Silybum and Death - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Death is reported as a side effect among people who take Silybum (milk thistle), especially for people who are male, 60+ old, also take Vitamin B12, and have Primary pulmonary hypertension.

The study is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 769 people who have side effects when taking Silybum from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Silybum?

Silybum has active ingredients of milk thistle. eHealthMe is studying from 779 Silybum users. Check the latest studies of Silybum.

On Jul, 18, 2026

769 people reported to have side effects when taking Silybum.
Among them, 15 people (1.95%) died.

Among these 15 people:

What is the gender of people who died when taking Silybum? *

female: 46.15 %
male: 53.85 %

What is the age of people who died when taking Silybum? *

What are other drugs people take besides Silybum? *

What are other side effects people have before they died? *

Nausea (feeling of having an urge to vomit): 5 people, 33.33%
Diarrhea: 4 people, 26.67%
Nausea And Vomiting: 4 people, 26.67%
Weight Increased: 2 people, 13.33%
Musculoskeletal Stiffness (stiffness of the body's muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves): 2 people, 13.33%
Cystitis Interstitial (unknown cause characterized by bladder pain): 2 people, 13.33%
Drug Ineffective: 2 people, 13.33%
Joint Swelling: 2 people, 13.33%
Muscle Aches (muscle pain): 2 people, 13.33%
Herpes Zoster: 2 people, 13.33%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (primary high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of your heart): 3 people, 20.00%
Nausea And Vomiting: 2 people, 13.33%
Lung Adenocarcinoma (a form of non-small cell lung cancer): 2 people, 13.33%
Diarrhea: 2 people, 13.33%
Thrombocytopenia (decrease of platelets in blood): 1 person, 6.67%
Psoriasis (immune-mediated disease that affects the skin): 1 person, 6.67%
Narcolepsy (brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally): 1 person, 6.67%
Multiple Myeloma (cancer of the plasma cells): 1 person, 6.67%
Malignant Neoplasm Of Renal Pelvis (cancer tumour of ureter): 1 person, 6.67%
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (chronic lung disease): 1 person, 6.67%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Silybum:

Silybum (779 reports)

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of milk thistle:

Death and drugs with ingredients of milk thistle (140 reports)

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Silybum:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Death:

Death (3,125 drugs)

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Death:

Death (3,686 conditions)

How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on milk thistle (the active ingredients of Silybum) and Silybum (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.