PHARMACOLOGY OF DMSO, Nature’s Healer

HISTORY
DMSO (Dimethyl-Sulfoxide) is a by-product of the wood industry, and has been in use as a commercial solvent since 1953, it was first synthesized in 1866. As medication, DMSO was used initially in the 1960's. Following FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval for experimental use, it was applied in topical form to relieve pain, reduce swelling, heal injuries such as muscle strains and sprains, and treat arthritis.

DMSO was first reported in 1963 by Stanley Jacob, M.D. of the University of Oregon Medical School, former head of the organ transplant program at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Jacob claimed that DMSO could penetrate skin and produce local analgesia, decrease pain, and promote healing of injured tissue. According to Jacob, more than 40,000 articles on its chemistry have appeared in scientific journals, which, in conjunction with thousands of laboratory studies, provide strong evidence of a wide variety of remarkable properties.

DMSO is one of the most studied but least understood pharmaceutical agents of our time--at least in the United States. Worldwide, some 11,000 articles have been written on its medical and clinical implications from 125 various countries throughout the world, including Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan. Doctors prescribe DMSO for a variety of ailments, including pain, inflammation, scleroderma, interstitial cystitis, and arthritis elevated inter-cranial pressure.

The pharmacological actions of DMSO have stimulated volumes of research and the purpose of this report is to briefly summarize these amazing findings:

(A) membrane penetration
(B) membrane transport
(C) effects on connective tissue
(D) anti-inflammation
(E) nerve blockade (analgesia)
(F) bacteriostasis
(G) diuresis
(H) enhancement or reduction of effectiveness of other drugs
(I) cholinesterase inhibition
(J) nonspecific enhancement of resistance of infection
(K) vasodilation
(L) muscle relaxation
(M) enhancement of cell differentiation and function
(N) antagonism to platelet aggregation
(O) influence on serum cholesterol in experimental hypercholesterolemia
(P) radio-protective and cryoprotective actions
(Q) protection against ischemic injury

Cancer / Professional Evaluation / Critique:

BENEFITS
DMSO can travel through the skin and into tissue - Dr. Stanley Jacob suggested that it might become a vehicle for administering cancer drugs into tumors. There is some evidence that DMSO can also protect against radiation damage.

DMSO received publicity as a painkiller when a U.S. governor reported that his wife, who was dying of bone cancer, had used veterinarian DMSO to relieve her pain. It was found to be more effective than the drugs being used and without the side effects.

DMSO stimulates various parts of the immune system and scavenges hydroxyl radicals, the most potent of free radicals. Since free radicals promote tumor growth, this may be one of the mechanisms by which DMSO interferes with the development of cancer. It may also explain why patients who receive DMSO while undergoing either chemotherapy or radiation (both which generate free radicals in order to kill cancer cells) are far less prone to such side effects as hair loss, nausea, and dry mouth.

Both DMSO and retinoic acid (RA) were found to be effective in reducing cell growth. DMSO, however, was found to be the stronger inhibitor.

Dose-dependent protection against tumor development was afforded by allopurinol and DMSO.

Supporters believe that DMSO can cut through a protein shell surrounding cancer cells and so may assist medications and the immune system in attacking cancer cells.

DMSO is believed to be able to decrease the energy level of cancer cells and cause them to become benign.

Today, DMSO is approved only to treat interstitial cystitis (a bladder disorder) and as veterinary therapy to reduce swelling in horses and dogs. It is under study for conditions including arthritis, sprains, and a skin disorder known as scleroderma. DMSO is also used to deliver drugs through the skin and to preserve living cells when they are frozen.

DMSO may be able to play a roll in the worldwide crisis in antibiotic resistance among bacteria. Research as early as 1975 discovered that it could break down the resistance certain bacteria have developed. With its great antioxidant powers, DMSO could be used to mitigate some of the effects of aging, but little work has been done to investigate this possibility. Toxic shock, radiation sickness, and septicemia have all been postulated as responsive to DMSO, as have other conditions far too numerous to mention here.

After careful study of the literature and other information available to it, the American Cancer Society does not have any evidence that treatment with DMSO either by itself or combined with laetrile and procaine hydrochloride results in objective benefit in the treatment of cancer in human beings. And lacking such evidence, the American Cancer Society would strongly urge individuals afflicted with cancer not to participate in treatment with DMSO.

CLINICAL Observations
In addition, DMSO can carry other drugs with it across membranes. It is more successful ferrying some drugs, such as morphine sulfate, penicillin, steroids, and cortisone, than others, such as insulin. What it carries depends on the molecular weight, shape, and electrochemistry of the molecules. This property would enable DMSO to act as a new drug delivery system that would lower the risk of infection occurring whenever skin is penetrated.

DMSO perhaps has been used most widely as a topical analgesic, in a 70 percent DMSO, 30 percent water solution. Laboratory studies suggest that DMSO cuts pain by blocking peripheral nerve C fibers. Burns, cuts, and sprains have been treated with DMSO. Relief is reported to be almost immediate, lasting up to 6 hours. 

Dr. Jacob said at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Health in 1980, "DMSO is one of the few agents in which effectiveness can be demonstrated before the eyes of the observers.... No other therapeutic modality will do this."

PRECAUTIONS
An in vitro study showed invasiveness and metastatic potential (potential for the cancer to invade and spread) was enhanced after culture with DMSO.

Toxicity / Risks, "Industrial-grade DMSO should never be used because contaminants could produce serious reactions."

"Intravenous administration of DMSO may cause damage to liver, kidneys, blood-forming organs and central nervous system."

DMSO may cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and sedation.

DMSO causes superficial mucosal damage to the gastric mucosa and increased secretion of fluid into the stomach.

DMSO could prove fatal if used as a retention enema. As stated by The Life Extension Foundation, DMSO does "take other products with it" as it "passes through body tissue." In the rectum, these "other products" might include bacterial toxins that DMSO could carry through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream.

Never mix DMSO with any chemical or drug and then apply it to the skin, as the proper DMSO dosage for such a combination unknown and could be harmful, cautions Dr. Callebout.

Always clean the area when applying DMSO since it will absorb any contaminates.

DMSO is absorbed rapidly and produces a garlic-like taste and odor on the breath and skin.  This odor may last as long as three days.

Information abounds regarding DMSO: additional research is available at www.dmso.org