Medicines or substances that are believed to act beneficially on the liver, or historically, a group of plants thought to cure liver diseases.
From hepatic- (relating to the liver, from Greek hepatikos). This term dates back to ancient and medieval medicine when practitioners believed certain herbs and substances had specific healing powers for liver ailments, following the doctrine of signatures.
Medieval herbalists thought that liverwort and other plants with liver-shaped leaves could cure liver problems because of their appearance—a charming example of magical thinking in medicine, though some of these traditional remedies actually did contain helpful compounds!
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