Vitamin E has been shown to improve liver function for those with fatty liver disease. This is a serious issue that impacts approximately 5% of Americans and can actually be fatal in some cases.

One of the most common liver diseases related to obesity is called fatty liver disease.  Unfortunately, doctors currently believe that this issue has no form of treatment.  However, researchers from the Virginia Commonwealth University have discovered that Vitamin E can help patients with fatty liver disease.  Researchers were surprised at these findings, as typically vitamin supplements are only thought by medical professionals to treat problems caused by nutritional deficiencies.

When people have fatty liver disease, fat can build up in the liver and cause inflammation as well as scarring.  Eventually this can cause a liver to fail in some extreme cases.  Fatty liver disease is common in middle-aged people who are overweight.  Up to 5% of Americans are reported to have this issue.

In this new study, 247 people with advanced fatty liver disease were assigned to one of three groups.  One group took vitamin E in a high dosage, one group took a placebo and one took a diabetes drug called Actos. Biopsies showed that those who took Vitamin E saw a 43% increase in liver function.  While participants who took Actos also saw improvement in their livers, the percentage of increased liver function was not as high as in the group taking Vitamin E.  Also these people who took Actos gained weight during the experiment.

Other treatments for fatty liver disease include losing weight by eating right and exercising.

Aside from treating fatty liver disease, Vitamin E also has a number of other health applications.  As an antioxidant, it can fight cell damage that is caused by free radicals.  It can also protect against prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.  As Vitamin E taken in large doses can be toxic, be sure to follow the recommendation on the label.  Also, consult with your physician prior to supplementing with Vitamin E if you’re taking a blood thinner.

Last but not least, synthetic vitamin E doesn’t work the same as natural Vitamin E.  Therefore, be sure to take the natural form, which is D-alpha tocopherol.

Sources:
news.yahoo.com
whfoods.com

Researchers say a man's weight affects his risk for liver disease if he's a heavy drinker.

Most of us know that when you drink in excess, it not only does a number on your liver, but it does a number on your waistline.

Hey, they don’t call them “beer bellies” for nothing.

But many people drink alcohol when they’re already overweight.  These people, obviously, aren’t immune to weight gain; they’re just as prone to pack on the pounds as thin people who drink lots of alcohol are.

But where things get really dicey for people who drink a lot and are overweight is the toll it puts on their liver.  Because according to research published in the British Medical Journal, excessive alcohol consumption harms the liver of people who are obese far more than it harms the liver of people who are in a healthy weight range.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow in Scotland discovered this liver/libation link after looking at the health profiles of approximately 9,600 men in two separate studies, one beginning in 1965, the other in 1970.  All the men were followed into the year 2007.

Overall, about 450 men died, most of the deaths attributed to complications from liver disease.  But when researchers looked into cancer registries and hospital admissions, they found that the likelihood of their being plagued with liver disease depended largely on the amount of alcohol the men drank in a typical week and what their weight was.

For instance, while heavy drinking, healthy weight men were three times more likely to have liver disease than their normal weight, non-drinking counterparts, that’s nothing compared to heavy drinking obese men.  For them, their risk of liver disease was 19 times higher compared to thin-as-a-rail lushes (i.e. the researchers defined “heavy drinking” as drinking 15 alcoholic beverages in a week).

Researchers aren’t sure why, exactly, alcoholic obese men are so much more at risk for liver disease than thin alcoholic men, but they have some theories.

One of them is that because excess weight puts a heavy toll (pardon the pun) on the liver, the toll is compounded when alcohol is brought into the equation.  The liver has to clear the body of toxins, and when the liver is weighed down by excess fat accumulation, it’s working in overdrive.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers conclude, “New perspectives on the risk of liver disease may need to be considered for people who are overweight and consume alcohol.”

The general consensus in the health world is that people should drink no more than two alcoholic beverages per day.  But as the researchers indicate, that may be too much for people who are overweight.

Stay tuned for what, if any, new recommendations result from health officials following this truly eye opening study.

Sources:
newsmaxhealth.com

Overuse of acetaminophen-based medicines like Tylenol can lead to liver problems.

For a pounding headache, millions upon millions of Americans turn to pills like Excedrin, the pill that bills itself as “the headache medicine.”  And for millions of Americans, pills like these do the trick—24 billion doses of acetaminophen medicines sold last year alone is a testament to that fact.

And even though pills like these will continue to be sold by the billions for years on end for headache relief, our livers will suffer as a consequence if bought and consumed as prevalently as they are now.

Did you know that the most common cause of liver failure is the overuse of acetaminophen-based medicines like Tylenol?  That’s right.  It’s not due to excessive alcohol consumption, malnutrition, or diseases like Hepatitis B.  Nope.  Liver failure’s most frequently caused by people popping too many Tylenol.

