The man poisoned cyanide by self-curing cancer with apricot seeds

At the beginning of 2016, for some reason, the 'magic of the dream grain' began to spread again.

Cancer is a disease that medicine cannot cure completely. Traditional methods such as surgery, chemotherapy often leave strong and high-cost side effects.

In that context, many patients put their faith in treatments called 'alternative therapies'. They can be remedies from herbs, plants, diet instructions . spread on the internet without being verified by science.

Last month, a Yale University study warned: Cancer patients using alternative therapies had a 2.5-fold higher risk of death than traditional medical treatment. Recently, a study in BMJ Case Reports continued to warn about the dangers of these treatments.

Accordingly, a 67-year-old Australian man was cyanide poisoned, after eating apricot extract in hopes of preventing recurrent prostate cancer. The man extracted and ate about 2 teaspoons of apricot compound daily, and used a dietary supplement called Novodalin .

This method increases the concentration of cyanide in his blood by 25 times the threshold. The poison reduced oxygen in the blood, killed cells and put men at risk of heart damage, even death of the brain, according to doctors' warnings.

Cancer patients who use alternative therapies are 2.5 times more likely to die than traditional medical treatment.

"He has scientific knowledge and he has read somewhere that apricot extract will prevent cancer from coming back," said Dr. Alex Konstantatos, who treated the patient.

In fact, many rumors about apoplexy have emerged since the 1950s. Because science does not support them at all, the trend of using apricot seeds has been extinguished soon. At the beginning of 2016, for some reason, the 'magic of the dream grain' began to spread again.

Health experts immediately had to raise a warning about the danger of consuming apricot seeds. Accordingly, the apricot seed contains a compound called amygdalin. It can be synthesized into laetrile.

When we eat amygdalin or laetrile , gut bacteria and digestive enzymes decompose them into the same product: cyanide (HCN) , a toxin capable of squeezing cells in the body by preventing it they use oxygen.

Proponents of apricot seed oil as a cancer treatment, mistakenly believe that this type of cyanide only kills cancer cells. However, the latest clinical studies have shown no benefit when amygdalin or laetrile is used to treat cancer.

When the body gets a small amount of cyanide, it can be converted into thiocyanate and excreted in the urine. But the cyanide poisoning threshold is extremely low. An adult who only needs to eat 2 apricots can go beyond the limit.

In the past few years, there have been many cases of cancer patients dying of cyanide poisoning, because they believe that eating apricot seeds and its extracts can cure diseases.

Eating apricots will release cyanide in the body.At high doses, this toxin can cause brain and heart damage, leading to death.

In the case of the Australian man, his condition was fortunate to be discovered by doctors early. A preoperative blood test gave abnormal results. A non-smoker, who has a healthy lifestyle, does not have lung disease, anemia or heart disease but has very little oxygen on red blood cells.

Doctors found thiocyanit and his blood sample was sent for cyanide testing. After talking to the doctors, the man revealed that he had been eating apricot extract for five years.

The man drank the functional foods called Novodalin, which contained apricot seed extract. At the same time, he also made his own extract form at home.

According to physicians, he loaded 17.32 milligrams of cyanide daily - enough to make blood cyanide levels exceed 25 times the acceptable level.

Since late 2015, the Australian government has banned the sale of apricot seeds for food ingredients. But in fact, this item can still be purchased from abroad. Laetrile and amygdalin can be purchased online as a dietary supplement "vitamin B17" , although they are not scientifically vitamin.

According to research reports, doctors have asked men to stop using apricot extract for three days. Immediately, the oxygen level in his blood returned to normal. However, despite the doctor's warnings, then, the man decided to continue using apricot seeds to heal.

What will happen to you in the future? The doctors are also not sure. There has not been a single test of the amount of cyanide taken on humans.'But what we know for sure is that a large enough dose can kill you,' said Dr. Konstantatos.

'If you are using a product that is able to release cyanide in the body, in a way that you cannot measure the dose, remember that there is only a very small difference between the acceptable small dose of cyanide and the degree of It can seriously affect body parts such as the brain and heart. '

Laetrile and amygdalin can be purchased online as a dietary supplement "vitamin B17" , although they are not scientifically vitamin.

Currently, there are many people who are using their own methods of treating cancer and functional foods unproven. As a result, they can cause many side effects, even reducing the effectiveness of medical treatment.

A previous study by Yale University warned: The patient used unproven cancer treatments (including using herbs, plants, homeopathy, diet .) at risk. muscle death 2.5 times higher than traditional medical treatment such as radiotherapy and surgery.

In the case of an Australian man, the researchers hope this will be a case of illustrating self-healing and relying on unfounded advice that can lead to poisoning. They expressed concern about the fact that more and more healing therapies are spreading on the internet, while not yet confirmed by science.

'People should carefully study all the methods they choose, to see if it works for themselves and to know their potential consequences , ' said Dr. Konstantatos. Besides, he also hopes that doctors will be more concerned about patients, especially cancer patients, asking if they are using some therapy on their own and help assess the effectiveness as well as their safety.