Milk Thistle Shows No Benefit for Hepatitis C

The herbal treatment milk thistle does not help people with hepatitis C infection, a new study finds. The study included 154 people with hepatitis C who had not responded well to standard treatments. They were randomly divided into 3 groups. Two of the groups took milk thistle extract, in 2 different doses. The other group took placebo (fake) pills. After 6 months, 2 people in each group showed signs of improvement. Those taking milk thistle did no better than those taking the placebo. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it July 17.