BENEFIT OF MEDICINAL LIVER THERAPY IN GEN ERAL-PRACTICE

Patients with toxic liver damage require close monitoring and an effec tive treatment in order to prevent or reduce the otherwise inevitable and fatal progression of the disease. If the therapeutic objective is not achieved with the aid of general non-medical measures alone, then a medical treatment with liver therapeutics is advisable and will cont inue - in accordance with the so-called ''Arzneimittelrichtlinien'' - to be reimbursable, Besides efficacy, the safety and acceptance by pat ients should always be to the fore when selecting a medication. The re sults of treatment with silymarin, 2-3x 140 mg daily over 12 weeks in 975 patients with (mostly sonographically verified) toxic liver damage were documented in a multi-centre post marketing surveillance study, Alcohol abuse was recognised as the cause of the disease in almost two thirds of the patients. Despite this being a problematic group of pat ients, the compliance was regarded as pleasantly good, with 88% adheri ng precisely or to a large extent to the recommended dose. The tolerab ility was rated as very good to good by both doctors and patients in o ver 90% of cases, adverse drug reactions occured in only 1.6% of the p atients. Silymarin is recommended as a supportive therapy in early or progressive liver damage due to its good tolerability and efficacy.