In hepatitis, neonatal jaundice, cirrhosis, and liver cancer the liver is unable to filter certain poisons and waste products from the blood. The build-up of these toxins in the blood pose a major health risk. Activated charcoal, taken internally or applied externally, is well known to adsorb these poisons and to support the liver in its work of detoxifying the blood. 

Hepatitis

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, and inflammation of the liver may be caused from:
•    Infections from parasites, bacteria, or viruses (including hepatitis A, B, C,…)
•    Liver damage from alcohol, drugs, or poisonous mushrooms
•    An overdose of acetaminophen, and certain seizure medication, high blood pressure and heart medication, and antibiotics
•    Immune cells in the body attacking the liver and causing autoimmune hepatitis
•    Inherited factors – cystic fibrosis

Whatever the cause, the liver, the one organ responsible for filtering and removing most toxins from the body, is temporarily or chronically incapable of fully doing its job.

Common symptoms associated with hepatitis include:
•    Dark urine and pale or clay-colored stools
•    Loss of appetite
•    Fatigue
•    Abdominal pain or distention
•    General itching
•    Jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes)
•    Nausea and vomiting
•    Low grade fever
•    Weight loss
•    Depending on the cause, hepatitis may become chronic, leading to liver failure (cirrhosis) or liver cancer.

Since the liver is so involved in filtering the blood of toxins and impurities, and since charcoal has such a reputation for removing unwanted pollutants from such a wide variety of products, it makes perfect sense that charcoal would be a natural choice of remedies to supplement the work of the liver. In fact, a liver dialysis unit uses activated charcoal to purify the blood when there is severe liver failure, just as a kidney dialysis machine uses a bed of granular activated charcoal to detoxify the blood when the kidneys are sick.

Liver Cancer

“The memory of one treatment, given to a gentleman with liver cancer, is still vivid. His abdomen was quite distended from his condition, making it difficult for him to breathe. I had not been assigned to work with him, but stepped in for one of the other students. I followed the doctor’s orders, and made a charcoal poultice for the patient to wear over the kidney area on his back during the night. The next morning when I removed the poultice, I was completely incredulous at what I discovered. There was a distinct yellowish stain in the white areas of the poultice, and even more amazing, the poultice reeked with that unmistakable odor of urine! It was clear to me that the charcoal poultice, in some mysterious way, had managed to help eliminate body wastes. When I later learned that kidney and liver dialysis equipment use a bed of charcoal through which the blood is filtered, I better understood why the doctor had prescribed the poultice.” CharcoalRemedies.com page 21

Hepatitis

“Another of our earlier and rewarding experiences with charcoal, had to do with hepatitis. Pastor Caban suffered with chronic hepatitis and had been released from his ministerial duties. He had been in and out, and back and forth to the hospital several times. However, his condition was not improved. He had heard that we had been instrumental in helping different people suffering with various ills. Their health had responded favorably to some small changes in their lifestyle along with some simple treatments. But the minister was not convinced. He had, like most of us, heard of some bizarre treatments and fly-by-night clinics. But when some relatives reminded him that he had not improved with conventional therapies, he decided he had little to lose by coming and staying with us.

“It is strange to see a dark skinned person with a yellow tinge. Pastor Caban’s jaundiced condition was most obvious in his glazed yellow eyes. This yellow pigmentation is a sure sign that the liver is not doing its job of filtering out certain waste products in the blood. It so happens that direct sunlight is able to break down these bile pigments that accumulate in the skin. So, besides having him follow a simple vegetarian diet, we scheduled Pastor Caban to take a sunbath twice a day. He found both these remedies to his liking.

“There is an age-old maxim that bears repeating, “The life is in the blood”. It would follow then, that perfect health would depend upon perfect circulation. This is the most fundamental physiological principle to be considered when striving for optimum health. With this in mind, we began applying moist hot packs (Chapter 17) over his liver. This would naturally promote circulation and stimulate his autoimmune system. These fomentation treatments, as they are called, can also be very relaxing to the patient. Pastor Caban did not seem to mind these at all. Having dispelled some of his apprehensions, he was more receptive to our next suggestion.

“Knowing charcoal has a strong affinity for bile products, we now asked him to begin taking activated charcoal daily. He was to use it both internally and as a poultice over his liver at night. The charcoal would help to relieve some of the workload on the liver. Waste products within the bowels would attach to the charcoal and toxins in the blood would be drawn through the skin into the poultice.

