Laetril este o substanta ilegala in USA, ca si cannabisul sau marijuana.
De ce?
Pentru ca:
No matter what you call it: vitamin B-17, amygdalin, laetrile, laetrile has been shown to be one of the most effective (and, to be honest, most controversial) cancer treatments available.
Amygdalin is a natural substance found in raw nuts like almonds (amygdalin is the Greek word for almond) and the seeds and kernels of many fruits, particularly apricots. It’s also present in lima beans, clover, sorghum, and other natural foods. The concentrated, purified form developed for use in the laboratory and in treatments is called laetrile.
Laetrile Therapy combines amygdalin with other factors to create a potent treatment that fights cancer cells while helping to strengthen the body’s immune system.
Although found in various nuts, fruits, and other plants, amygdalin is not a food or “superfood.” (You’ll find an extensive list of foods that contain laetrile below.) And it’s definitely not a drug.
Dr. Eugene Krebs Jr., the man who first identified amygdalin, called it a food component or factor. And, although it is not technically a vitamin, food components that are natural, non-toxic, water-soluble, and compatible with human metabolisms — like amygdalin — are called vitamins. That’s why he named his discovery Vitamin B-17.
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Vale maintained apricot seeds helped him defeat cancer three times, including Askin’s Tumor, a rare form of Ewing’s Sarcoma; renal cell carcinoma; and a tumor in his kidney.
However, he ran afoul of the FDA because he was selling a concentrated form of the vitamin found in apricot seeds, known as laetrile, to other cancer patients via the Internet.
In 1998, the agency stated that it considered laetrile to be a “new drug,” and as such, was not approved for sale or importation.
Following undercover investigations by the FDA, Vale was alleged to have continued to sell and promote laetrile in violation of the consent decree. He was prosecuted for criminal contempt.
The U.S. government maintained that because Vale made therapeutic claims about his laetrile products, the apricot seeds are drugs and therefore require FDA approval before they can be sold or distributed within the United States.
Eliezer Ben-Joseph, one of the most prominent naturopaths in the U.S., said of laetrile, “It’s not a cure; there is no cure for cancer — but there are things that we can do that augment how metabolism works. These are chemicals that the body would use to detoxify or get rid of cancer.
“To make a law that says that the public cannot eat an apricot pit because they think it might keep people from going to regular cancer therapy, I think is a ludicrous jump in jurisdiction,” he said.
How laetrile fights cancer
Laetrile is believed to fight cancer by targeting and killing cancer cells and building the immune system to help fend off future outbreaks of cancer. It actually uses two different methods to accomplish these goals.The first method revolves around enzymes. Vitamin B-17 is made up of glucose plus two potentially toxic substances — benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. (Note: In the early days of laetrile research it was assumed that cyanide was the major cancer cell-killing molecule, but now many researchers believe benzaldehyde is the primary reason the cancer cell is killed.)
Healthy cells contain the enzyme rhodanese (in his book World Without Cancer, G. Edward Griffin calls this the protecting enzyme). Rhodanese protects the cells by neutralizing the benzaldehyde and cyanide in B-17, converting them to useful compounds, including thiocyanate, which is known as a natural regulator of blood pressure and also is involved with the production of Vitamin B-12.
However, cancer cells do not have rhodanese. Instead, they have an enzyme called beta-glucosidase (Griffin calls this the unlocking enzyme). Beta-glucosidase unlocks the benzaldehyde and cyanide from the glucose to create a targeted poison that kills the cancer cell.
G. Edward Griffin explains this process in more detail in World Without Cancer.
There’s another method your body fights cancer that is related to laetrile through the power of a healthy immune system.
Normally, people produce about 100 billion white blood cells a day. The total white blood cell count normally ranges between 4,000 and 11,000 cells per microliter. These white blood cells attack and destroy anything that is harmful to your body. But cancer cells are covered by a thin protein coating that carries a negative electrostatic charge. This charge repels the negatively charged white blood cells.
Luckily, the pancreas releases an enzyme that, in sufficient quantities, can eat away this protective coating, allowing the white blood cells to attack cancer.
Because the laetrile might chemically react with the enzyme of a non-cancerous cell (i.e. rhodanese) before it reacts with the enzyme of a cancerous cell (beta-glucosidase) – thus making it ineffective against the cancer cell – you have to take enough laetrile, over a long enough time, to ensure that laetrile molecules hit all of the cancer cells first.
