Looking for some Vitamin B17 info

retired · New User Joined: 12 Aug 2009 Posts: 2

Does anyone know anything about vitamin b17? Went to some vitamin/nutrition stores and couldn't find any. I did some searching so I got a little more familiar with it and tried to contact a few websites. A lot of them just gave a link back to their site and actually tried to call a few but got a lot of voice mail. [LINK DELETED BY ADMIN PER FORUM POSTING POLICIES -- PLEASE REVIEW AT TOP OF FIRST SECTION ON MAIN PAGE] did email me back and actually got a live person on the phone who was very helpful. Has anyone ever ordered anything from them and if so did you get what you ordered?

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brainman

There are a lot of things that have not yet received FDA approval. Not only had the FDA not approved B17, they have in fact issued a warming about its danger. My advice it for you to stay away from it regardless of it source or hype.
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retired · New User Joined: 12 Aug 2009 Posts: 2

guess if the FDA disapproves, they must be right. Glad there is no censorship in this forum. Rolling Eyes

ChemoMan · Last edited by ChemoMan on Sat Aug 29, 2009 3:57 am; edited 1 time in total

Hi Retired

First off B17 is not a vitamin....never has been, never will be.... it was given this title by Ernest T Krebs in an effort to get around legislation by classing it as a supplement and also to hoodwink the general public .Secondly it doesnt work. It has been tested many times since 1830 when it was discovered and it doesnt work. Thirdly if you live in the states and try to sell this you will be prosecuted and face a jail sentence.
_________________
Age 53
Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma
Stage 2a
Finished six cycles of R chop 21 26th May 2008
Officially in remission 9th July 2008
Remission confirmed 1st October 2008
Remission confirmed 17 June 2009
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9620
RULE NUMBER 1.....Don't Panic
RULE NUMBER 2..... NEVER GIVE UP
RULE NUMBER 3..... Don't forget the first 2 rules

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 2854

Retired,

Your initial post did not conform to the posting policies outlined in the top section of our main page. This link policy applies to EVERYONE, so nobody was attempting to censure you specifically.
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hpenhey

I don't know anything about B17 so this is not a comment about that.

But don't trust the FDA as far as you can throw them - they represent the big drug companies, not the ordinary person. Just because they are against something doesn't make it bad. And just because they accept a drug doesn't mean it is OK.
Remember that 120,000 per year are killed in the US by the use of legally prescribed drugs taken properly (JAMA article) whereas there is less than one death per year from supplements as I understand it.
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hpenhey

I just did a google search about the so called vitamin B17 and discovered it was what I know as laertrile. - see on Wikipedia for a good article.

The only person I know who took it died. Didn't have any side effects from it despite huge doses and he tried other dietary things as well. Although he did much better than the doctors expected he didn't survive long term. Got 2 years rather than 2-8 weeks. We can't say what caused the extension though.
_________________
Harriet Penhey
Health Researcher
Carer of sister ill for 20 years cancer of cervix, now well for 2 decades.

ChemoMan

Hi hpenhay

From the wikipeadia article you described:
Amygdalin is sometimes confounded with laevomandelonitrile, also called laetrile for short; however, amygdalin and laetrile are different chemical compounds.[8]

So you really need to read more carefully...no offense meant but you did make an error.

From the same article:
It was promoted as a cancer cure by Ernst T. Krebs under the name "Vitamin B17", but studies have found it to be ineffective.

Also wikipedia is not a definitive source of information. If you have access to good scientific papers you will find more. It has been studied extensively and found wanting. It certainly never showed enough promise to make the grade as a treatment.

B17 doesn't work and it is illegal to supply it in the US.
_________________
Age 53
Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma
Stage 2a
Finished six cycles of R chop 21 26th May 2008
Officially in remission 9th July 2008
Remission confirmed 1st October 2008
Remission confirmed 17 June 2009
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9620
RULE NUMBER 1.....Don't Panic
RULE NUMBER 2..... NEVER GIVE UP
RULE NUMBER 3..... Don't forget the first 2 rules

hpenhey

Yes, you are right, that was sloppy reading.

However it was the almond and apricot kernels this guy was taking - he (and other patients) called it laertrile which is how I came to be confused.

You might not like wikipedia - but I find it a good quick checking point (as long as I'm not too quick!) to find out if I want to look further into the medical journals.

If something is illegal to sell in your country then of course it mustn't be bought or sold. We have to respect our laws.

But I wouldn't be too hard on the supplement industry. Most of the medical treatments aren't proven to medical standards either! I can find the reference to that if I have to. And quite a lot of chemo is given which doesn't meet the standards either. For example the Morgan paper published in Clinical Oncology (and much quoted in other reputable journals) said that chemo doesn't increase life expectancy in prostate cancer and some others and only improves the overall five year life expectancy for cancer patients by 2%. So we have to be careful - people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Given that chemo has such a low efficacy - and even if it had a great efficacy - we need to use everything in our power to help and support those who get cancer, and if that means being open to the psycho-social-spiritual components, diet and supplements then so be it.

