By Dr Amtul Qudoos Farhat, United Medicine Group, Canada

HISTORY:
• Ancient Chinese are reported to have used bitter almonds for cancers 2000 years ago. Bitter almonds contain significant amount of B17.
• Use of Amygdalin (Laetrile/Vitamin B17/Nitriloside) in the treatment of human cancer dates back to 1843.
• A California physician, Ernest Krebs and his son purified B 17 in 1952 and named it Laetrile.
• It was banned by FDA in 1971. However many US States legalized its use in view of the increasing testimony from patients.
• In 1980, similar pressures forced the National Cancer Institute to begin a clinical study of Laetrile in terminal cancer patients.

WHAT IS LAETRILE?

Laetrile is a naturally occurring substance in many foods. It has a large molecule which is made up of 2 parts of glucose, 1 part of Hydrogen Cyanide and 1 part of Benzaldehyde. The last component gives it the pain relieving property. This big molecule is not breakable in nature.

An enzyme Rhodanase, normally present in our body, breaks the Hydrogen Cyanide component in to Thyocynate and Benzaldehyde component in to Benzoic Acid. Thyocynate and Bezoic acid are the metabolic precursor pool for Vitamin B12 in our body.

Hydrogen Cyanide is chemically inert and non toxic when taken as food or as refined pharmaceutical such as laetrile

HOW IT WORKS IN CANCER:

• Cancer cells like normal body cells do not have the enzyme Rhodanse to break the Laetrile. They instead have another enzyme called Beta-Gucosidase in very large quantities (3000 times of normal cells!). When Laetrile and Beta-Glucosidase come into contact with each other, a chemical reaction occurs and the Hydrogen Cyanide and Benzaldehyde combine synergistically to produce a poisonous substance which destroys and kills the cancer cells. Therefore cancer cells being armed with Beta-Glucosidase are the specific target.
• Due to lack of Rohdanse enzyme in cancer cells, Hydrogen Cyanide can not be converted in to Thiocynate. This leads to stoppage of tumor respiration and thus death of cancer cells.
• Some Clinicians hypothesize that cancer is a vitamin deficiency disease, and Laetrile is the missing Vitamin B17.
FOOD SOURCES OF LAETRILE:

Laetrile/B 17 is a naturally occurring ingredient of many foods. The fruits in the Prunus Rosacea family are particularly rich in B 17. These include apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach kernels, grape seeds, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and pine apples. Bean sprouts, lima beans and macadamia nuts are also rich sources.

Apricot Kernels is the best documented source of B 17. Most experts will recommend a daily dose of 24- 40 apricots kernels a day. For a person in remission, a minimum of 16 apricot kernels a day is advised.

B 17 is also contained grasses, maize, sorghum, millet, cassava, linseed, apple seeds. alfalfa sprouts, bamboo shoots, barley, beet tops, boysenberries, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, buckwheat, cashews, cherry kernels, cranberries, currants, flax seeds, garbanzo beans, gooseberries, huckleberries, lentils, , loganberries, macadamia nuts, millet, millet seed, quince, raspberries, sorghum cane syrup, spinach, sprouts (alfalfa, lentil, mung bean, buckwheat, garbanzo), strawberries, walnuts, watercress, yams.

ROLE OF ZINC, VITAMIN C AND MICRO NUTRIENTS:

An optimum level of Nutrients is necessary for Laetrile to work. Zinc is especially significant in this context. It is needed for the transport of Laetrile. High doses of Vitamin C are synergistic to the action of Laetrile. Micro nutrients such as manganese, magnesium, selenium, Vitamins B6, B9 and B12 are essential for optimizing the effect of Laetrile. Vitamin A and Vitamin E help enhance metabolism.

ROLE OF PANCREATIC ENZYMES:

Good level of enzymes especially pancreatic enzymes is important when you are on Laetrile Therapy. According to one theory cancer grows from misplaced Trophoblast cells. These cells are present in the pregnant human uterus and they multiply rapidly during the first few weeks after conception. Under normal, healthy conditions, Trophoblast cells are destroyed by the pancreatic enzyme Chymotrypsin. However, if they escape destruction, they can lodge in the embryo and remain there dormant for decades. They may develop in to a tumor when the pancreas becomes dysfunctional.

Therefore the patients are advised to take pancreatic supplementation while on Laetrile Therapy.

DIET AND LAETRILE:

Apart from above mentioned supplements, many clinicians suggest either Raw Diet or suggest cutting down on meat and preferably avoiding it as far as possible.

TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF LAETRILE:

• Contreras Hospital in Mexico claims to have successfully treated 100,000 patients of cancer by using Laetrile over the last 30 years.
• People in Hunza Valley have no known incidence of cancer. They have an abundant crop of apricots which is dried in the sun and used largely in their food”.
It is interesting to note that the traditional Hunza Diet contains over 200 times more B17 than the average American or Australian Diet.
• Native Eskimos have no known cancer! Alaska’s most famous doctor Dr Preston Price claims that, “In his 36 years of contact with these people he had never seen a single case of malignancy in Native Eskimos. They consume Tundra grasses such as Arrow which have shown to contain the highest content of B17 than other grasses.
• Abkhazians and Seventh Day Adventurists also have low cancer and longer life span due to same reasons.

SIDE EFFECTS:
Patients on Laetrile may have low blood pressure. Normally, this is not an issue. However it may be noticed in patients who are already on blood pressure medications, or have heart disease. If necessary their medication may need adjustment by their clinician. Thiocynate was actually once used as a blood pressure lowering agent in Germany and also in American Medicine.
• Supplementation with Pancreatic enzymes should not exceed the maximum limit mentioned on the bottle. High doses of such enzymes act as blood thinners.
• Laetrile is not combined with Probiotics aince Probiotics may increase the amount of Hydrogen Cyanide.
• If you are taking a second or third alternative cancer treatment with Laetrile, or if laetrile is being used to supplement another treatment, be careful to watch the warnings of each treatment.
• You should not DEPEND on Laetrile as the core treatment in a cancer treatment program. Treat this as a supplemental treatment or a remission treatment.

HOW IS IT GIVEN?

Laetrile is diluted in 5% dextrose water and then added in to a bag of 250 ml of dextrose water. The preparation s administered intravenously. Laetrile does not stay longer than 80 minutes in your body. Therefore it is advocated that it should be taken on daily basis for a period of two to three weeks before going on to maintenance therapy.
Maintenance therapy may be taken orally.