Liver

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A photo of a cup of coffee.

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There have been numerous studies about the many benefits of coffee. I even discussed some of them which includes stroke risks and aging. In recent studies in Japan and in some part of Europe, coffee has been identified to reduce the risk of liver cancer to humans. This article will give you an insight regarding the truth about this great news.

 

Coffee has an abundant source of antioxidants which has the potential to help inhibit cancer development particularly in the liver. Hepatocellar carcinoma (HCC), is the primary cancer compound of the liver which results to the third largest cancer deaths in the world behind only to lung and stomach cancer.

Various studies which includes Milan (Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri), Finland (University of Helsinki) and Japan (National Cancer Tokyo) have all similar outcome with regards to the effects of coffee to liver cancer. They concluded that a cup of coffee or two a day can lower your risk of liver cancer.

There study were based on quantitative estimation from thousands of coffee drinkers and its association with hepatocellar carcinoma. The presence of hepatocellar carcinoma have at least 41% reduction for coffee drinkers which are also said to help prevents cirrhosis.

Caffeine, a substance commonly found in coffee, has been shown to activate some liver enzymes which helps block carcinogenic detoxification in the liver. But uncontrolled consumption of coffee may spell disaster for your health as it can cause palpitations, intensifies the side effects of antibiotics, hypertension and many others.

Although these studies suggests the positive effects of coffee to liver carcinomas, they are quick to note that the research should continuously be repeated in other groups to achieve concrete results.

Whether these studies are just speculation of the true nature of coffee or not, it certainly help proves that there is a link between coffee and liver cancer through various drinking behaviors around the world. This includes Americans, Europeans and Japanese (who less patronize coffee). The results seems justified based from how they performed their research. However, the discussion is up for the public’s own point of view.

What is more important is that we already know that drinking coffee a day can give positive health benefits and over-consumption may pose health risks.

For more news and information on health and wellness, please make sure to visit http://www.healthtalkbuzz.com.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com, http://www.rediff.com, http://www.sacrededenblog.com, http://www.cbsnews.com, http://www.msnbc.msn.com.

via Coffee A Day May Reduce Liver Cancer Risk | Health Talk.

Thistle flower

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Milk thistle saves your liver and your life.

(NaturalNews) Over 1,000 new synthetic food agents have been approved for consumption in the United States in 2011, and the human liver is the body’s primary detoxifier, bearing the brunt of filtering these chemical agents out so cancer cells don’t develop and multiply. Milk thistle, also known as Silymarin, prevents the metastatic process, stopping the spread of cancer in its tracks.

A powerful antioxidant that protects against nerve damage and abnormal brain aging, milk thistle also fights off Atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.

Natural remedies represent the most intelligent and least expensive way to prevent and combat ailments and disease, and milk thistle offers these outstanding functions with zero side effects. It has been used for over 2,000 years to prevent and treat liver disease. Silymarin is actually the extract of the seed-like fruit of the milk thistle plant, which comes in capsules, liquids and teas, but since it doesn’t dissolve well in water, the most popular form is the standardized extract.

Currently, there are two ways to address America’s chronic care management system. The first way is to make sure you have enough health insurance coverage to pay for the ultra-expensive treatments offered by doctors prescribing pharmaceuticals and for surgeons, who charge an arm and a leg (no pun intended) for cutting organs out of your body when they fail.

The second way is to wait until you are sick and possibly dying, and then to scramble to find natural remedies for your ailments, hoping it’s not too late to save you from the massive over-indulgence of chemicals you failed to regulate along life’s path.

Fortunately, there is preventive care, which cuts off disease’s fuel and heads it off at the pass. This method requires consumers to read a few informative articles every week and to head to the local health food store to purchase the proper, effective vitamins, supplements, and yes, milk thistle.

The liver performs hundreds of critical metabolic functions, including filtering out drugs and alcohol. Research shows that antibiotics and pain relievers increase the liver’s stress and damage. In fact, Tylenol is the number one cause of acute liver failure in the United States.

Today, hormones and antibiotics pollute drinking water. In addition to the ones we take for sicknesses, millions of Americans, who eat meat, consume and then excrete more of these same chemicals because they are given to chickens, turkeys, cows, and pigs in order to prevent infection from over-breeding, unkempt quarters, and abnormal growth.

