beyendorff U et al. A randomized trial of Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of symptomatic hepatitis C. Arch Intern Med 2004 Jun 28;164(12):1341-6.
2. Ribeiro RM, Layden-Almer J, Powers KA et al. Dynamics of alanine aminotransferase during hepatitis C virus treatment. Hepatology 2003 Aug;38(2):509-17.
3. Prati D, Taioli E, Zanella A et al. Updated definitions of healthy ranges for serum alanine aminotransferase levels. Ann Intern Med 2002 Jul 2;137(1):1-10.
4. Barnes P, Powell-Griner E et al. CDC Advance Data Report #343. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. 2004 May 27.
5. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). National Institutes of Health (NIH).
6. National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
7. Hepatitis C and Complementary and Alternative medicine: 2003 Update. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). National Institutes of Health (NIH).
John Martin is a long-time health journalist and an editor for Priority Healthcare. His credits include coverage of health news for the website of Fox Television's The Health Network, and articles for the New York Post and other consumer and trade publications.
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