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Author:
Farah Khan

Hepatitis B and C are becoming increasingly common infectious diseases in the United States. These diseases are spread through the blood and body fluids. People at greatest risk of contracting these diseases are those involved in the medical field, intravenous drug users, those who received blood transfusions before there was screening for these diseases, and people involved in unprotected sex. The jury is still out, but getting tattoos may also be a risk factor.

The drug of choice for the treatment of these strains of chronic hepatitis is interferon. Interferon has many side effects, and it can be quite an ordeal to go through six to eighteen months of treatment with this drug. For certain strains of hepatitis C, the outcomes for interferon are not so good. Relapses are common.

Chinese medicine can be useful for managing the side effects of interferon. Some people also choose to use alternative medicine as their stand-alone treatment. Chinese medicine may be beneficial for improving liver function and returning liver enzymes to normal, but it is not always as beneficial for reducing the amount of virus present in the body.

Many essential oils are antiviral such as eucalyptus, lemon, oregano, and thyme, but since they are processed by the liver they must be utilized in much smaller dosages than usual. Ravensara essential oil has been used as a powerful antiviral agent and may work well for liver infections. Anything that can be used to support the function of the liver may help a great deal with hepatitis.

Milk thistle is a commonly used herb. Capillaris, white peony, and mint are commonly used Chinese herbs that have been shown to be beneficial to the liver. The Chinese herb, isatis, has been used in China as an antiviral agent.

Research in India and the Phillipines has demonstrated that virgin coconut oil in its raw unrefined state has antiviral effects against the AIDS virus. The research demonstrates that a constituent of coconut oil, monolaurin, has strong antiviral properties. These countries are considering the potential uses of coconut oil as an inexpensive and readily available treatment for AIDS in their countries. Bitter melon is a commonly eaten Asian vegetable that also may have antiviral properties.

Colloidal silver may be beneficial when prepared correctly and taken in high enough quantities. Olive leaf extract may also be beneficial. Astragalus, schizandra, and licorice are other Chinese herbs that may improve the functioning of the liver. Bupleurum root is very beneficial for hepatitis and most liver problems, but it is contraindicated for people on interferon treatment because the drug and herb interact negatively together.

Dr. Khan is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and a licensed acupuncturist. She offers a wide variety of Chinese herbal supplements for different health concerns at her web site, http://www.yinessence.com/, including Isatis, Bactraclear, Liver Essence.

You can reach her at farah@yinessence.com.

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A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Hepatitis... The Hepatitis B virus Hepatitis B is what we used to originally known as just simply serum hepatitis. Hep B has been recognized as this new name since World War II. The virus is responsible for current epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa. Recognized as endemic in China and various other parts of Asia, the Hepatitis B virus has infected over one third of the world's current population. Hepatitis B is in the Hepadnavirus family. Meaning that it consists of a proteinaceous core particle that has the viral genome inside of it in the form of double stranded DNA. It also has an outside lipid-based envelope that contains embedded proteins. These envelope proteins on the outside are involved in viral binding and release into susceptible cells. Where as the inner capsid refinds the DNA genome to a cell's nucleus where it transcribes viral mRNAs. Although HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and Hepatitus are not related they are both viruses that use reverse transcription process. This also include HTLV. Hepatitis B's genome is DNA, and reverse transcription is one of the latter steps of the entire process which results in making new viral particles. HIV on the other hand has an RNA genome and reverse transcription is one of the first steps in replication of the virus. Hepatitis B is most commonly transmitted through direct exposure to bodily fluids that contain the virus. This is a wide category but in most cases includes: - Re-using contaminated needles and syringes - Uncleanly Blood transfusions - Unprotected sexual contact - Direct transmission from mother to child during childbirth The dominant mode of transmission depends largely on the prevalence of the disease in a given area. For example if areas such as North America drug abuse and unprotected sex are the primary mode of...