There has been some pretty fascinating studies published during the last decade which illustrate the miraculous effects of DMSO in a population that otherwise had no hope, namely cancer patients in palliative care.
For instance, intravenous DMSO was used to relieve pain in advanced biliary cancer and not only did it achieved that, but regression of major signs and symptoms including liver damage and enlarged organs were also reported. You cannot really appreciate the implications of this from the abstract alone. In fact, it would be a practical impossibility to surpass the positive effects this research group achieved considering the extent and the type of cancer. So let’s have a closer look.
“Palliative Treatment for Advanced Biliary Adenocarcinomas With Combination Dimethyl Sulfoxide–Sodium Bicarbonate Infusion and S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine” by Ba X. Hoang, Hung Q. Tran, Ut V. Vu, Quynh T. Pham, and D. Graeme Shaw reports:
Adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder and cholangiocarcinoma account for 4% and 3%, respectively, of all gastrointestinal cancers. Advanced biliary tract carcinoma has a very poor prognosis with all current available modalities of treatment. In this pilot open-label study, the authors investigated the efficacy and safety of a combination of dimethyl sulfoxide–sodium bicarbonate (DMSO-SB) infusion and S-adenosyl-L-methionine (ademetionine) oral supplementation as palliative pharmacotherapy in nine patients with advanced nonresectable biliary tract carcinomas (ABTCs). Patients with evidence of biliary obstruction with a total serum bilirubin ≤300 μmol/L were allowed to join the study. The results of this 6-month study and follow-up of all nine patients with ABTC indicated that the investigated combination treatment improved pain control, blood biochemical parameters, and quality of life for the patients. Moreover, this method of treatment has led to a 6-month progression-free survival for all investigated patients. The treatment was well tolerated for all patients without major adverse reactions. Given that ABTC is a highly fatal malignancy with poor response to chemotherapy and targeted drugs, the authors consider that the combination of DMSO-SB and ademetionine deserves further research and application as a palliative care and survival-enhancing treatment for this group of patients…
Nine patients with nonresectable ABTC with symptoms of obstructive jaundice with no prior specific treatment were enrolled in the study over a period of 6 months…
All nine patients were treated with infusion of 25 mL of 99.9% DMSO solution mixed with 500 mL of sodium bicarbonate (SB) 1.4% solution and the equivalent of 1000 mg of potassium chloride and 1500 mg of magnesium sulfate. The infusions of DMSO-SB were performed by giving a continuous 5- day infusion with a 2-day break for a total of three cycles of 20 treatments. Thereafter, the patients continued with two infusions in 5 days with a 2-day break for 24 more treatments. The mean speed of drip was 60 drops per minute…
The positive progress in the level of total serum bilirubin and liver enzymes shown in Table 4 indicates that treatment with DMSO-SB infusion plus ademetionine oral supplementation is effective in the improvement of the disease control rate and possible tumor reduction, since it reversed the bile obstructive syndrome and liver damage caused mainly by tumors in the biliary system metastases to the liver. The clinical symptoms of the patients with ABTC also improved throughout the 6-month period of treatment, as shown in Table 5.
The surprising findings in monitoring the clinical symptoms such as abdominal pain, weight loss, weight gain, jaundice, hepatomegaly, total serum albumin, and liver enzyme elevations showed that all the subjects achieved stabilization of their disease.
The clinical endpoints were achieved in all nine investigated patients. The treatment with DMSO-SB infusion and ademetionine oral supplementation not only showed that this combination effectively controlled pain, but also released the bile obstructive symptoms that enhanced quality of life for the patients. The PFS6 showed improvement to 100% compared with the historical PFS6 of 57.1%…
The treatment was well tolerated by all patients. There were a few cases of diarrhea and nausea during the initial 2 weeks of treatment. These were controlled by appropriate medication or resolved without any specific treatment. There was no toxicity observed clinically and in monthly monitoring of blood analysis and biochemistry parameters. The pH of blood remained within normal levels with maximum of 7.6 and minimum of 7.45 during the 6-month treatment….
In our previous publications, we proposed the concept of cell membrane hyperexcitability through sodium channel activation and glutamate-induced N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor stimulation as a significant causal factor in carcinogenesis.15 We have published research regarding the role of dimethyl sulfoxide as a dual-inhibitory agent, which inhibits both voltage-gated sodium channels and glutamate receptors.16
This inhibitory property may have neuromodulatory effects on the physiological functions of the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral organs.18 Not only do ademetionine and DMSO have complementary functions, but because of its ability to enhance membrane transport, DMSO also may have a synergistic effect on ademetionine by increasing its cellular levels.
Take a close look at the tables in order to better appreciate their results:
Not bad at all!
