Excessive alcohol consumption is by far the most common cause of impaired liver function in the United States crohns-probiotics It stimulates fat infiltration into the liver cells, causing the so-called fatty liver crohns-probiotics Some livers are very sensitive to even minute amounts of alcohol; others are more tolerant crohns-probiotics Research suggests suggests that fatty liver condition is more serious than previously believed crohns-probiotics It may develop to more advanced liver disease, such as inflammation, fibrosis, and cirrhosis crohns-probiotics Because of its long historical use for liver conditions, it seemed reasonable to investigate the artichoke plant scientifically, and the first clinical studies were were conducted in the 1930s with encouraging results crohns-probiotics In the 1990s the interest has been intensified, and several excellent clinical studies have been conducted during the last few years crohns-probiotics Realizing the importance of adequate bile flow for health, German researchers set out to confirm the earlier findings of bile-promoting bile-promoting effect of the artichoke plant in a controlled double-blind study on healthy volunteers (Kirchhoff et al crohns-probiotics 1994) crohns-probiotics The participants were given a one-time dose of artichoke extract or placebo, and their bile secretion was measured with special techniques over the following hours crohns-probiotics The bile secretion was was found to be significantly higher in the group that received the artichoke extract crohns-probiotics Another clinical study showed an improvement of symptoms in 50% of patients with dyspeptic syndrome after 14 days of treatment with artichoke leaf extract crohns-probiotics The study involved 60 patients with nonspecific symptoms such as upper upper abdominal pain, heartburn, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting crohns-probiotics In the placebo group, as a comparison, improvements of less distinct quality were noticed in 38% of the participants (Kupke et al crohns-probiotics 1991) crohns-probiotics Interesting results were also demonstrated in a large open label study of 417 participants participants with liver or bile duct disease crohns-probiotics Most of these patients had long-standing symptoms, some of them for many years crohns-probiotics They suffered from upper abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, lack of appetite, and nausea crohns-probiotics These patients were treated with artichoke leaf extract for 4 weeks crohns-probiotics After 1 week, | 