Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common liver disease in the world. It is common in people with obesity, hyperlipidemia, and inflammation.
Currently, there is no cure for it. Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease might experience fatigue, pain in the upper right abdomen and weight loss. If not treated, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease might progress from steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis or even end-stage liver disease.
Now, there is hope this group patients!!!
A combination of vitamin E and alpha lipoic acid (ALA) were found to improve the inflammatory and steatosis scores in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. The results of the study were presented in the American College of Gastroenterology 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course.
The study randomized 155 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis to either the antioxidant combination therapy (700IU vitamin E and 300mgALA) or placebo for 6 months.
After 6 months of treatment, the combination therapy resulted in
– 70% improvement in tumor necrosis factors-alpha levels
– 43% improvement in triglyceride levels
– 71% improvement of steatosis scores
– 51% improvement retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4)
– 63% improvement of homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores
A friend of mine who also has non-alcoholic liver disease and has many therapies (including metformin and fibrate) told me that he felt much better after taking the antioxidant combination. He did not feel the abdominal pain anymore and felt more energetic everyday.
The beauties of this drug regimen are that it is available as an over-the-counter drug, is very inexpensive and should not have any adverse effects.
Source:AmericanCollegeof Gastroenterology (ACG) 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course: Abstract 38. Presented November 3, 2011.
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