This will
say to doctors, ‘protect your people without fear of being sued.’”
State Senator Regina Smith, Public Health Committee co-chairperson, noted
that doctors are liable for all other drugs they prescribe. She indicated that it
would be a dangerous precedent to exempt this experimental drug. 5
 The
Connecticut bill was defeated, but DMSO supporters said that they planned to
submit a revised version in the future. They did not. I agree in principle with Senator Smith, but the FMA has gone to the opposite
extreme. Florida medical liability policies won’t cover the use of DMSO for
anything other than interstitial cystitis. Between the time the FMA issued its official statement about DMSO and the
State Legislature of Connecticut introduced a bill to get physicians off the hook in
the event something went wrong with any patients for whom they had prescribed
DMSO, the State of Florida spoke up. James T. Howell, M.D., State Health
Officer in the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services of Florida, felt it
necessary to respond 
on DMSO. Through the press Dr. Howell expressed a grave
concern that an industrial solvent-type of DMSO was made available for human
consumption. He was also worried about the veterinary product. He said that
neither of these had been refined for human consumption and could be extremely
harmful. Two programs with a tremendous viewing audience broadcast over CBS-TV,
one in March 1980 and a repeat in July 1980, seem to have caused people to
throw caution aside. The public insisted upon getting hold of this painkilling drug
whether it’s surrounded with controversy or not. All that people want is relief of
pain whatever the cause. Interestingly, some prominent figures in sports, politics,
acting, and other occupations are submitting to DMSO treatment, too, without
regard to whether its use is legally admissible by the judgments and standards of
the FDA. The various applications of DMSO in clinical practice and for home use as a
self-care remedy for such problems as arthritis, shingles, headaches, cataracts,
herpes simplex, burns, Down’s syndrome, spinal cord injuries, bursitis, sprains,and many other conditions, make it an ideal product. The various modes of
treatment such as skin applications, intravenous therapy, and oral and
intramuscular therapy are desperately wanted by the famous and unfamous alike. THE NEW PAINKILLER BECOMES A MEDIA CELEBRITY
When Governor George Wallace traveled across the country to find pain relief
from DMSO administered by Dr. Stanley Jacob, this new painkilling drug got a big
boost. He began treatment July 1, 1980, to relieve discomfort associated with
paralysis. Wallace had been confined to a wheelchair since he was wounded in a 1972
assassination attempt while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for
President at Laurel, Maryland. Doctors described Wallace’s discomfort as
occurring in the “flank,” a medical term referring to the area between the lowest rib
and the waist. While his pain was not excruciating, it was persistent and limited
Wallace’s everyday activities. 6
The governor’s flank discomfort reportedly disappeared, especially by
faithfully dabbing DMSO on the painful area from time to time during the course
of a month. As Wallace was a well-known public figure, his success in relief from
pain has had an impact on the promotion of the drug as a painkiller and anti-
inflammatory agent that works. An even greater booster was the television news show that Wallace watched
that featured DMSO as the definitive but controversial product for eliminating pain
when all else failed. Wallace was controversial himself at one time and he knew
the incongruity of such a label. The TV show stimulated the governor to seek
treatment with DMSO. On March 23, 1980, and again on July 6, 1980, the popular television program
60 Minutes
 reported on DMSO. In a broadcast segment titled “The Riddle of
DMSO,” CBS news correspondent Mike Wallace gave broad national attention to
this chemical. On the program, Dr. J. Richard Crout, the chief FDA opponent of
DMSO, said that double-blind studies were mandatory before approval would be
forthcoming from his agency. Yet, researchers can’t conduct double-blinds
because of the distinctive odor of the product. Within a few minutes of putting it
on your skin, you can taste it on your tongue; it penetrates the skin and runs
through the blood stream so effectively. There is a lot more to the issue of DMSO, however, and on 60 
Minutes
 MikeWallace brought in the human factor in which the relief from pain is of primary
importance. He showed Emily Rudich playing the piano in spite of her severely
deformed fingers and years of searing, unrelenting pain from arthritis. Referring to DMSO’s effect on her condition, Mrs. Rudich said, “I have some
very badly gnarled fingers from arthritis, and the DMSO eases the arthritis right
away. It’s not a miracle drug, doesn’t really cure it, but it eases it . . . I had a fever
blister on my lip. I used DMSO three times, and the fever blister went away
immediately. I’ve cut myself in the kitchen, and sometimes quite badly, and have
used DMSO on it and the cuts begin to heal right away.”
Most dramatic was the case of Sandy Sherrick of Riverside, California, who
had suffered severe whiplash and nerve damage in an automobile accident two
years before. In November 1979, Mrs. Sherrick writhed in an agony of back, neck,
and shoulder pain. “No painkiller, no therapy, no doctor, it seemed, could help,”
said Mike Wallace. “Oh, the pain was extremely bad,” Sandy Sherrick confirmed. “I was to the
point where I cried continuously. I did not cook meals. I did not clean. I barely got
myself dressed. . . . They finally got to the point where they just told me, ‘You’re
going to have to live with it. The weather’s going to affect you, and you’re just
simply going to have to live with it.’”