Morgan, G., Ward, R., & Barton, M. (2004). The contribution of cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adult malignancies. Clinical Oncology, 16(549-560).
_________________
Harriet Penhey
Health Researcher
Carer of sister ill for 20 years cancer of cervix, now well for 2 decades.

ChemoMan

Hi hpenhay

This is a quote from your post

"Given that chemo has such a low efficacy - and even if it had a great efficacy - we need to use everything in our power to help and support those who get cancer, and if that means being open to the psycho-social-spiritual components, diet and supplements then so be it."

I have Diffuse large B cell lymphoma. before chemo this was an aggressive and fatal disease. It killed within 24 months ( if you were lucky) After the advent of CHOP chemo the chances of living to 5 years went up to over 60% overall for all ages. After the advent of R Chop this went to over 90%.....90% Exclamation

Add to this the fantastic results that Chemo gives to people with Hodgkins Lymphoma ( which is just as good if not better )then your statement that chemo has low efficacy is just disingenious. If I had relied on psycho-social-spiritual components, diet and supplements then I would be dead and so would anyone else with DLBCL, HL, T cell lymphmas or Burkitt's.

With the steady understanding of the human genome I am confident that we will overcome all cancers within 50 years ( providing we don't blow ourselves to smithereens in the meantime). cancer is not a disease as people generally understand it but it is a genetic defect i.e. its all in the genes. This is the one thing all cancers have in common. Your psycho-social-spiritual components, diet and supplements have been around for centuries and have never made a difference. The steady unravelling of the human genome and the scientific method will if given time and resources banish cancer forever and give hope to all humanity. They have made remarkable advances already and your ill informed opinion won't change that.

Do you know what they call Alternative medicines that work Question

MEDICINE

_________________
Age 53
Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma
Stage 2a
Finished six cycles of R chop 21 26th May 2008
Officially in remission 9th July 2008
Remission confirmed 1st October 2008
Remission confirmed 17 June 2009
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9620
RULE NUMBER 1.....Don't Panic
RULE NUMBER 2..... NEVER GIVE UP
RULE NUMBER 3..... Don't forget the first 2 rules

boracay4u · Guest

Hi guys, we are new here, so bound to make mistakes, sorry in advance...

we have studied alternative treatment modalities for about 1,5 years now and have learned most from alternative support groups with real people who actually use these different modalities.

Since Laetrile is prohibited in your country, let's forget about it.

In the US you will have to work [u]with[/u] your oncologist or go to mexico, germany or --- the philippines where alternative medicine is taught at universities since more than 10 years!

What is said to work is: [b]Low Dose Chemo with intravenous DMSO[/b], this substance is said to transport the chemo directly into the cancer cells and spares normal cells. You should be able to convince your onco to do that.

All the blessings; Beatrice & Alexander

stage 4 brain cancer survivor
no chemo no radiation

Vee Smith · Moderator Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 1079 Location: UK

This particular "treatment"is not encouraged in the UK nor in much of Europe. \North America is not the only place to distrust it.

boracay4u · Guest

We people are funny "animals", somehow we always group around with likewise minded and confirm each others opinions.

When an outsider comes in we immediately distrust.

In reality both sides have their right to exist, just like one hand has its upper and lower side, looking very different but belonging to the same hand.

The same is true with conventional and alternative cancer treatments.

Once both sides understand that they need to combine their wisdom we will be a hundred miles closer to curing cancer Idea

Vee Smith · Moderator Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 1079 Location: UK

That is a rather dismissive reaction to the work that so many have done in testing out new treatments and possible drugs. Tamoxifen and the use of Madagascar periwinkle are two example of successful research which showed the benefits of the herbs concerned. Mistletoe is another much used in Europe [though with some caution in the UK].

The problem with much herbal and related treatments is that they can have disastrous side effects if mishandled and used without proper supervision. My doctor sister-in-law had a patient whose liver collapsed completely from the use of a herbal "remedy" - events such as this lead to a cautious response.

No research has shown the true usefulness of this pseudo vitamin, and has underlined many dangers. If you say that there are clinics in your country successfully using it, then it for the clinics to persuade the medical profession as a whole about the benefits. Until then, it must be treated with great caution.

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 2854

I remember the whole Laetrile hype back in the late 70's and early 80's. The new "wonder" drug that didn't pan out here in the States. We've come up with so many significant treatments via research and clinical trials that it blows me away for people who still hang onto the old hype about laetrile. It's like going back in time compared to what is available today.

Some chemo agents are plant based. Taxol originated from the Yew Tree. It's more complicated than that, but you get the gist.
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

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