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I thought I would give more background on how and why I wrote a warning about MMS. It all happened when a very close friend of mine nearly died after taking it. I was traveling at that time and felt helpless as I was told of her symptoms. She was basically lying near death in a comatose state and the local doctor was clueless as to what was happening. Her belly was the size of a 7-8 months pregnant woman – and no, she was not pregnant. I’m told in fact that it was the first thing that the doctor asked: is she pregnant? He ordered some liver function tests and told the family to call him back if she didn’t improve. Her liver function tests were normal even though she still had a distended belly characteristic of a cirrhotic person. The glands in her face were inflamed (parotid, salivary glands) and she had some symptoms of pancreatitis.

Since mainstream medicine was not being very helpful and she was clearly dying, her family acted quickly with vitamin C and some alpha lipoic acid (ALA). After having megadoses of vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid, she recovered enough to be able to get out of bed. The ascorbic acid saved her life.

When I came back, I was surprised to see that she indeed had ascites – an accumulation of liquid in the peritoneal cavity of the abdomen – which is more characteristic of people in liver failure. With more digging we were able to determine that she had an atypical acute pancreatitis that caused the leakage of fluids into her abdomen. There was damage in the ducts of the liver/pancreas and all her digestive glands – pancreas, liver, salivary, etc – suffered.

The road to recovery has taken over a year since that time when she took MMS and became ill. She had to do far infrared saunas, eat a high protein diet in small portions throughout the day, continue the vitamin C, and add ALA among several other nutritional supplements. At some point she needed low doses of hydrocortisone – our natural cortisone – as a support for her adrenal glands. For several months afterwards she was still having ascites as she finally healed and the accumulation of liquid stopped. But to this day, she has to be very careful and her dietary changes have become her new lifestyle. You have to understand that what my friend had is extremely rare in the medical literature and she was healthy before she took MMS, aside from being exposed to the toxicity that everybody in this world gets exposed to: mercury, pesticides, plastics, etc.

I realized that I had to give the warning about MMS since the warnings available (including “MMS KILLED MY WIFE“) were clearly not enough. An insight on the behaviors of those who did promote MMS motivated me to do so. I started to receive all kinds of feedback, especially of the nasty kind. A very few were more reasonable about their criticisms, but their science had gaps and didn’t take into consideration reactions like the one my friend had, who in the end had to be the canary in a coal mine that sounds the alarm. I only regret that she nearly died so we could realize how dangerous this stuff was. Mind you, she has not been the only one. Some people did end up in the hospital and at least three of them had pancreatitis as well. Another person had a vasovagal reaction (he basically went into a shock) after taking one single drop of MMS. So much for the “if you take little you’re safe”.

People confuse detox reactions with toxicity symptoms. Worse still, they are told that any symptom they’re going to have from MMS will be detox reactions. So people are actually glad when they have toxicity symptoms thinking they’re detoxing. Detox reactions can be very tricky. We had to learn the hard way to realize that some symptoms are actually indications that you are toxic and eating the wrong kind of foods. Since we adopted a high fat and protein diet, all those quirky and supposed “detox” reactions vanished and our need of supplementation went to the bare minimum of vitamin C and magnesium.

People had written to me to say that they actually have to take MMS otherwise they come down with some sort of bug. This is not health by any stretch of imagination. That you have to take a bug killer so that you won’t get sick means that your body is in very bad shape. In fact, what I’m seeing more and more is that people on a high fat and protein diet (even though they’re exposed to environmental toxicity) don’t get sick and when they feel they’re coming down with something, an extra dose of vitamin C and N-acetyl-cysteine usually solves the problem within hours.

The situation in the Gulf Coast is slightly different in that people there are being exposed to massive quantities of toxicity in the form of petrochemicals. Infections are on the rise all over the place as well and regardless of the microbes involved, these are bugs that people with a healthy immune system should be able to handle.

If you decide to take MMS to kill a bug, just keep in mind that its byproducts might create havoc in your health in the long-term. Yeah, treating the root of the problem is the key, but haven’t you considered that the root of the problem here is a toxic body with a compromised immune system that can’t deal with bugs – or any other kind of toxicity for that matter?

As I wrote to Delia LaBarre, co-founder of Gulf Coast Bare Foot Doctors after she was inquiring about the possible dangers of MMS:

The thing with MMS is that it can effectively kill microorganisms such as bacteria, virus, parasites, and fungi. There is a whole spectrum of diseases that are caused and/or aggravated by these microorganisms including atypical bacteria, which can manifest as mood problems, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivities or other autoimmune diseases, not to mention the usual infections. A person with a toxic load can also be susceptible to getting infected by atypical microorganisms or of having recurrent or chronic infections, as they are chronically stressed and their defenses are lowered.

But it is a double-edged treatment. MMS is really not alternative treatment; it is more like an “antibiotic”. Yes, sometimes antibiotics are life-saving. But we know that the importance of healing when there is a toxic state in the body comes from reinforcing the body’s defenses, detoxifying from toxic chemicals, and providing the necessary raw nutrients and elements so that the body can balance and heal itself.

Those who use MMS and MMS2 and find it has no side effects, or who succeed in treating themselves, should understand that a sub-clinical dose of a poison acts cumulatively. Long term damage can manifest after a delay with either short or long-term use depending on the genetic predisposition of the individual. But those people who are susceptible (say a genetic predisposition to detoxify chemicals less effectively) or who have reached their “toxic threshold”, are vulnerable to an awful and unexpected reaction.