Upon learning about DMSO, Mrs. Sherrick grasped at it as a last resort. Feeling awful pain throughout the trip, she flew to Portland, 
Oregon, for treatment
by Dr. Jacob. By the third day of intravenous and topical application of DMSO,
the patient began to feel somewhat better, reported Mike Wallace. 60 Minutes
followed her progress on videotape. Before she left for home, Dr. Jacob showed
her where and how to apply DMSO topically to her neck and back. The television camera then switched to Mrs. Sherrick in her Riverside,
California, home. She was feeling comfortable, smiling, and taking no medicine for
pain relief. She said, “Oh, the pain’s gone. The pain is totally, completely gone
from my neck. . . . I’m telling the truth, the honest-to-God truth.” She could do her
housework, drive a car, lift packages. “I have not found anything I can’t do.”
Mike Wallace pointed out that a story like Sandy Sherrick’s does not take the
place of a scientific test, which the FDA requires. “Well, that’s fine. I can understand their feeling,” said Mrs. Sherrick. “But
they’ve got to be able to look at the test results and take me as an individual. I
have no reason to say it does work or it doesn’t. All I can say is what it’s done for
me personally. It worked for me.”
This powerful presentation reached 70,000,000 TV viewers. Dr. Jacob’s officewas immediately swamped, with up to 10,000 people figuratively crying, “Save
me, save me from pain!”
Pain victims also came to other physicians around the United States, Canada,
and Mexico who were known to utilize DMSO. They arrived in droves. Telephones in the offices of doctors and pharmacies in Florida, Oregon, Louisiana,
and Nevada rang busily for several days following the Sunday evening broadcast
of 
60 Minutes. A subsequent wire service report about the FDA’s refusal to approve the drug
appeared around the country in Tuesday’s newspapers. In his program footnote, Mike Wallace stated: “Tomorrow morning in
Washington, the House Committee on Aging begins an inquiry into why DMSO is
not available to all Americans for any appropriate ailment, including plain and
simple pain.” The numbers of letters and telephone calls that came into
congressional offices inquiring about the cause of DMSO unavailability were
massive. A sampling of the letters sent to just one congressman, Claude Pepper of
Florida, are found in 
Chapter 4
. The disclosures that came out of this and other Congressional investigations
were shocking to an already embarrassed scientific medical community. The
apparatus by which the Food and Drug Administration studies the efficacy of a
new drug was turned upside down. As fully discussed in 
Chapter 13
, revelations
about ignorance of the scientific 
method or fraudulent tests in relation to the drug’s
effectiveness caused not only DMSO opponents to discontinue clinical trials but
even made its proponents back off. And this disconnection to the product’s
therapeutic effects also included its chief proponent, Dr. Stanley Jacob. As you will read in more detail later on, FDA investigator Dr. K.C. Pani
allegedly took money from Dr. Jacob to pay off his wife’s exceedingly high
medical bills for cancer treatment. Dr. Pani lost his standing and his job with the
FDA. Dr. Jacob was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury on three counts of
improper payments to an FDA official and one count of criminal conspiracy. In
May 1982, mistrial was the result of these courtroom trials. Then the government went after Dr. Pani and Dr. Jacob again. This time, Dr.
Pani plea-bargained and accepted conviction of a misdemeanor as his crime. Dr.
Jacob not only was let off, but the FDA, on October 29, 1982, offered him an
apology for their incorrectly bringing the charges against the pioneering surgeon. More than that, it was learned by Congress that poor or fraudulent investigative
techniques employed during the trials of DMSO for interstitial cystitis, the only
condition for which it is approved in the United States, almost had the FDA recallsuch approval. Not this or any other internal or external condition would have been
allowed as acceptable in the United States for DMSO application. Research
Industries Corporation (RIC), the manufacturer of Rimso-50, a major retail-selling
brand of DMSO, apparently played a big role in causing the FDA to have its
breach of confidence in the drug. In a semi-confession to U.S. Senator Edward
Kennedy, the president of RIC admitted his company’s complicity in the
mismanaged interstitial cystitis clinical trials. And there were more adverse findings, which will be revealed near to my
book’s ending. However, almost all of the fallout during these Congressional
investigations occurred from human foibles, greed, and/or inappropriate behavior
and not from physical, chemical, or biological faults of dimethyl sulfoxide. The
drug remains as efficacious as ever—a true medicinal from nature that continues
to astound both holistic and conventional medical scientists as a new and powerful
healing principle. Still, the result from exposure of these scandals of ten years ago is that very
few clinical studies on DMSO have been carried out and published since that
1982–83 period. Compared to prior decades, the relatively few journal papers—
perhaps 100 of them, which are cited throughout these pages—are all that remain
of the tremendous effort 
originating at the University of Oregon Medical School. If
DMSO experiences a resurgence of interest among researchers, it will happen
more from prompting of doctors by medical consumers who are reading magazine
articles and books such as this one. Because of its dramatic remedial properties,
dimethyl sulfoxide deserves more respectful attention than mere public interest. Scientists must be the ones to take up the challenges presented. The public should
have access to the remarkable therapeutic principle of DMSO about which I report
in the next amazing chapter.CHAPTER 3
The Therapeutic Principle of DMSO
A married couple arrived in Sarasota, Florida, directly after the 
60 Minutes
television broadcast. They had driven all night from Hamilton, Ohio, to keep a
9:00 
A
. M
. emergency appointment to receive the new wonder drug for pain at The
Douglass Center for Nutrition and Preventive Medicine (no longer open). They
considered their quest for DMSO to be a last-ditch try after a full year and
$10,000 worth of unsuccessful treatments with other remedies. Mrs. Fred Dabbelt explained that her husband’s left hand had become stiff and
claw-like after surgeons operated to remove a blood clot in his arm. The hand was
unusable. Nothing helped the muscles regain their normal capacity, and, after a
series of unsuccessful procedures, the doctors began to suggest that the problem
was psychological. After three intravenous injections of DMSO, Fred Dabbelt was able to open
and close his hand—something he had found impossible to do before. Altogether, the patient had five days of treatment. When contacted nine months
later he said, “The pain has completely disappeared. My hand is still numb but
usable. Before DMSO, the hand looked like a claw; it now looks normal.”
