DMSO for pain, any thoughts
 

I received an email selling a product with this in it so I googled it.


DMSO: Many Uses, Much Controversy
Maya Muir




Abstract



Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a by-product of the wood industry, has been in use as a commercial solvent since 1953. It is also one of the most studied but least understood pharmaceutical agents of our time--at least in the United States. According to Stanley Jacob, MD, a former head of the organ transplant program at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, 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 properties. (See Major Properties Attributed to DMSO) Worldwide, some 11,000 articles have been written on its medical and clinical implications, and in 125 countries throughout the world, including Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan, doctors prescribe it for a variety of ailments, including pain, inflammation, scleroderma, interstitial cystitis, and arthritis elevated intercranial pressure.

Yet in the United States, DMSO has Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval only for use as a preservative of organs for transplant and for interstitial cystitis, a bladder disease. It has fallen out of the limelight and out of the mainstream of medical discourse, leading some to believe that it was discredited. The truth is more complicated.

Here are threads from some of our forums talking about DMSO -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...highlight=DMSO

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...highlight=DMSO

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...highlight=DMSO

These are some of the more recent threads , but I'm sure more can be found using our search tool -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/search.php

A friend of mine that was using DMSO back in the early '90s died of liver cancer. I believe that he was using industrial grade product, since pharmaceutical DMSO was banned, and not available.

It was our belief that his liver cancer was the result of his DMSO usage.

I have no reason to doubt/dispute this - just wondering if there's any evidence to support or is it just a suspicion? Godd facts/knowledge/science halp us all. Thanks.

Doc

That pretty much sums up what I know about it.

Try googling it along with quackery and take another look.
Google: DMSO quackery

Unless my own trusted doctor recommended/prescribed it, it'd be pretty low on my list of last resorts without some credible studies that it was safe & effective. I have no knowledge of such (not that I couldn't have missed them).

There are a lot of snake oils salesman out there. Some of the products being hawked contain things I can't believe they're getting away with. Many have been discussed here over the years, but the specifics aren't springing to mind at the moment (except one that included, or was little more than, chlorine bleach - for internal use! :yikes: )

Doc

When I first heard of it in the mid 80s, it was being used on race horses. Um, no thanks!

It still is used as a liniment for horses, and there are a couple of considerations worth noting.

There are 3 grades: Industrial, Veterinary, and Medical. Only medical grade should be considered for use on humans; the others may contain contaminants/impurities which would be absorbed through the skin along with the DMSO.

Medical grade DMSO is available only by prescription, so any sources selling it without prescription are probably selling either veterinary or industrial grade, and therein lies one of the most serious risks. One way to tell is by odor; chemically pure DMSO is odorless. If it has any odor, it's due to some kind of contaminants/impurities, and/or therefore not safe. (Which is not to suggest that pure DMSO is safe.)

DMSO has been (FDA) approved for human medical use, but so far (as far as I have been able to determine), only for interstitial cystitis. FDA approval allows doctors to prescribe it for other uses "off-label". None of this changes anything I posted previously - just further verifiable information.

Doc

This was instilled in my bladder to relieve the sx of interstitial cystitis in the '70s.
Upon discontinuing it, I learned of its industrial uses/origins. It barely relieved the IC and I was creeped out for a few years, fearing long range negative consequences.

I do not know if this had anything to do with my subsequent cancer dx (1999). The most immediate link to my cancer, I believe, is ERT--- estrogen replacement therapy---but who really knows what drugs do to one's body. Obviously, less is more. I'd avoid this & opt for more conventional pain meds.

My dad had some of this stuff. OMD it stunk. I think he used it for awhile. He eventually died from liver cancer.

No evidence, just a suspicion.


Since our friend could not obtain rx DMSO in California, we believe that the DMSO he was buying in Nevada was of Industrial grade.