One of the positive side effects of laetrile therapy is that more Vitamin B-12 is made in the body. In addition, it’s smart to supplement laetrile therapy with Vitamin C. Vitamin C and Vitamin B-12 can be, by themselves, a treatment for cancer.
During an interview with Dr. Antonio Jimenez, chief medical officer and founder of Hope4Cancer Institute in Baja California, and Cancun, Mexico, he stated that laetrile has several positive effects, including direct anticancer activity (from the cyanide and benzaldehyde described above), analgesic properties, and well-being enhancement. He describes Laetrile Therapy as a safe, productive part of an integrative cancer treatment program.
Which foods contain laetrile?
Laetrile is a common substance. It’s found in more than 1,200 foods, but primarily in the following:- apricot kernels
- peach kernels
- bitter almonds
- grape seeds
- apple seeds
- raspberries
- blackberries
- blueberries
- strawberries
- cranberries
- plums
- spinach
- lima beans
- barley
- bamboo shoots
- macadamia nuts
Of course, apricot kernels are the best source of laetrile. In the middle of an apricot (or a peach) is a hard shell. If you break open that shell with a nutcracker, pliers or hammer, you will find a small seed or kernel in the middle that looks like an almond. However, it is much softer than an almond and certainly does not taste like an almond. It is this seed that is rich in natural laetrile.
Those who do not yet have cancer might want to plant a few apricot or peach trees in their backyard for a long-term source of laetrile. The kernels can be frozen while still in the shell.
The seeds of berry plants, such as red raspberries, black raspberries, strawberries, and cranberries, are rich in laetrile. Even better, red raspberries have a second cancer killer in their seeds: ellagic acid. About four dozen foods have ellagic acid, but red raspberries have the highest concentration.
When you buy berry jelly, make sure you buy preserves that have the seeds. Basically, the seeds of any fruit, except citrus fruits, have laetrile. For example, when you eat an apple, it’s a good habit to eat the seeds as well.
How to obtain laetrile or Vitamin B-17
While there are sources for laetrile pills, they are essentially illegal to sell across state lines. The FDA has made obtaining laetrile supplements almost impossible. However, it is legal to purchase apricot kernels, which contain laetrile.The source that Dr. Tony Jimenez recommends is Apricot Power. Be advised, however, that apricot kernel sites cannot legally make any medical claims about laetrile being used to treat cancer.
While laetrile is illegal in the U.S., there are several clinics in Mexico – below is a map of the clinics that offer laetrile – that provide high levels of laetrile in a liquid I.V. form. (In these clinics, the doctors also deal with the issues of damage to non-cancerous cells and rebuilding the immune system.)
In its June 27, 1977, edition, Newsweek reported that as many as 70,000 Americans had traveled across the border for treatment in the early 1970’s, and the flow has continued through the years. Laetrile also is legal in Germany and parts of Asia.
Overall, amygdalin in pill form is less concentrated and harder to absorb, while I.V. laetrile is more soluble and can be administered in higher concentrations. Also, I.V. laetrile appears to be free from toxicity, while there is a slight chance of problems if the patient consumes too many apricot kernels. The signs of cyanide toxicity include nausea, vomiting, a cherry-red color on the skin, headache, fever, and lethargy.
Also, if you obtain laetrile pills, it is important to take them with water before a meal. In addition, it is important to take enzymes like chymotrypsin and trypsin during the laetrile therapy. However, note that these are blood thinners and should be taken within the vendor's recommended maximum dosage (as stated on the bottle). These enzymes allow the laetrile molecules to work at peak efficiency.
What’s the correct dosage?
Based on his years of experience with laetrile (he first encountered Vitamin B-17 in 1988), Dr. Antonio Jimenez says clinical dosages vary, depending on the method. Laetrile can be administered intravenously, orally through pills, or with intramuscular injections, normally in the buttocks.Intravenously, Dr. Jimenez’s clinics give 3-9 grams a day, usually administered 6-7 days a week, depending on the individual case. The laetrile is diluted in a saline solution and dripped into the patient during a 30-minute time frame.
“If
you are you are eating bitter apricot kernels for the first time, start
with one, then wait a few hours before consuming more. Everyone is
different and it may take some time for your body to adjust to the
desired level of B17.”
The ideal oral pill dosage is a 500mg tablet or capsule a
half hour before each meal and another 500mg before bedtime, for a
daily total of 2,000 mg. More or less than that will not be as
effective.Dr. Antonio Jimenez
Hope4Cancer
Laetrile also can be given through intramuscular injections, but Dr. Jimenez notes that it is painful, especially day after day, and there is a danger of noncompliance.
