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From: sdyer@bbnccv.UUCP (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Laetrile, a B vitamin?
Message-ID: <328@bbnccv.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 10-Feb-85 12:27:24 EST
Article-I.D.: bbnccv.328
Posted: Sun Feb 10 12:27:24 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 12-Feb-85 05:37:51 EST
References: <532@tesla.UUCP> <690@wucs.UUCP> <6104@rochester.UUCP> <8013@brl-tgr.ARPA> <575@mako.UUCP>
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 43

> Laetrile is one of the less common B vitamins. (I forget which one)
> Hard to imagine a B vitamin hurting anyone.  (if you get more than
> you need, your body dumps the extra)
> 
> Nutritional type therapys are much better, since they work *with*
> your body, instead of *against* it, as drugs tend to do.

These kind of statements reflect a level of ignorance about human
physiology and nutrition which CAN be truly dangerous when attempting
to treat medical conditions.

Laetrile isn't a vitamin by any standard (unless calling something a
vitamin makes it one.)  There is no deficiency syndrome in man or animals;
it is not found in a normal diet, nor is it made by the organism.  There
are no metabolic pathways in which Laetrile functions in an essential role.
This is a vitamin?  On the other hand, in the few FDA-sanctioned studies
of the drug, it was found that patients displayed significant cyanide
toxicity, the active ingredient of Laetrile, amygdalin, derived from peach
pits, being a cyanide-containing polysaccharide.  YOU can get your MDR or
RDA of this stuff, thank you very much, but don't slip it into MY Total.

Another point which is not well understood is that the words "drug" and
"vitamin" are semantic classifications given to chemical compounts.
If a chemical fits the standard in my previous paragraph, it can be called
a vitamin when delivered in doses which match the body's physiological
needs.  But megadoses of vitamins often have effects on the body quite
unrelated to their primary roles in nutrition.  These are properly called
"drug effects."  Not all B vitamins are harmless when given in quantity.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) in large doses (500mg/day or more) causes a nerve
inflammation, polyneuritis, which is often indistinguishable from multiple
sclerosis!  Niacin (in its nicotinic acid form) causes skin flushing in
moderate doses, and lowers blood cholesterol when given in VERY large
doses.  But the doses lowering cholesterol also may cause liver problems,
skin reactions and severe indigestion.  Here, we're talking about drugs
and their side-effects, NOT vitamins.

The comment about vitamins working WITH instead of AGAINST the body is
a politico-religious "feel-good" statement, and doesn't bear up to
scientific scrutiny.
-- 
/Steve Dyer
{decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbnccv.ARPA