Since the FDA and the CDC have already allowed over 80,000 chemicals to be approved for consumption without testing and without labels to warn consumers, it’s a cold hard fact that at some point, everyone will consume toxic food agents that create acid in the body and foster disease. The battle must be fought on both ends – by consuming organic foods that most likely do not contain chemicals, and then by detoxifying the body on a regular basis using herbs and supplements.

Sources for this article include:


http://www.diagnose-me.com/treat/T1…


http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-milk…


http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011…


http://www.nysun.com/national/even-…


http://utopianist.com/2011/05/new-r…


http://livingdiseasefree.com/2011/0…

Milk thistle

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(NaturalNews) The liver is one of the most critical organs essential to human health. It serves more than 300 functions in the body to detoxify against chemical and environmental intrusions, and it promotes metabolic function as well. Silymarin is commonly known as milk thistle, and new science is emerging to validate the healing potential of this powerful plant. Publishing in the journal Hepatitis Monthly, researchers provide solid evidence that natural milk thistle extracts can halt and even reverse the effects of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an affliction affecting as much as a third of the adult population. Supplementation with milk thistle will dramatically lower the risks associated with fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis and cognitive dysfunction.

NAFLD is a significant health concern that is growing at an unprecedented rate due to the obesity and diabetes epidemic currently gripping most western societies. The condition is caused in part by excess accumulation of fats (triglycerides) in the cellular matrix of the liver that results in suboptimal function of the organ. Left unchecked, the disease can result in cell injury and damage, in inflammation and ultimately in cirrhosis as the liver becomes less able to perform the multitude of tasks essential to life.

Researchers found that the plant extract has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and becomes concentrated in hepatic tissue soon after ingestion. They found that silymarin promotes liver tissue regeneration by supporting multiple critical metabolic functions: these include lower oxidized LDL cholesterol levels, regulation of membrane permeability and stability and prevention of the deposition of collagen fibers, which lead to cirrhosis. In addition, milk thistle inhibits the absorption of many toxins, effectively preventing them from entering circulation through the bloodstream.

Silymarin is known to be a powerful cellular antioxidant with specific properties that can prevent excess oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Oxidized LDL cholesterol particles are sticky and become lodged in the delicate endothelial layer of coronary artery vessels where they combine with other blood-borne compounds to form plaque. Natural milk thistle extracts (570 mg per day) have proven effective to lower risk factors that promote arterial hardening.

Milk thistle has been used as a chemopreventive agent in the fight against certain cancer lines, most notably metastatic cancers of the prostate. Silymarin interferes with cancer growth and immortality, and it exhibits anti-inflammatory and anti-metastatic activity (prevents cancer spread). Extracts of milk thistle have also been used as an agent in the war against numerous malignancies including those of the liver, colon and skin.

Our body is continually under assault from a barrage of more than 70,000 chemicals and 900 drugs known to induce liver damage. Milk thistle supplementation provides an effective tool to protect and heal our primary filtration organ, the liver. Silymarin is also proving to be an important tool that can naturally lower cancer risk, while providing critical support for the heart and prostate.

Milk thistle provides a protective shield to the liver, heart and brain.

Age-standardised disability-adjusted life year...

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ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2011)Vitamin D deficiency is a well reported complication in chronic cholestatic liver disease such as primary biliary cirrhosis. While the prevalence and treatment of this deficiency has been addressed in many articles over the last decades, little is known of the vitamin D status in alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

A research article published on February 21, 2011 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The authors described the serum vitamin D status in a retrospective case series of patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis compared to those with primary biliary cirrhosis.

The study showed that vitamin D deficiency is more frequent and severe in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis than in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Furthermore, it indicated that the degree of liver dysfunction, rather than the aetiology of cirrhosis, dictates the risk of vitamin D deficiency.

This study emphasizes the importance of monitoring vitamin D levels in all patients with cirrhosis. However, further studies are needed to find the most favourable form of vitamin D supplementation for these patients.

Vitamin D deficiency in cirrhosis.