For many of today’s therapeutic uses, the primary laetrile source is apricot seeds. For active cancer patients, Dr. Jimenez recommends anywhere between 20 and 40 kernels a day. The variance depends on the patient’s history, where the cancer is located, how advanced it is, and other factors.
As a preventive measure for everybody or for patients in remission, he recommends 14-16 kernels a day.
Although all of the methods of receiving laetrile have their value, intravenously is considered the best, most-preferred method, followed by pills and then by ingesting apricot kernels.
Also, for better results, Dr. Jimenez combines the laetrile in his clinics with Vitamin C and a number of minerals, particularly zinc and selenium.
Laetrile: Controversy and Advocacy
Laetrile has been center stage among alternative cancer treatments and non-traditional medicine for decades. Government agencies have alternately described it as harmless, with nothing to offer patients beyond a positive placebo effect, and as dangerous, because of the cyanide that is part of its core components. Advocates, on the other hand, point to a history of successful treatments, the lack of any proven toxic episodes, freedom of choice issues, and other factors as reasons why it should be legal and available.Let’s take a look at some of the events in laetrile’s history that have led us to where we are today.
Laetrile and the FDA
Laetrile’s role as a food component and its observed ability to fight disease puts it under the purview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And the FDA has long had a contentious relationship with laetrile and with the doctors and patients who want to use it. The following are some of the highlights — and lowlights.The FDA prohibited the interstate shipment of amygdalin and laetrile in 1977. However, 27 U.S. states subsequently legalized the use of amygdalin.
According to a 2015 systematic review by the Cochrane Collaboration, the claims that laetrile or amygdalin has beneficial effects for cancer patients aren’t currently supported by sound clinical data. The review added that “there is a considerable risk of serious adverse effects from cyanide poisoning after laetrile or amygdalin, especially after oral ingestion.”
In addition, the U.S. National Institutes of Health evaluated the evidence separately and concluded that clinical trials of amygdalin showed little or no effect against cancer. For example, a 1982 trial by the Mayo Clinic of 175 patients found that tumor size had increased in all but one patient. The authors reported that “the hazards of amygdalin therapy were evidenced in several patients by symptoms of cyanide toxicity or by blood cyanide levels approaching the lethal range.”
However, there were several problems with how the Mayo study was conducted. You can read more about that below.
In the 1970s, court cases in several states challenged the FDA's authority to restrict access to what they claimed was a potentially lifesaving drug. More than 20 states passed laws making the use of Laetrile legal. But, after the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Rutherford, which established that interstate transport of the compound was illegal, usage fell off dramatically.
The FDA continues to seek jail sentences for vendors marketing laetrile for cancer treatment. For example, Jason Vale, a champion arm wrestler and cancer survivor, was sentenced on June 18, 2004, to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release by a U.S. District Court after running afoul of the FDA for selling apricot seeds online as a cancer-fighting tool. The laetrile was working for Vale, yet he still ended up in prison.
While it remains a banned substance in the U.S. for retailers to sell, it’s not illegal to possess or use. Also, it’s legal in Mexico, where quality-controlled laetrile production for medicinal purposes is still supported. Dr. Antonio Jimenez points out that anyone who comes to Mexico can take laetrile back to their home country with a prescription.
Is Laetrile Toxic?
The term “toxic” generally means the substance is poisonous when taken in low doses. Under this definition, laetrile is not toxic.Yet, although laetrile is a safe nutrient to take therapeutically, there are precautions you should take. Remember, too much water at one time can have fatal effects on the human body. One or two cups of coffee is a pleasure, but 10 cups in one day could have serious effects on the nervous system. The same can be said for laetrile — too much is a bad thing.
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Important Note: If symptoms continue or become severe, seek medical help immediately!
Despite the fear that these side effects may bring on, the occurrence is extremely rare if common sense and moderation are followed. In fact, in more than two decades of clinical use, Dr. Antonio Jimenez has never seen a patient with cyanide toxicity. He also points out that in the dosages used by qualified practitioners, laetrile is not toxic.
If you want to read an interesting story about laetrile, read the first chapter of Alive and Well, an online book by Dr. Philip E. Binzel.
Tot articolul poate fi citit aici: https://www.cancertutor.com/laetrile/.
