Dr Ajay Kumar Patwa, associate professor of gastroenterology at KGMU, said, “We found that giloy was the main cause of liver issues in 67.4 per cent (29) patients as there was no other factor like excessive alcohol consumption, diabetes, thyroid, hypertension or any other etiological reason. The remaining patients consumed alcohol regularly and had comorbidities, hence they were not included among those in whom giloy was the main cause.”
“Most of these patients had consumed the herbal drug without prescription or taken unprescribed doses for an average 46 days. This generated common antinuclear antibodies which started attacking liver cells and induced acute hepatitis with autoimmune hepatitis-like features,” said Prof Patwa.
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