Functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel:

A cohort study conducted in outpatients with a clinical diagnosis of functional dyspepsia showed that a commercially available product containing artichoke significantly reduced the symptom severity associated with dyspepsia, along with a modest decrease in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels after 60 days (Sannia 2010). Similar results were found in a double-blind, randomised, controlled clinical trial (247 patients) in patients with functional dyspepsia. Patients were given a commercial artichoke leaf preparation (two capsules of 320 mg plant extract, three times a day) or a placebo. After 6 weeks, there was a greater improvement of the dyspeptic symptoms compared to placebo with a substantial impact on the disease-specific quality of life (Holtmann et al. 2003). Another open, dose-ranging study using artichoke leaf extract (320 or 640 mg daily for 2 months) in over 500 patients also showed a clear improvement of symptoms (gastro-intestinal symptoms and improved quality of life) during the treatment (Marakis et al. 2002).