So it was a long time coming when an FDA panel recommended this week that pharmaceutical companies lower the recommended dosages of acetaminophen found on bottles of Tylenol and the like.  This panel is different from the FDA, so the FDA isn’t recommending lowering the dosage.  Just why the FDA isn’t recommending lowering the dosage is anyone’s guess.

Something else that’s anyone’s guess is whether pharmaceutical companies will take the panel’s advisement into action.  You’d think they would, especially considering that thousands are hospitalized every year because of overuse of over-the-counter medicines like these and that hundreds of people have been given liver transplants due to acetaminophen overuse.

Despite these worrisome warning signs, they appear loath to make any adjustments, as the maker of Tylenol issued a statement recently saying, in part, that “…the safety and efficacy of acetaminophen has been established in over 150 clinical studies” and that it’s the “pain medicine that doctors recommend most.”

That’s all well and good, but what they don’t seem to realize is that acetaminophen is a lot like high fructose corn syrup – it’s everywhere!  So when people are taking one medication that contains acetaminophen for a cold, and then start taking Tylenol for a headache, all that acetaminophen has to go somewhere.  And where does it go?  The liver, where the overconsumption of it can’t be metabolized properly, ultimately leading to the failure of one of our most vital organs.

Some may consider this bad news.  “What will we do for our headaches?” some might wonder.  Well, naturally, there are “natural” solutions to headaches.   And while the alternatives aren’t as plentiful or as prevalent as acetaminophen is in over-the-counter medicines, there’s more than one to choose from.

Some of the most common natural herbs and spices include skullcap, which is really great for stress-related headaches.  Another is curcumin, the herb found in the curry spice turmeric.  The properties of curcumin help to shield the brain’s pain receptors.  One other is capsaicin.  Capsaicin is neither an herb nor a spice, but rather a compound that gives chili peppers their spice.  Capsaicin is good for other pain problems, too, like the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Acetaminophen has been used entirely too much for entirely too long.  Sadly, it took liver failure to bring it to everyone’s attention.  Perhaps now people will do what they should have been doing a long time ago and turn to natural treatments for headache relief.

Sources:
voices.washingtonpost.com
examiner.com
basilandspice.com
altnature.com

We all know that fast food is bad for our body.  When eaten in excess, fast foods weigh down our bodies, clog our arteries, spike our blood pressures and increase our chances of getting diseases like Type II diabetes. 

Yet despite these troublesome truths, fast food joints remain profit goliaths, posting significant gains in their share prices so far this fiscal year—largely on the backs of their double stacked hamburgers and French fries. It may be too much to expect, but perhaps the latest discovery of fast food’s toll on the human body will prove to be the industry’s swan song.

We don’t think too often of our livers—that boomerang-shaped organ that flanks our right side.  We should, though, because the liver is one of the most important organs in our bodies.  Its responsibilities are manifold, charged with tasks like producing bile, storing glycogen, detoxifying the body of harmful substances and assisting in the metabolizing of food and drink.  The liver is a one of a kind organ.  If it’s unable to function properly, severe disease is often the result.

With this in mind, the results of a Swedish study that looked into the effects of fast food on the liver is a real eye opener.

The testing process wasn’t too different from the test Morgan Spurlock administered on himself in Super Size Me, where he ate McDonald’s fast food every day for a month.  In the Swedish study, 18 thin male and female participants ate two fast food meals every day for four weeks.  Again, much like Spurlock, their daily caloric intake doubled the recommended 2700 calorie a day diet health conscious Americans adhere to.

After four weeks, fat and liver damage were observed in all 18 participants.  Their average weight gain was 16 pounds, but one man gained nearly 30 pounds—yes, in just one month!  Besides the participants’ increased blood pressure readings and belt sizes, the additional poundage put a significant strain on their livers, something doctors haven’t examined with any great detail until now.  According to the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Fredrik H. Nostrom, blood tests showed a greater chance of acquiring a variety of liver and cardiovascular diseases, just 30 days into their fast food regimens.  The study is published in the journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Gut.

Though the liver is perhaps the most resilient of the body’s many organs—eating a healthy, well-balanced diet is enough to put the liver back on the “straight and narrow”— you can only imagine the kind of rigmarole the liver goes through for those who eat fast food on a regular basis (i.e. more than once a week).

In the same way that we as people can only do so many things at once, the liver can only do so much at once also.  Asking the liver to metabolize gobs and gobs of fat over an extended period of time puts a tremendous strain on an organ that has other things to do besides metabolizing fat.  Those that persist in these types of eating habits often get heart attacks and/or some type of cardiovascular disease.

No one wants hardworking Americans to lose their jobs at McDonald’s or Burger King.  However my advice is to completely abstain from fast food altogether as it offers no nutritional value. Let’s just hope that these companies will tweak their marketing strategies, ones where more healthful options are promoted on billboards and television commercials.  Our lives—and our livers—depend on it.