“We’d tried everything. This was the last resort,” said Mrs. Dabbelt. “It’s just
amazing. Before this, nothing worked.”
How 
does
 dimethyl sulfoxide work? It may best be summed up in the words of
Dr. Stanley W. Jacob, co-discoverer of the therapeutic properties of the drug:
“We’ve barely scratched the surface, for this is a new principle in medicine. We’ve had only three new principles in our century—the antibiotic principle, the
cortisone principle, and now the DMSO principle—and the DMSO principle is the
only new one of our generation. Despite all the controversy, my guess is that
history will record it this way!”
This chapter explores the 
modus operandi
 of DMSO and discusses its
penetration power and the rationale for its use. We will be taking a highly technical
biochemical science and simplifying it as much as possible without changing the
hypotheses upon which DMSO actions are based. Students of biophysics and biochemistry will find the following informationuseful for their purposes. Others may wish to skip to 
here
 for a summary. STRUCTURE AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE
MOLECULE
The dimethyl sulfoxide molecule is ten-sided with a center occupied by a sulfur
atom. Two methyl groups, an oxygen atom, and a nonbinding electron pair are
located at the points of the tetrahedron. See 
Figure 3.1
 for a depiction of the
molecular formula. DMSO’s molecular weight is 78.15. The drug is capable of entering into a
chemical reaction characterized by the development of heat, and it releases 60
calories (cal) per gram (g) of DMSO when mixed with water. The boiling point at
760 millimeters (mm) mercury (Hg), degrees Celsius (
°
C) is 189.0; vapor pressure
at 20
°
C, mm Hg is 0.37; specific gravity at 25
°
C, grams per milliliter (g/ml) is
1.0958; melting point, 
°
C is 18.55; heat of combustion, cal/g is 6,050; flash point in
an open vessel, 
°
C is 95; viscosity at 20
°
C, centipoise (cP) is 2.473; surface
tension at 20
°
C, dyne/centimeter (cm) is 46.2. 1
,
2
,
3
,
4
Because DMSO has a freezing point of 68°F, one is able to tell its
approximate concentration, if a bottle of the liquid solvent is acquired from an
unknown source. Put the unopened bottle into the refrigerator (not the freezer). Within two hours the liquid will turn solid, like ice. You now have 99.5 percent
DMSO, the purest and highest concentration made. Leaving the bottle cap on will
prevent hydrolyzation (decomposition) so that the liquid will freeze at 68
°
F or less. Figure 3.1
 Molecular formula of dimethyl sulfoxide. If, when the frozen bottle is turned upside down, little rivulets of 
water flow
through the ice, you probably possess the veterinary grade DMSO. This is a 90
percent concentration. Ten percent is distilled water. If the DMSO doesn’t freeze while standing in the refrigerator, put it into the
freezer compartment. If it does 
not
 turn solid even after standing at below 32
°
F, it
probably indicates a 50 percent mix of DMSO and water. If it 
does
 turn solid inthe freezer, this liquid is not DMSO, or is almost all water with just a small bit of
the solvent mixed in. Fifty percent DMSO is an antifreeze; it will work well in
automobiles for winter driving. To reliquify DMSO that has turned to a block of ice in the bottle, merely put it
into a pan of warm water. In pure form, the life of the solvent is indefinite. DMSO
may be used for years. Many other physical properties of DMSO could be discussed, but those given
here provide enough of a representative sampling, since this is not a text
exclusively on the chemical and physical characteristics of the solvent. Almost all
the known chemical and physical properties of DMSO are found in Crown
Zellerbach’s 
Dimethyl Sulfoxide Technical Bulletin. The crystalline structure of this solvent indicates the presence of a weak
hydrogen bond that contributes to the molecular forces in DMSO. 5
 In liquid state
DMSO seems to assume a chainlike structure held together by the alignment of the
two sulfur-oxygen poles. 6
,
7
 This structure is believed to suffer a partial
breakdown between 40
°
C and 60
°
C since certain properties of the liquid, such as
the refractive index, density, and viscosity, exhibit distinct changes in their
temperature coefficients in this temperature range. 8
Chemists find that DMSO’s ability to associate with molecules that have a
thick layer of hydrogen ions and with neutral molecules as well as ionic species is
a fascinating property. It makes DMSO an excellent solvent and penetrant through
organic and some inorganic material. Interactions between DMSO and other substances increase in proportion to the
polarizability of the substance. Solubility of the substance into DMSO is promoted
not only by this type of molecular interaction but is also favored by the degree to
which the energy of a system or substance is available for work. The greater the
