In the world of alternative medicine, milk thistle is the treatment of choice for liver disease, particularly chronic infection with hepatitis C.
Extracts of the plant, a member of the daisy family, have been used for ages to treat liver problems. About a third of people battling hepatitis C infection say they have tried milk thistle capsules, extracts or powders, a figure that helps explain the roughly $100 million in annual sales of the products.
