Effects of treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with a combination of TCM and colon hydrotherapy: Pilot study

Researchers discovered that colon hydrotherapy, combined with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), may be a promising treatment strategy in managing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The results of their study, published in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, demonstrate TCM’s potential to be an alternative treatment for the condition.

• For the study, the research team involved 20 patients with NAFLD from the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine.
• The patients received a combination of colon hydrotherapy and TCM treatments for two weeks. Their body mass indices (BMI), levels of serum triglycerides (TG), and their total cholesterol levels were recorded before and after the treatment for comparison.
• Based on the results, the colon hydrotherapy and TCM treatment greatly lowered patients’ BMI and reduced the level of lipids in the blood.
• From a BMI of 29.5 (with a tolerance of 4.3) before the trial, it decreased to 25.4 ± 1.0 after the therapies, and TG levels dropped from 0.70 millimoles per liter to 0.37 mmol/L.
• Regarding total cholesterol levels, 45 percent of patients decreased their levels by 10 percent from baseline, and 25 percent dropped more than 10 percent from the baseline.
• Sixty percent of patients reported a TG decrease of more than 20 percent, and 20 percent had lost more than 40 percent of their TG.
• Researchers noted that the levels of high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol did not significantly change after the treatment.

While the findings show that the treatments look to be promising in terms of NAFLD treatment, researchers suggest long-term, randomized, and controlled trials to further analyze its effectiveness.

Find the full study at this link.

Journal Reference:

Huanming X, Junmin J, Yubao X, Meijie S, Guangjun T, Pengtao Z, Chaozhen Z, Huijun C, Chanyuan X, Xiaoling C. COLON HYDROTHERAPY PLUS TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE TO TREAT NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE: A PILOT STUDY. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2017;37(3):393–396. DOI: 10.1016/S0254-6272(17)30076-6