packing of spherical molecules in the “free volume” of liquid DMSO, the better
solubility of cyclic unsaturated hydrocarbons as compared to that of noncyclic
saturated hydrocarbons. The solubility of a substance increases with the decrease
in the electronegativity of the atoms that constitute the substance with which the
solvent is mixing. 9
DMSO has a strong hydrogen bonding with hydroxyl groups. The significance
of DMSO as a scavenger of hydroxyl radicals is that 
this 
chemical ion is dominant
in arthritis. Hydroxyl radicals are responsible for breaking down the synovial fluid
and the cartilage of the joints. One of the few known substances responsible for
detoxifying this radical, DMSO forms a dimethyl sulfone plus water with thehydroxyl ion. These are readily excreted out of the body. Neutralizing this highly
toxic free radical causes the reduction of inflammation and the diminishing of pain
in arthritis. It is probably the primary mechanism that allows DMSO to work
effectively against arthritis. Incidentally, DMSO acts in a similar therapeutic way against the pathological
biochemical changes in cancer, atherosclerosis, and any other set of circumstances
where there would be a preponderance of free-radical generation. If superoxide anions are present in quantity as a result of ecological alteration
such as radiation toxicity, water pollution, chemotherapy, or other stressors, the
body’s ability to detoxify is affected. Instead, superoxide and superoxide
dismutase form hydrogen peroxide. Lipid peroxidation takes place. More hydroxyl
radicals develop and bring on cellular damage with degenerative disease. DMSO
offsets these effects and brings the body back to a more normal state. Free-radical pathology is an intricate part of virtually every metabolic
dysfunction you can think of. To illustrate, cancer manufactures prodigious
quantities of hydrogen peroxide, which then generate the hydroxyl radical. This is
probably part of the reason why DMSO has proved to be valuable in the treatment
of cancer. Holistic physicians are using it clandestinely all over the country for
that purpose. It is no “magic bullet,” but in the total metabolic program against
cancer, DMSO is quite useful as an adjunct. DMSO also has an effect on proteins and nucleic acids. It has excellent solvent
properties for dyes, starch, cellulose and its derivatives, lignin, vinyl polymers and
copolymers, polyvinyl alcohol, acetate, halides, and other things too numerous to
mention in this cursory description of its pharmacological effects. 10
,
11
,
12
,
13
,
14
,
15
,
16
Superior to water in associations based on the solvent’s induction of two poles
in aromatic rings, DMSO is able to exchange sites with “bound” water molecules
in relatively immobile protein structures. It has the unique property of transferring
through the skin barrier without attendant tissue damage. There seems to be a
loosened protein structure that results from the replacement of water in the
skin. 17
,
18
,
19
,
20
,
21
In a conference call lecture delivered to the semi-annual meeting of the
American College of Advancement in Medicine in May 1980, Dr. 
Jacob said,
“DMSO is literally water’s alter ego. It moves through membranes and substitutes
for water so that it pulls substances through cells that ordinarily would not move
through them. This is its basic mechanism of action. The DMSO-water bond is 1.3
times stronger than the water-water bond.” This attribute of bonding with water
better than water molecules themselves is highly significant. It probably is whatmakes DMSO an entirely different healing power than anything medical science
has known before. THE HEALING POWER OF DMSO
The New York Academy of Sciences sponsored a 1967 conference on the forms
of water in biological systems and the changes induced in its structure by the
presence of different solutions such as DMSO. The participants in the conference
were greatly concerned about the biological implications of the different states of
water. DMSO stabilizes ice-like water clusters. It is probably capable of displacing
the equilibrium between the less and more highly structured water, in favor of the
latter. The chemist Dr. H. Harry Szmant says, “Since the hydration of cell
constituents and the activity of water in general are not necessarily the same in the
different states of water, it follows that DMSO may exert an indirect effect on
biological systems by virtue of the changes that it causes in the liquid structure of
water. Among the more important biological consequences of this indirect effect of
DMSO, one can mention changes in the conformations and associations of proteins
and other molecules. More direct biological effects caused by DMSO, without a
profound change in its chemical identity, may include changes in ion-pairing
equilibria and in the specific solvation of hydrogen-bond donors.”