Everyone is different, so even if individuals are exposed to the same toxins, each person can develop different diseases and symptoms that are unique to them and determined by genetic susceptibility, food intolerances and previous exposure to other toxic chemicals in the environment through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the homes we live in, etc. This individual response also accounts for the different length of time between an initial toxic event and the development of symptoms between individuals. A person with an unhealthy detox system might get sick very quickly, while others can be relatively healthy for 10 years before problems begin.

You’ll find a great deal of information from the water chlorination industry on how it so safe and effective in killing microorganisms because it is so volatile, and how it can even neutralize volatile organic compounds. Yet, according to some researchers (and even the same people), there is not enough information about its chemical by-products. I’m open to the possibility that as chlorine dioxide, it can combine with other toxic compounds and neutralize them. But that is pushing it considerably. As an oxidizer and volatile compound, it can actually combine with other chemicals in the body to produce something that may be more harmful in the long run. Not to mention that MMS by itself produces damage in the long-term. Detoxification pathways in the liver produce more dangerous compounds than the initial toxic chemical before it is able to neutralize them for their elimination.

From Chlorine and Chlorine Alternatives

“The chemical behavior and oxidation characteristics of aqueous chlorine dioxide [ClO2 in water] are not well understood because of the difficulty in differentiating aqueous chlorine-containing species. […] Chlorine dioxide consumed in water treatment reactions reverts to chlorite ions (ClO2-), chlorate ions (ClO3- ), and chloride ions (Cl -). There are some concerns about the long-term health effects of the chlorite ion in potable water supplies. […] The hazardous nature of chlorine dioxide vapor and its precursor, and the volatility of aqueous solutions of chlorine dioxide, require caution in the design and operation of solution and feeding equipment.”

People in the Gulf Coast are being subjected to a giant experiment on hazardous chemicals from the oil spill with all their possible combinations. They don’t need more of that. That we have had people who nearly died among those who tried MMS doesn’t bode well. […]

I read a list of an EPA poster presentation of chemicals with the strongest evidence of developmental neurotoxicity that the agency plans to finish and release next year:

Too Little Too Late: EPA Builds List of Potentially Dangerous Chemicals

Chlorine dioxide is listed there.

Did you catch the part where researchers admit that they are uncomfortable about their lack of knowledge of the properties of these chemicals? Yet, the developers of MMS claim to know all about it. Just listen to this paper which was published by someone who believes in MMS:

“Sodium chlorite (NaClO2) can be acidified as a convenient method to produce chlorine dioxide (ClO2) which is a strong oxidant and a potent disinfectant. A protocol has been developed whereby a solution of these compounds can be taken orally. This procedure rapidly eliminates malaria and other infectious agents in only one dose. Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is highly reactive with thiols, polyamines, purines, certain amino acids and iron, all of which are necessary for the growth and survival of pathogenic microbes. Properly dosed this new treatment is tolerable orally with only transient side effects. More research to better document efficacy in malaria and in other infections is urgently called for.”

Thiols, amino acids, etc are also stuff necessary for us human beings to survive! Thiol and aminos are compounds that are essential for detoxification and healing. Ever heard of sulfur rich compounds or anti-oxidants for detox purposes? That is what thiols and certain aminos are all about. So if you’re taking a compound that destroys the raw material of your detox pathways, what do you think will happen? I imagine that the part of “transient side effects” is about those who are feeling lucky to have toxicity symptoms – that is, signs that your body wants to get rid of that toxin you’re putting into your body.

Consider this feedback from a neuroscientist in the U.S.:

I never took MMS. One reason was knowing the active ingredient.
I knew {of someone} who was very ill that took it and said to have improved.  Months later the same illness returned in a more aggressive way and I told him I suspected MMS may have had a role. {…}

My distrust increased after reading a journal article where reduced numbers of dendritic spines (location of synapses) was associated with orally administered chlorine dioxide in the developing mouse brain. Keep in mind that it is not just in development that dendritic spines change in general.  Changes are also on going throughout life. It can be increased via experience/learning or reduced via stress, exposure to toxic chemicals or any number of ways. So I see MMS as a toxin.  {…} Why would we want to take chemicals associated with reduced synapses?

The article that she mentioned was the one that was published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Here is the abstract:

Effects of chlorine dioxide on the developing rat brain.

Synapses are the connections between your neurons, so I wouldn’t be surprised if people taking MMS have a hard time in “connecting the dots”.

Some argue that MMS is great because it alkalizes their stomach. But you got acid in your stomach for a purpose, one of them to break down food for digestion. The elderly who fail to produce enough acid in their stomach suffer from health problems from not being able to derive the nutrients from the diet necessary for bodily processes and composition of body tissues. People with low stomach acidity tend to have hair loss as well, as they can’t derive enough protein from their diets. If you have gastric reflux or any digestive problems for that matter, try removing soy, dairy, and gluten from your diet in order to heal.

Certain bugs like vibrio cholera tolerate alkaline environments. Actually, that is how they are grown in the lab: in an alkaline medium, and that is why they don’t grow in the stomach which is acidic. Instead, they grow in the intestines where it is alkaline. Aspergillus, a type of fungus, can activate genetic mechanisms to grow in alkaline environments. So much for the myth that bugs won’t grow in an alkaline environment. There are whole sections of alkaline loving bugs in microbiology books.

In short, MMS has no place whatsoever in alternative medical care.