Dmso

14. DMSO

Barry Tarshis (DMSO New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1981) believes that he has found the true panacea for all illnesses. He states:

“… let’s say, for the sake of argument, that (somebody—the government, a drug company, a foundation—pulled together a blue-ribbon group of pharmacologists and physicians, presented them an unlimited budget and told them to develop a drug that came closer to being a panacea than any substance now known. Imagine the properties that such a drug, were it ever developed, would embody.
“To begin with, the drug would be effective not only against one or two conditions and diseases, but against a broad range of maladies, from simple, everyday problems such as sprains and sinusitis to life-threatening diseases such as stroke or cancer. The drug, in other words, would be far more powerful than aspirin and a good deal more versatile than, say, penicillin.
“Apart from its effectiveness, the drug would be safe, keeping in mind that not even aspirin is completely harmless. Physicians who prescribed it wouldn’t have to concern themselves with the adverse reactions that may claim as many as 30,000 to 60,000 lives a year in the United States alone. And the people who take it wouldn’t have to suffer the myriad side effects—headache, fatigue, blurring of vision, mental disorientation—that come with the territory when you have a chronic disease for which there are only a handful of medications available.
“The drug would also be versatile—versatile enough so that, depending on the condition, a physician could administer it orally or topically, by injection or intravenously. And it would be stable enough so that you could ship it anywhere in the world, or keep it on the shelf for months and not have to worry about it spoiling or losing its potency. The raw materials from which the drug was made would be readily available, so that you would never have to concern yourself with a shortage. And, finally, if you had a social conscience, you’d want the drug to be inexpensive enough (somewhat less expensive than, say, the interferon treatments now being offered for cancer in Europe at a price of $65,000) so that patients who took it on a long-term basis wouldn’t have to spend a big chunk of their yearly income for the privilege of living without pain.”

The name of this new “wonder drug” is dimethyl sulfoxide or DMSO for short. It is being used for such ailments as sprains and sinusitis to burns and arthritis. Some people claim that it has the ability to stabilize progressively crippling arthritic conditions and to alleviate certain forms of mental illness.

This powerful and toxic drug passes through cell membranes so quickly that you can taste it minutes after it has been applied to the skin. Combined with other drugs, it will carry them through cell membranes that were formerly impenetrable to these drugs when taken alone. Due to this property, DMSO can cause immeasurable damage to all the cells of the body. These cell membranes can become weakened or altered and many other toxins besides DMSO will enter the cell which would not ordinarily enter. Such derangement of the cells may result in serious health consequences—much more serious than the ailment for which it was given.

There is never any “easy way out”—no quick and magical path to health. Many athletes have been using this poisonous drug for years for sprains, pulls, and other soft-tissue injuries. Continued suppression of pain by this drug will eventually result in permanent damage. Besides this, DMSO is now being used regularly by thousands of arthritic patients. People use DMSO for cuts, for sores, for itching conditions. Some people even rub it on their gums.

Do not be fooled by misleading claims. No agent outside of the human body has the ability to heal. The regular use of drugs can result only in greater health destruction.