Hepatic - Hepatitis C

by Hobbs, Christopher

Medical Herbalism 07-31-95 9(2/3): 22

I read your discussion about natural treatments for hepatitis C with interest. I have seen excellent results in at least four cases over the last few years. The most dramatic was a 35 year-old woman, high stress type, past i.v. drug user, but clean for a number of years. She was medically diagnosed about two years ago with hepatitis C and she had many symptoms associated with the virus — bouts of fatigue, depression, loss of appetite, and headaches. The doctors recommended the usual medical treatment, biopsy and interferon therapy.

I worked with her for a short time and recommended milk thistle extract (10% silymarin), plus Cynara (artichoke), Curcuma (turmeric), taraxacum (dandelion), which she took in powdered extract form for over a year. She also worked with a Chinese acupuncturist in Oakland, who recommended a strict diet with no liver stimulants or irritants: no spices, caffeine-containing beverages, false-heat producing foods such as sugar, etc. When I saw her eighteen months ago she was still quite sick. About three months ago, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with her. She had started law school about nine months before, and looked absolutely fantastic! Since then I have seen her a few other times, and she tells me she is completely recovered, as far as she can tell. At this point, I often wonder what use it is to have any further medical diagnostic work done. Some might say it’s a question of not wanting to know the worst, but I can’t help but feel that with the kind of spirit this lady has, a medical test has no power to create or maintain health.

Editor’s note:

Conventional medicine considers hepatitis C to be largely incurable, although many cases of infection are asymptomatic. Statistics show that about half of cases will remit with interferon therapy. It’s hard to get long term data, however, because the virus was only identified within the last five years. The latest indications are that no more than 10% of cases remain in remission even after interferon therapy. It is possible that this chronic infection can only be managed, not totally cured; that is; the virus remains and remission is possible. If this can be accomplished with herbs, acupuncture, and diet, that is much less painful or expensive than the allopathic option.
 

Copyright 2001 Paul Bergner    178