22
In brief, Dr. Szmant is saying that the basic therapeutic principle of DMSO is
that cellular damage can be altered—the cell healed and restored to near normal—
by changing the water structure within the cell. Cell membrane permeability by
DMSO also alters what normally goes into and comes out of the cell. As a unique nutrient substance, DMSO tends to cause a build-up of white
blood cells and more immune production of the migration inhibitory factor (MIF)
of macrophages. White blood cells surround any foreign particles in the blood thus
helping the body to fight infections. Macrophages are large wandering white blood
cells that eat and destroy foreign proteins including microorganisms and other cells
in the 
blood and tissues. Thus, the immune system is made more effective by
DMSO, which allows macrophages to move around and through the tissues faster. The MIF, or the factor that holds back macrophages from wandering away from
where they are needed, immobilizes and activates bystander macrophages. Such
activated macrophages have specific and nonspecific death-dealing properties
against germs and are poisonous to tumor cells. MIF is a kind of naturalchemotherapy for cancer present in the body all the time. 23
,
24
By its ability to modulate the lymphocyte form of white blood cell, DMSO
potentiates its immune production of MIF. In conjunction with immune stimulation,
DMSO can enter the cell to prime or activate the subcellular mechanisms involved
in the production and release of MIF. Also, it produces a cofactor that enhances
MIF or has MIF-like activity. DMSO diminishes allergic reactions by unfolding the cell membrane and
making more cell receptor sites available to attachment by specific antigens, the
substances that stimulate the body’s production of antibodies. When antigens
appear in the blood or tissue, antibodies that are produced or are already present
move into action against them and neutralize them. This process helps to produce
immunity to infectious diseases and prohibit the growth of malignancies. The modulating effect of DMSO on lymphocytes also tends to increase the
production of other lymphokines (stimulators of the circulation of lymph through
the vessels) such as interferon and lymphotoxin, as well as enhance the direct toxin
diluent effect of sensitive lymphocytes. Such a diluent reduces the potency of a
toxin. This activity has application in the control of microbiological infections and
tumors. It could be effective in breaking the body’s tolerance that may be
associated with cancer, and could also affect the tolerance associated with the
acceptance of organ transplants. DMSO may eventually be used as a cancer
preventative or as an agent helping to prevent transplant rejection. DMSO tends to potentiate cell-mediated immunity in diseases reported to be
associated with the decrease of cell-mediated responses, such as multiple
sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis,
lymphoid thyroiditis, ulcerative colitis, lepromatous leprosy, cancer, and
congenital diseases associated with T-cell deficiency or dysfunction. For all these
problems, DMSO could be quite effective in healing or useful in their metabolic
treatment. Furthermore, DMSO could also potentiate the cell-mediated immunity that
accounts for autoimmune diseases. 25
All of this potential activity of DMSO may be due to its property of 
affecting
cell membranes. It is a true therapeutic principle that has yet to be investigated to
its full potential. Medical science and biochemical study have hardly begun to
penetrate the metabolic mystery of this new healing power. In a paper published on DMSO’s usefulness in treatment of headache, Dr.
Jacob wrote: “DMSO readily crosses all the membranes of the body thus far
studied without apparently destroying the integrity of these membranes and permitsthe passage of a number of compounds across the membrane barriers. The
mechanism is not understood. . . . Dimethyl sulfoxide in the laboratory blocks
conduction in an isolated nerve when a 25 percent concentration is employed. Conduction returns when the fiber is washed free of DMSO. This blockade may
be an osmotic effect.”
26
 Nerve blockage is the way a local anesthetic works and
accounts for why DMSO takes away pain. DMSO, representing a new therapeutic principle, is not a drug in the usual
sense. Dr. Jacob told the House Select Committee on Aging: “The difference
between a therapeutic principle and a drug is that a drug is useful in treating a
disease or a dozen diseases or even one hundred diseases. But a therapeutic
principle is an entire new means of treating illness.”
By the end of 1991, the medical literature throughout the world had been
enriched by more than 3,000 scientific studies involving approximately 500,000
clinical patients on this new therapeutic principle, carried out in the most important
university centers and published in renowned medical journals in the United States,
Russia, Germany, Japan, England, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Chile, Argentina, and
many other countries in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY OF MOLECULAR
CHARACTERISTICS
Setting aside the physical and chemical properties of the DMSO molecule and
translating what we know into easily understood language, here is a non-technical
summary:
DMSO is a simple, small molecule with truly amazing chemical, biological,
and physical characteristics. One interesting property that all users should be familiar with is the
“exothermic reaction.” When DMSO is diluted with water, heat is 
released. The bottle containing the medication will be warm to the touch. This is a
temporary, harmless reaction. Hydroxyl radicals (OH) are ubiquitous and highly injurious to health. DMSO
combines with, and thus neutralizes, these dangerous little time bombs that
can literally explode your individual cells. The DMSO combines with the
hydroxyl radical, adds water, and then the kidneys excrete this chemical
complex into the urine.The generation of “free radicals” such as hydroxyl, chloride, and others is one
of the major factors in the disease process no matter what the state of the
disease. This is a major reason that DMSO, a “free radical scavanger,” is
useful in the treatment of many conditions such as cancer, arthritis, and
arteriosclerosis. DMSO substitutes for water in the living cell and, because of this remarkable
