%0 Journal Article
%T Complementary and alternative therapies in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B
%A Chang Jia-Ming
%A Huang Kai-Ling
%J Hepatitis B Annual
%D 2007
%I 
%X Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infects approximately more than 350 million people worldwide, especially in Asia, Africa, southern Europe and Latin America. Except for interferon-¦Á, most anti-HBV drugs are derived from the anti-herpes and anti-HIV drugs. Because of the high cost of hepatitis B medications, herbs-also called ¡äcomplementary and alternative therapies¡ä in modern Western science-are widely used for treatment of chronic hepatitis B in developing countries. Herbals confer their activities not only by inhibiting HBV secretion but also by building up immunity against viruses. After studying the anti-HBV mechanism of herbs, scientists were encouraged to find that novel anti-HBV drugs target viral secretion, whereas nucleoside analogues target viral polymerase. The complementary and alternative anti-HBV therapies published in scientific peer-reviewed journals are reviewed and discussed in this article.
%K Chinese medicinal herbs
%K complementary and alternative medicine
%K hepatitis B
%K herbal medicine
%U http://www.hepatitisbannual.org/article.asp?issn=0972-9747;year=2007;volume=4;issue=1;spage=72;epage=106;aulast=Chang