Alpha-lipoic acid is a versatile antioxidant—it helps deactivate an unusually wide array of cell-damaging free radicals in many bodily systems.

Diabetes

Several studies suggest that treatment with ALA may help reduce pain, burning, itching, tingling, and numbness in people who have nerve damage (called peripheral neuropathy) caused by diabetes. Alpha-lipoic acid has been used for years for this purpose in Europe. Other studies have shown that alpha-lipoic acid speeds the removal of glucose (sugar) from the blood of people with diabetes and that this antioxidant may prevent kidney damage associated with diabetes in animals.

Liver Disease

Alpha-lipoic acid may prove useful in the treatment of chronic hepatitis because it relieves stress on the liver and helps rid the body of toxins. There have been several case reports of use of alpha-lipoic acid in combination with silymarin (milk thistle) and selenium (a substance with liver-protecting and antioxidant properties) to help treat hepatitis C (a serious type of hepatitis contracted from blood and bodily fluids that does not have an adequate cure or treatment).

It has also been used in conjunction with silymarin to treat Amanita poisoning. Amanita is a highly poisonous mushroom that causes liver damage.

Brain Function and Stroke

Because alpha-lipoic acid can pass easily into the brain, it has protective effects on brain and nerve tissue and shows promise as a treatment for stroke and other brain disorders involving free radical damage. Animals treated with alpha-lipoic acid, for example, suffered less brain damage and had a four times greater survival rate after a stroke than the animals who did not receive this supplement. While animal studies are encouraging, more research is needed to understand whether this benefit applies to people as well.

References

Androne L, Gavan NA, Veresiu IA, Orasan R. In vivo effect of lipoic acid on lipid peroxidation in patients with diabetic neuropathy. In Vivo . 2000;14(2):327-330. Berkson BM. A conservative triple antioxidant approach to the treatment of hepatitis C. Combination of alpha lipoic acid (thioctic acid), silymarin, and selenium: three case histories. Med Klin . 1999;94 Suppl 3:84-89. Clark WM, Rinker LG, Lessov NS, Lowery SL, Cipolla MJ. Efficacy of antioxidant therapies in transient focal ischemia in mice. Stroke . 2001;32(4):1000-1004. Conlon BJ, Aran JM, Erre JP, et al. Attenuation of aminoglycoside-induced cochlear damage with the metabolic antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid. Hear Res . 1999;128:40-44. Faust A, Burkart V, Ulrich H, et al. Effect of lipoic acid on cyclophosphamide-induced diabetes and insulitis in non-obese diabetic mice. Int J Immunopharmacol . 1994;16:61-66. Head KA. Natural therapies for ocular disorders, part two: cataracts and glaucoma. Altern Med Rev . 2001;6(2):141-166. Hruby K, Csomos G, Fuhrmann M, Thaler H. Chemotherapy of Amanita phalloides poisoning with intravenous silibinin. Hum Exp Toxicol . 1983;2(2):183-195. Lynch MA. Lipoic acid confers protection against oxidative injury in non-neuronal and neuronal tissue. Nutr Neurosci . 2001;4(6):419-438. Melhem MF, Craven PA, Derubertis FR. Effects of dietary supplementation of alpha-lipoic acid on early glomerular injury in diabetes mellitus. J Am Soc Nephrol . 2001;12:124-133. Monograph:Alpha-Lipoic Acid. Altern Med Rev . 1998;3(4):308-311.Nagamatsu M, Nickander KK, Schmelzer JD,et al. Lipoic acid improves nerve blood flow, reduces oxidative stress, and improves distal nerve conduction in experimental diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes Care . 1995;18:1160-1167. Packer L, Kraemer K, Rimbach G. Molecular aspects of lipoic acid in the prevention of diabetes complications. Nutrition . 2001;17(10):888-895.Packer L, Tritschler HJ, Wessel K. Neuroprotection by the metabolic antioxidant alpha-linoic acis. Free