Deglycyrrhizinated licorice, also known as de-glycyrrhizinated licorice, or commonly referred to by the acronym DGL, is an herbal supplement typically used in the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers

Peptic ulcer

A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...

. It is made from licorice from which the glycyrrhizin

Glycyrrhizin

Glycyrrhizin is the main sweet-tasting compound from liquorice root. It is 30–50 times as sweet as sucrose . Pure glycyrrhizin is odorless....

 has been removed.

Deglycyrrhizinated liquorice plus antacid is marketed in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, as a the medicinal preparation Caved-S. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, DGL is marketed as an herbal supplement.

Research

Glycyrrhizin is known to cause negative side effects

Side Effects

Side Effects is an anthology of 17 comical short stories written by Woody Allen between 1975 and 1980, all but one of which were previously published in, variously, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Kenyon Review. It includes Allen's 1978 O...

, such as hypertension

Hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...

 and edema

Edema

Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...

; removing the glycyrrhizin is meant to avoid these symptoms.

According to MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus is a free Web site that provides consumer health information for patients, families, and Health care providers. The site brings together information from the United States National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health , other U.S. government agencies, and...

 and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, licorice is "possibly effective" for dyspepsia

Dyspepsia

Dyspepsia , also known as upset stomach or indigestion, refers to a condition of impaired digestion. It is a medical condition characterized by chronic or recurrent pain in the upper abdomen, upper abdominal fullness and feeling full earlier than expected when eating...

 in combination with other herbs, but there is "insufficient evidence" to rate its effectiveness for other conditions. Regarding stomach ulcers, specifically, there is "some evidence...that specially prepared licorice will speed the healing of stomach ulcers".

An un-blinded study of 82 patients from the early 1980s, published in the British Medical Journal

British Medical Journal

BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...

, reported that Caved-S had a therapeutic effect is similar to that of cimetidine

Cimetidine

Cimetidine INN is a histamine H2-receptor antagonist that inhibits the production of acid in the stomach. It is largely used in the treatment of heartburn and peptic ulcers. It is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline under the trade name Tagamet...

 in the treatment of gastric ulcers.