Richard John Torrens Medical experience
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Angina bullosa hemorrhagica, Vitamin B6 and liver function

For something like 18 years prior to 2011, I had been suffering from ABH - Angina bullosa hemorrhagica or oral blood blisters. Quite by accident my wife learnt they these can be controlled (in myself al least) by a vitamin B complex tablets. Eventually I pin-pointed the cure specifically to vitamin B6. The story is told elsewhere of how I found out about vitamin B6 metabolism.

My doctor and my dentist were both aware of the problem, but could add nothing further to my own knowledge. Now I am interested in wild food so I am well aware of the potential health benefits of many herbs. I therefore visited a medical herbalist. She said the thought my liver was not working as well as it should.

Now vitamin B6 is metabolised in the liver. So I visited the doctor who arranged for blood samples to be tested for liver function. All readings were well within the normal ranges, indicating no problem.

The herbalist had prescribed a course of milk thistle, silybum marianum - a well established liver tonic. It is very effective for treating amanita phalloides poisoning (try a Google Scholar search for silybum amanita) as well as other liver problems.

Soon after the blood was taken I started a course of milk thistle, and stopped taking vitamin B pills. I took milk thistle for 15 days, then stopped taking it. I write this some 15 days after ceasing milk thistle and during the whole 30 days have had no blood blisters. Unless they recur later, it seems that Angina bullosa hemorrhagica is (in my case at least) caused by a liver B6 metabolism problem which does not show up in standard liver function tests, and which is cured by a course of silybum marianum.

There is a good ezine on liver and detoxification from Nature's field, which specialises in Herbal education.

Note amended Thursday the 6th of December, 2012

The 'cure' by milk thistle was perhaps not permanent. Since doing this I did not get any major recurrence of ABH but do occasionally detect one possibly starting. I then take a Vitamin B tablet and no more problem. However since the time I had ABH I have lost a useful amount of weight (about 9Kg - I now weigh 64kG, and am 176cm high) and my general health has improved significantly. Health is all diet related!

I find that something like one B vitamin tablet every 10 days is sufficient.

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