Some may highlight the fact that they used other stuff as well. I would say that the credit still goes to DMSO for its ability to carry good stuff all around the body. This is definitely a pretty fascinating publication, even though we don’t know what happened to the participants of the study and/or if they continued their DMSO infusions afterwards. And it doesn’t end up here. This is another paper by Hoang et al.:
Prostate cancer (adenocarcinoma of the prostate) is the most widespread cancer in men. It causes significant suffering and mortality due to metastatic disease. The main therapy for metastatic prostate cancer (MPC) includes androgen manipulation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy and/or radioisotopes. However, these therapeutic approaches are considered palliative at this stage, and their significant side effects can cause further decline in patients’ quality of life and increase non–cancer-related morbidity/mortality. In this study, the authors have used the infusion of dimethyl sulfoxide–sodium bicarbonate (DMSO-SB) to treat 18 patients with MPC. The 90-day follow-up of the patients having undergone the proposed therapeutic regimen showed significant improvement in clinical symptoms, blood and biochemistry tests, and quality of life. There were no major side effects from the treatment. In searching for new and better methods for palliative treatment and pain relief, this study strongly suggested therapy with DMSO-SB infusions could provide a rational alternative to conventional treatment for patients with MPC…
Patients with pain score <3 points (VDS) were treated with infusion of 25 mL of 99.9% DMSO solution mixed with 250 mL of SB 1.4% solution and 10 mL of magnesium sulfate 1.5% (7 patients). Patients with pain score ≥3 points were treated with infusion of 40 mL DMSO mixed with 500 mL of SB 1.4% solution and 10 mL of magnesium sulfate 1.5% (11 patients)…
Patients with pain score that did not decrease in 3 days of treatment with infusion of 40 mL DMSO were recommended to receive a dose of 60 mL of DMSO mixed with 500 mL of SB 1.4% solution…
(2 patients). When the pain was completely under control, the dose of DMSO returned to 40 mL. The patients who were treated with 40 DMSO and achieved complete pain control had their dose of DMSO reduced by 5 mL after each cycle of infusion reaching a maintenance dose of 25 mL DMSO per day for the remaining cycles. The speed of drip was 40 to 60 drops per minute (mean: 50 drops per minute)…
There were nine episodes of transient mild headache and five episodes of moderate chilling during and after treatment. These side effects subsided and were resolved in 1 to 2 hours and all patients were able to continue with the next set of infusions. For these patients who experienced transient headache and episodes of chilling spell, we recommended slowing the drip rate to 30 drops per minute in the next infusion session.
Pretty remarkable I would say! Someone had a great idea to make the conversions to Western available units, i.e. sodium bicarbonate 8.4%:Here’s a conversion to Western available units, i.e. sodium bicarbonate 8.4%:
#1:
42 mL 8.4% Bicarbonate
208 mL Sterile Water
25 mL 99% DMSO
10 mL Magnesium Sulfate
4 ml (8 mEq) Potassium Chloride
#2:
83 mL 8.4% Bicarbonate
417 mL Sterile Water
40 mL 99% DMSO
10 mL Magnesium Sulfate
6 ml (12 mEq) Potassium Chloride
I was surprised to learn that the best research available on parenteral DMSO was from veterinary medicine. See for instance, Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) – A Review by Cory Flagg Brayton published in The Cornell Veterinarian. v.76 1986.
In this update from pioneer Stanley Jacob and his colleague Jack de la Torre, “Pharmacology of dimethyl sulfoxide in cardiac and CNS damage” (2009), DMSO’s benefits are summarized as follows:
They also report how to use DMSO IV safely. For spinal cord injuries, they recommend a dose of 1-2g/kg in a 28-40% solution of DMSO diluted with either physiological solution or 5% dextrose with water in an IV. However, to prevent DMSO-induced intravascular hemolysis (a reversible temporary side effect where red blood cells are lysed), it is recommended to use a less than 30% DMSO solution in an IV. However, water retention and hypernatremia has been reported with high DMSO dilutions, for instance < 10% in severe head trauma patients. This side effect can be avoided when a 25-35% DMSO solution is given in an IV.
The DMSO infusions and cocktails are the personal favorites in my personal practice with family and extended family. It has saved loved ones from dire emergencies as well, i.e. post-traumatic brain injury edema. Here’s a sample of how I’ve used it, with doses variating according to weight and condition. The infusion rate is approximately 1 drop per second:
| Nacl | 500ml |
| Vit C | 20gr-25g (40ml-50ml) |
| DMSO | 6ml-15ml |
| B1 | 100mg |
| B6 | 100mg |
| B12 | 1000mcg |
| Folic acid | 20mg (2ml) |
| MgCl | 1g (10ml) |
| Glutathione | 300mg (5ml) |
| Actovegin | 200mg-400mg (5ml-10ml) |
Update
In regards to Hoang formula, the conversion to Western units is really the following for 25ml of DMSO:
83 ml 8.4% Sodium Bicarbonate
392 ml Sterile Water or Ringer Lactate or Physiological Solution
25 ml 99% DMSO
Further reading
DMSO: The Real Miracle Solution
Dimethyl Sulphoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease by Stanley W. Jacob and Jack de la Torre
DMSO: Nature’s Healer by Morton Walker
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About the Author:
A countryside family medicine doctor and former heart surgeon in service of the Hippocratic Oath.