“Whether it was the sunbaths, the diet, the fomentations, or the charcoal, I cannot say, but I can vouch, as can Pastor Caban, that within three weeks not only did his color return to normal, so did his liver functions. The latter was confirmed by blood work done at the hospital.” CharcoalRemedies.com page 25

Neonatal Jaundice

“It’s one thing to believe, and to practice some remedy on oneself. It is something else again to care for a child. When Nathan, our firstborn, came along, he was somewhat jaundiced. The yellow-orangish appearance of his skin and eyes was due to the build up of bilirubin, a bile pigment that was not being properly metabolized. For various reasons, the liver sometimes does not kick into gear at birth, as it should have with Nathan. Out he went into the sun for a daily sunbath. Charcoal has also been credited with lowering bilirubin levels. But, since babies are only designed to swallow at birth and not chew, we mixed some activated charcoal powder in a bottle of water and let the particles settle out. We then poured this slurry water off into a baby bottle and popped that into his mouth. After a couple of days, and several ounces of slurry water later, he was a healthy ruddy pink.” CharcoalRemedies.com page 27

Liver Functions

Here are lab tests to demonstrate that what can happen when charcoal is taken internally may also be effected when applied externally.

In a letter to his doctor, Peter writes, “Following my liver biopsy test last January, you wrote me to advise that the biopsy was essentially normal, and that there was no further treatment needed at this time. While I appreciate such good news, I also took the advise of a close friend who suggested an old fashioned remedy that would expedite my liver returning to it’s normal function and enzyme level. Since last February, I have been drinking a large glass of water every day that contains a large tablespoon of activated charcoal. For the first month or so I also slept at night twice a week, with a charcoal poultice taped over my liver. Last week I had my doctor in Mt. Vernon, draw some blood and run the liver tests again for me. The results were, I thought, truly amazing.

• Alkaline Phosphatase – 99 down from 218
• GGTP – 89 down from 302
• SGPT – 31 down from 229

“During this same period all the symptoms of my hiatal hernia have disappeared, my cholesterol level has dropped from 293 to 270, and my triglycerides level from 299 to 260. I hope this update report is of interest and possibly assistance to you in treating similar patients.”

One can only hope that Peter’s doctor made good use of this clinical proof of charcoal’s detoxifying and restorative powers. But whether he did or not, these benefits are ready to accrue to your health too just as soon as you put charcoal to work. CharcoalRemedies.com page 157

Liver Cancer

As reported in The Lancet (Sept. 19, 1981), research has shown that oxygen adheres to charcoal in hemoperfusion for temporary artificial liver support.

Donald J. Hillebrand, MD, is associate professor of medicine, chief of hepatology, and medical director of liver transplantation at Loma Linda University Hospital. He reported, before the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, that patients with episodic type C hepatic encephalopathy (EHE) may be able to benefit from dialysis using a charcoal-based liver dialysis unit (LDU). In a prospective study of eighteen patients with EHE, sixteen showed significant improvement in mental status within two days. In their study abstract, Dr. Hillebrand and colleagues write, “Charcoal-based hemodiabsorption utilizing LDU treatments are able to safely, rapidly and effectively resolve EHE failing to respond to twenty-four hours of appropriate medical management in patients with advanced cirrhosis.” This can represent a significant benefit to patients who otherwise can face a 10% to 30% risk of death. Other indications the Loma Linda team is considering for treatment with the LDU, include chronic liver failure, hepato-renal syndrome, liver failure after surgical interventions such as cholecystectomy, and liver transplant recipients who receive a marginal graft organ. CharcoalRemedies.com page 155

Coincidentally, no one knows exactly why, charcoal taken by mouth has also been found to relieve pruritis (localized or systemic itching) that is often associated with uremia and long-term dialysis treatments.

David is an RN and is keenly aware of the challenges of primitive settings. As the medical coordinator for a non-governmental organization working worldwide, David provides an information sheet on natural remedies for each overseas worker. Most of these travelers are completely unprepared for the challenges of their proposed new homes. Most have been brought up in communities within easy access to emergency and medical facilities. And too, they are largely uninformed about the rational treatment of disease without the use of toxic drugs. David has a varied background. He has worked as a registered nurse in modern American hospitals, as well as establishing health services where no health care existed in a district of fifty villages in remote Papua New Guinea (PNG).

“While in PNG my project partner John got hepatitis A. He used rest and simple diet to fully recover. It took him about six weeks. I had heard about using charcoal, so when I got the same hepatitis two weeks after John got it, I drank activated charcoal slurry (I don’t remember how much).  I recovered in two weeks. I also used charcoal at our clinic for simple diarrhea. I would commonly give half a teaspoon of charcoal in water, and then send some home with them to take three times a day. It seemed to be helpful.” CharcoalRemedies.com page 67

To find out more how charcoal can be supportive in the treatment of hepatitis, neonatal jaundice, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and other common ailments, simply and naturally, right in your home, order the book CharcoalRemedies.com now.