property, can heal the sick cell by destroying free radicals within the cell. DMSO also increases the permeability of cell membranes, allowing a flushing
of toxins from the cell. Allergic reactions are diminished by DMSO, which increases the body’s
resistance to infection by a number of complicated mechanisms. DRUG TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF DMSO
Numerous drugs dissolved in DMSO retain their therapeutic activity and their
specific properties over a long period. DMSO not only maintains but strengthens
and multiplies the action of the drugs dissolved in it, thus permitting the
administration of lower doses than normally required to obtain a satisfactory
response. Certain drugs dissolved in DMSO, such as insulin, corticoids,
antibiotics, pyrazolic derivatives, and cystostatics, may be used in lower dosage
than usual without reducing their therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, their
undesirable side effects are greatly diminished when they go into DMSO solution. In organ banks around the world, organs and tissues are stored and preserved
in DMSO so that they are available for transplanting and grafting. Tissues such as
red blood corpuscles for transfusions and semen for artificial insemination are
preserved in this manner. As a penetrating carrier of drugs, DMSO is unsurpassed. It easily carries
necessary pharmaceuticals to any part of the body for a therapeutic effect. It
passes through cellular membranes and tissues. It is invariably able to penetrate
endothelial coatings of the arterial walls, meninges of the brain, healthy skin,
mucous membranes, and other tissues. Intravenous or intramuscular injection of DMSO passes into the fluid of the
head and spine. When injected within a sheath such as that surrounding a muscle
or nerve, it appears rapidly in the blood stream. The central nervous system has a
response to DMSO different from that to other drugs because DMSO passes the
blood-brain barrier, easily penetrating it and flowing out again. Other drugs will
pass through this usually impenetrable blood-brain barrier along with the solventwhen they are molecularly mixed with it. Basic chemical processes at the nerve cell level are stimulated in the central
nervous system by use of DMSO. It permits the transport of amino acids to the
brain where they take part in the synthesis of glutamic acid and other elements
that, incorporated in the metabolic cycle in the brain, energize the functional
activity of the neurons and the brain. This functional stimulation permits the
correction of many neurological syndromes characterized by mental deficiency,
slower brain activity, loss of memory, and depression and anguish. On an experimental basis, DMSO has been administered topically,
subcutaneously, intramuscularly, intraperitoneally, intravenously, orally,
intrathecally, and by inhalation. It has been instilled into the eye, on the mucous
membranes, and into the urinary bladder. It has been given to laboratory animals
including rabbits, hamsters, rhesus monkeys, chickens, dogs, pigs, guinea pigs,
rats, mice, and goldfish, as well as humans. In the United States DMSO is currently an experimental drug for human use
and has been released as a veterinary prescription drug for the treatment of acute
musculoskeletal injuries and inflammations of horses. At the time of this writing,
DMSO remains approved by the FDA only for use in interstitial cystitis, a
relatively rare bladder disease. It has been prescribed for humans by clinics in
parts of Europe and South America for three decades. DMSO’S PRIMARY PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIONS
DMSO has a wide range of pharmacological actions including membrane
penetration and anti-inflammatory and local analgesic effect. It inhibits the growth
of bacteria, promotes the excretion of urine, holds back the secretion of
cholinesterase, changes the action of a concomitantly administered drug, acts as a
solvent for collagen, provides a specific or nonspecific increase of immunity, and
produces local vasodilatation. Moreover, DMSO will effectively carry local
anesthetics into the deeper layers of skin and into the eardrum, permitting incision
without pain. In controlled studies veterinarians report a wide range of efficacy for their
animal patients in multiple problems involving musculoskeletal injuries and acute
inflammations, including skin problems. When integrated with other drugs, DMSO is more efficacious than when it is
used as the sole medication. For instance, Dr. Jacob told the assembly of the
American College of Advancement in Medicine: “We have treated a number ofpatients with cellulitis [the inflammation of cellular or connective tissue] but
DMSO alone has limited effect on the condition. Rather, I would combine DMSO
with an antibiotic, although the solvent by itself has anti-bacterial properties. It will
convert bacteria which are resistant to a given antibiotic to being sensitive to that
same antibiotic.” This DMSO characteristic of resensitizing bacteria could
possibly restore an entire group of obsolete antibiotics to the armamentarium of
medical practitioners. In 1968, based on two years of animal experiments, the first clinical
investigations were begun on people in hospitals and health centers of Santiago,
Chile. DMSO, combined with many different drugs, was administered for various
diseases such as mental retardation, senility, rheumatic and cardiovascular
disorders, chronic respiratory insufficiency, skin infections, and other problems. These clinical studies integrating individual drugs with DMSO gave excellent
results that widely surpassed those obtained in the United States and in Europe up
to that time. DMSO previously had been administered alone, not in the form of an
integrated DMSO therapy. Further observations of the primary pharmacological actions of DMSO
indicate that administered parenterally (by some other means than through the
intestinal canal, particularly by injection into veins and subcutaneous tissues), it
has a more rapid and efficacious therapeutic effect than oral or topical (on the
skin) applications. For example, after both one-time and repeated topical
application of DMSO on the skin of rats, rabbits, and dogs for as long as several
weeks, there was no accumulation of the labeled DMSO found in the organs. (DMSO was labeled with a dye.) Autoradiograms (photographs detecting radioactivity) taken of rats twenty
