I've been doing a lot of research into the reasons as to why many of us on Tecfidera are having a lot of symptoms such as flushing, nausea, GI upset, and I found some connections between liver enzymes and probiotics that may help us:
1. According to the Tecfidera package insert:
"An increased incidence of elevations of hepatic transaminases in patients treated with TECFIDERA was seen primarily during the first six months of treatment, and most patients with elevations had levels < 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). Elevations of alanineaminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase to ≥ 3 times the ULN occurred in a small number of patients treated with bothTECFIDERA and placebo and were balanced between groups."
2. Drinking alcohol also increases the level of the above liver enzymes (AST/ALT) and elevated levels of the aminoteransferase enzymes DOES cause flushing as seen in many alcoholics.
3. I found at least 2 abstracts on the US National Library of Medicine's NIH website that describe two studies (one in alcoholics and one in non-alcoholics) that concluded that probiotics may help improve elevated levels of liver enzymes and restore bowel flora:
Alcohol. 2008 Dec;42(8):675-82. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2008.08.006.
Probiotics restore bowel flora and improve liver enzymes in human alcohol-induced liver injury: a pilot study.Kirpich IA, Solovieva NV, Leikhter SN, Shidakova NA, Lebedeva OV, Sidorov PI, Bazhukova TA, Soloviev AG, Barve SS, McClain CJ, Cave M.
Source:
Department of Biochemistry, Northern State Medical University, 161020, Arkhangelsk, Russia.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2011 Sep;15(9):1090-5.
Effect of a probiotic on liver aminotransferases in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients: a double blind randomized clinical trial.
Aller R, De Luis DA, Izaola O, Conde R, Gonzalez Sagrado M, Primo D, De La Fuente B, Gonzalez J.
Source:
Center of Investigation of Endocrinology and Clinical Nutrition, Medicine School and Unit of Investigation, Hospital Rio Hortega, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.
I don't know about you, but I find this information very significant, especially when I realized that the people who seem to be doing better on Tecfidera started taking probiotics after couple of bouts of diarrhea and their other symptoms such as flushing and GI upset improved too.
God Bless
1. According to the Tecfidera package insert:
"An increased incidence of elevations of hepatic transaminases in patients treated with TECFIDERA was seen primarily during the first six months of treatment, and most patients with elevations had levels < 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). Elevations of alanineaminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase to ≥ 3 times the ULN occurred in a small number of patients treated with bothTECFIDERA and placebo and were balanced between groups."
2. Drinking alcohol also increases the level of the above liver enzymes (AST/ALT) and elevated levels of the aminoteransferase enzymes DOES cause flushing as seen in many alcoholics.
3. I found at least 2 abstracts on the US National Library of Medicine's NIH website that describe two studies (one in alcoholics and one in non-alcoholics) that concluded that probiotics may help improve elevated levels of liver enzymes and restore bowel flora:
Alcohol. 2008 Dec;42(8):675-82. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2008.08.006.
Probiotics restore bowel flora and improve liver enzymes in human alcohol-induced liver injury: a pilot study.Kirpich IA, Solovieva NV, Leikhter SN, Shidakova NA, Lebedeva OV, Sidorov PI, Bazhukova TA, Soloviev AG, Barve SS, McClain CJ, Cave M.
Source:
Department of Biochemistry, Northern State Medical University, 161020, Arkhangelsk, Russia.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2011 Sep;15(9):1090-5.
Effect of a probiotic on liver aminotransferases in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients: a double blind randomized clinical trial.
Aller R, De Luis DA, Izaola O, Conde R, Gonzalez Sagrado M, Primo D, De La Fuente B, Gonzalez J.
Source:
Center of Investigation of Endocrinology and Clinical Nutrition, Medicine School and Unit of Investigation, Hospital Rio Hortega, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.
I don't know about you, but I find this information very significant, especially when I realized that the people who seem to be doing better on Tecfidera started taking probiotics after couple of bouts of diarrhea and their other symptoms such as flushing and GI upset improved too.
God Bless
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