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Botanica medicines have been used traditionally by herbalists and indigenous healers worldwide for the prevention and treatment of liver disease, notes a report in Alternative Medicine Review. Clinical research in this century has confirmed the efficacy of several plants in the treatment of liver disease, while basic scientific research has uncovered the mechanisms by which some plants provide their therapeutic effects. The use of complementary and alternative medicine by U.S. patients with liver disease correlates with the increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine in the general population, according to information provided at a liver disease conference sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases... In many ways, the conference was a landmark in complementary therapeutics for persons with hepatitis. Treatment of chronic liver disease by conventional means has been a difficult issue, but important therapeutic gains have been achieved in recent years, particularly with regard to chronic viral hepatitis, noted Leonard Seeff, MD, of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in his introductory remarks at the conference. Unfortunately, treatment success has been only modest, and adverse effects and discomfort from treatment has been common. Accordingly, many individuals suffering from these conditions have turned to herbal remedies as an alternative or supplement, based on the belief that 'natural' products must be safer and that these products must be useful since many have been available for centuries. Their use is further reinforced by individual testimonies, by widespread internet publicity, and by persontoperson communication.