hours after skin application showed no accumulation in the brain, spinal cord,
vertebral disks, fatty tissue, or adrenal glands. In dogs, skin application for three
weeks resulted in no accumulation of radioactivity except in those regions of the
skin that were directly treated with DMSO and in the muscle underneath the
treated areas. In contrast, intravenous injection of DMSO into laboratory animals 
resulted in
its permeation of almost all organs of the animals’ bodies. Yet, DMSO
administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or intraperitoneally has an extremely
low index of toxicity. Hence the therapeutic dosage is far below the toxic dose
(see 
Chapter 5
). Topical and oral absorption in humans is different from that in animals. DMSO
is readily absorbed when administered on human skin, with peak levels occurringafter 4 to 8 hours. The orally administered drug was rapidly absorbed, reaching a
blood serum peak in 4 hours, and serum levels of DMSO were undetectable after
120 hours. Both unchanged DMSO and its metabolite dimethyl sulfoxone
(DMSO
2
) were isolated from the urine. DMSO
2
 appeared in the blood after 48
hours and stayed in the blood for as long as 400 hours. 27
Scientists have concluded that the pharmacological action of DMSO lasts in
the body even when it is applied to the skin or swallowed. It is excreted partly as
the unchanged drug and partly as DMSO
2
. DMSO is rapidly absorbed in humans
when applied on the skin or given by mouth. Since blood levels are lower after
skin administration than after oral administration, skin absorption is probably less
complete than absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. While the solvent readily crosses most membranes of the body without
destroying the integrity of these membranes, it will not rapidly penetrate the nails,
the hair, or the enamel of the teeth. Steroids dissolved in DMSO, including hydrocortisone and the hormone
testosterone, will increase threefold in skin penetrability. 28
DMSO will carry hydrocortisone or hexachlorophene into the deepest layers of
the skin, producing a reservoir that remains for sixteen days and resists depletion
by washing the skin with soap, water, and alcohol. 29
,
30
,
31
DMSO significantly lessens inflammation and swelling by reducing
inflammatory exudate and enhancing the development of granulation tissue. Within
tissues such as the membranes of cells or their organelles, it renders steroids in the
body more available to their targets. 32
,
33
,
34
Keloids show softening and increasing return to normality when exposed to
DMSO therapy. A concentration of 50 to 80 percent put on two or three times a
day will flatten the raised scar after several months. Microscopic changes seen in
the skin will show loosening of collagen bundles. 35
A medical journal review article published in January–June 1985 discussed
the drug interactions, therapeutic use, metabolism, and toxicity of dimethyl
sulfoxide. The author, Dr. B.N. Swanson, gave a rather complete summary picture
of the substance. He described DMSO as a 
clear odorless liquid, inexpensively
produced as a byproduct of the paper industry that is widely available in the
United States as a solvent, but whose medical use is currently restricted by the
FDA to the palliative treatment of interstitial cystitis and to certain experimental
applications. Cutaneous (skin) manifestations of scleroderma appear to resolve
following topical applications of high concentrations of DMSO. A limited numberof clinical trials indicate that intravenous DMSO may be of benefit in the treatment
of amyloidosis, possibly by mobilizing amyloid deposits out of tissues into urine. (Amyloidosis is the accumulation of amyloid in the tissues, in amounts sufficient
to impair normal function. Amyloid is a glycoprotein, resembling starch, that is
deposited in the internal organs.) Topical application of DMSO provides rapid
temporary relief of pain in patients with arthritis and connective tissue injuries. Dr. Swanson, in his balanced evaluation, said that claims for anti-inflammatory
effects or acceleration of healing by DMSO seem to be currently unwarranted. There is no evidence that DMSO can alter progression of degenerative joint
disease, and, for this reason, DMSO may be considered for palliative treatment
only and not to the exclusion of standard anti-inflammatory agents. The safety of
DMSO in combination with other drugs has not been established; neurotoxic
interactions with sulindac have been reported. In experimental animals, intravenous DMSO is as effective as mannitol and
dexamethasone in reversing cerebral edema and intracranial hypertension. An
initial clinical trial in eleven patients tends to support this latter application. DMSO enhances diffusion of other chemicals through the skin, and, for this reason,
mixtures of idoxuridine and DMSO are used for topical treatment of herpes zoster
in the United Kingdom. Adverse reactions to DMSO are common, but are usually
minor and related to the concentration of DMSO in the medication solution. Consequently, the most frequent side effects, such as skin rash and pruritis
(itching) after dermal application, intravascular hemolysis (breaking up of the
blood elements) after intravenous infusion, and gastrointestinal discomfort after
oral administration, can be avoided in large part by employing more dilute
solutions. Most clinical trials of DMSO have not incorporated the components of
experimental design necessary for objective, statistical evaluation of efficacy. Randomized comparisons between DMSO, placebo, and known active treatments
were rarely completed. Final approval of topical DMSO for treatment of rheumatic
diseases in particular will require a multicenter, randomized comparison between
high and low concentrations of DMSO and an orally-active, nonsteroidal anti-
inflammatory agent. 36
HOW DMSO IS ADMINISTERED TOPICALLY
The substance is usually administered in liquid or gel form on the surface of the
skin; the liquid may be more effective though people seem to prefer the gel. It isnot rubbed in but merely painted or patted on in a thin coating. When Dr. Jacob
showed Sandy Sherrick how to apply the solvent to her neck and back, as shown
on 
60 Minutes
, he said, “Now, when you put it on, don’t rub it too hard. You just
have to apply it to the skin and it goes in. Let it dry over twenty minutes to a half
an hour. It won’t be totally dry, but anything left you can just wipe off.”
