Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site bbnccv.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!bbnccv!sdyer 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