# Laetrile?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [January 17, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441 "2001-01-17T02:32:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/1 "2001-01-17T02:32:22Z")
Referring to [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcayce.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcayce.html) – although it’s unrelated…
I _thought_ laetrile was just a harmless solution of creatine. ???
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/2 "2001-01-17T07:25:30Z")
Laetrile (C[sub]14[/sub]H[sub]15[/sub]NO[sub]7[/sub]) is made from amygdalin (C[sub]20[/sub]H[sub]27[/sub]NO[sub]11[/sub]). Amygdalin is the chemical in apricot seeds and bitter almonds Cecil talks about in [Are apricots seeds poisonous?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_212.html) Either of the two chemicals will release hydrogen cyanide when acted upon by certain enzymes.
Many people who receive laetrile “therapy” show signs of cyanide poisoning, and some die. In fact the theory behind its use is that the cyanide kills the cancer cells and healthy cells are somehow protected. As noted in the mailbag item, it doesn’t really work. See [this quackwatch article](http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html).
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### Author:  [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/3 "2001-01-17T14:06:29Z")
I must be thinking of some other popular cancer “cure” of the 60’s, then. _Something_ was analyzed as being pure creatine.
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/4 "2001-01-17T14:35:55Z")
I love the Internet. “creatine cancer cure”.
Was it Krebiozen?
[http://users.nais.com/~thack/krebiozen.htm](http://users.nais.com/~thack/krebiozen.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> From the U.S. Congressional Record (88th Congress, 1964)
>
> Senator Paul H. Douglas:
> The conclusion reached by the FDA that Krebiozen is creatine (a common body substance involved with muscle tissue and well known not to have any positive effects against cancer) is demonstrably false, not only on the basis of new or additional evidence but on the basis of evidence produced by the FDA itself.
This is a website run by a guy who quotes Sen. Douglas for reasons best known to himself. The guy goes on to say,
> [@](#):
>
> In September 1991 I joined forces with Herbert Bailey (\*\*), a best-selling author and father of the vitamin revolution, to raise public consciousness regarding a powerful and effective anti-cancer agent which had been blacklisted by the American Medical Association in 1951…
>
> The fact is the truth about Krebiozen is yet to be told to the American public, for The Big Lie has triumphed to this day!
I’m not interested enough to explore the whole page and find out whether he’s kidding or not. It looks like he’s just in it to push sales of Bailey’s book, dunno why.
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### Author:  [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/5 "2001-01-17T23:45:44Z")
Krebiozin – yeah, that was it. Thanx!
(Over on alt.fairs.renaissance I just had to point out to someone that people who believe that “herbal supplements” have no side effects are candidates for the Darwin award.)
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/6 "2001-01-18T02:18:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by John W. Kennedy \*
> \*\*(Over on alt.fairs.renaissance I just had to point out to someone that people who believe that “herbal supplements” have no side effects are candidates for the Darwin award.) \*\*
That’s right. There’s a kind of of Laetrile with a particularly bad side effect. Too much Laetrile Sprewell leads to a terrible choking sensation.
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### Author:  [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/7 "2001-01-25T14:19:07Z")
Oh, but that sort of Laetrile is really a _victim_, see.
(That was one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time, by the way. “Laetrile Sprewell!” Har!)
\
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### Author:  [@brettzwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brettzwo)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/8 "2003-12-03T18:33:32Z")
Check out a great book on Laetrile called “World Without Cancer” I believe written by Edward Griffin. There is some great information about the entire conspiracy surrounding Laetrile.
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### Author:  [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/9 "2003-12-04T02:15:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Check out a great book on Laetrile called “World Without Cancer” I believe written by Edward Griffin. There is some great information about the entire conspiracy surrounding Laetrile.
Well, at least in the sense that it _illustrates_ the conspiracy by Griffin and his fellow mass murderers…
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laetrile/50441/10 "2003-12-04T06:47:14Z")
_Precis_ of Griffin’s book. “They’re all against me!”
[http://www.theroadlesstravelledby.com/html/wwc-contents.htm](http://www.theroadlesstravelledby.com/html/wwc-contents.htm)