Objective: To demonstrate the potential to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with colon hydrotherapy (CHT) plus Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Methods: A total of 20 patients were enrolled into the study and received CHT with TCM for 2 weeks. Body mass index (BMI) and levels of serum triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) were compared between pre-treatment and post-treatment.
Results: Two-week treatment with CHT plus TCM significantly lowered BMI and reduced blood lipids. BMI decreased from 29.5 4.3 to 25.4 1.0, while mean TG levels decreased by 0.70 mmol/L on average from baseline and mean TC levels decreased by 0.37 mmol/L. Forty-five percent of patients exhibited TC decreasing by more than 10% from baseline and 25% of patients exhibited TC decreasing by more than 20%. Sixty percent of patients exhibited TG decreasing by more than 20% and 20% of patients exhibited TG decreasing by more than 40%. However, high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels did not change significantly after intervention. No serious adverse events were reported.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that CHT plus TCM to treat NAFLD is promising and it might be a new treatment strategy for management of NAFLD.
Keywords: Cholesterol; Hydrotherapy; Medicine, Chinese traditional; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Pilot project; Triglyceride.