Treatment must be individualized. The optimal concentration varies from 50 to
80 or even 90 percent. In general the face and neck are more sensitive to DMSO
than other parts of the body and no higher concentration than 50 percent should be
applied there. Topical concentrations of DMSO should be kept below 70 percent
in areas where there is a reduction in circulation. Not all clinicians agree that this
lesser concentration is necessary. It is preferable to begin treatment with lower
concentrations until the skin tolerance builds up. Look for skin irritation before
advancing to the higher concentration. For some rare conditions such as scleroderma or Peyronie’s disease (where
plaques or strands of dense fibrous tissue encircle the penis, causing deformity
and painful erection) the treatment periods are more than a year. How often you
administer the DMSO solution depends on the judgment of your doctor and the
particular clinical problem. If the solvent is applied for long periods where there is a lessened blood
supply, antibiotics should become part of the therapy, despite their bacteriostatic
qualities. The most common set of health problems for which people will apply topical
DMSO at home probably involves acute musculoskeletal injuries and
inflammations. The earlier the drug is put onto the injured site, the more dramatic
the result. For example, a fourteen-year-old boy was punched in the face. A one-
inch laceration with swelling broke open over the bridge of his nose and extended
to his eye. Six milliliters (ml) of DMSO were applied to the area. Fifteen minutes
later the pain, swelling, and skin irritation started to diminish and disappeared
completely within four hours. The skin must be clean, dry, and unbroken, not only for musculoskeletal
problems, but for any topical use of the medication. Remove any excess skin oil or
perspiration. Make sure heavy metal or insecticide material has not been allowed
to dry on or coat the skin. The medical 
conditions that respond best are acute post-
traumatic soft tissue injuries to the neck, shoulders, and back, sprains and strains
of the larger joints of the upper and lower limbs, acute post-traumatic soft tissue
injuries associated with subcutaneous and intramuscular bleeding involving the
trunks or the limbs, and acute bursitis involving the large joints of the body.A 70 percent concentration of DMSO mixed with water in volumes ranging
from 8 to 12 ml, applied on and around the injury in a wide area at least three
times daily, will provide effective healing response for four out of five people. Some benefit will be experienced within twenty-four hours. Measure out the amount of DMSO you judge is required to cover the affected
area. Paint on the solution with a cotton-tipped applicator. As an example, to treat
gout of the big toe, apply about 6 ml of the material to the toe and the entire
forefoot. Usually it requires several minutes of painting and repainting before an
adequate dosage is achieved. Allow the treated area to remain uncovered for thirty
or forty minutes; any remaining solution should then be wiped off with an
absorbent material to prevent injury to your clothing. Relief from gouty swelling
and pain occurs in thirty minutes and lasts for one to four hours. Repeated
applications up to four times daily will adequately control the pain of acute gout. When 60 to 90 percent DMSO is applied to the skin, warmth, redness, itching,
and sometimes local hives may occur. In most cases this local irritation disappears
within two to three hours. The skin surfaces behind the knee and elbow joints and
the skin of the face, neck, and armpit are sensitive to strong concentrations of the
solvent. When 60 to 90 percent concentration is applied to the palm of the hand,
the skin may wrinkle and stay that way for several days. Some liniments give pain relief, decreased muscle spasm, and increased
mobility of affected arthritic joints through a counterirritant effect. Ordinary
liniments take pain away only as long as counterirritation lasts. This is not how
DMSO works. In contrast, with DMSO the skin reaction of hives and irritation
disappears while the beneficial effects last for several hours. An interesting observation is that the application of DMSO to one affected
joint or area often leads to pain relief in some other location. DMSO has systemic
effects. It is a depressant to the central nervous system and, of course, it reaches
all areas of the body when absorbed through the skin and into the blood stream. HOW DMSO IS SUPPLIED
The only DMSO solution of sufficiently pure grade for medical purposes,
available commercially, has been Rimso-50 manufactured by Terra
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Buena Park, California and distributed by Research
Industries Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah. Recently other distributors have been
marketing DMSO in gel and solution in strengths other than the 50 percent
concentration of Rimso-50.The brand Domoso is a 90 percent, pharmaceutical grade DMSO suitable for
injection and for mixing with water to lower its strength for topical application and
oral ingestion. Thirteen distributors across the United States make Domoso
available. Until the FDA stopped its production, Demso, another brand-name
product, which had a 75 percent concentration, the ideal strength for use on the
skin (other than the face and neck), was produced by Commercial Laboratories of
Florida, an ethical drug company producing DMSO for prescription by doctors. It
was licensed by individual states under the stringent rules and regulations that
cover all pharmaceutical manufacturers. DMSO is available legally to
veterinarians and for research purposes with humans in states where such
investigational use is allowed by law. Rimso-50 comes in 50 cubic centimeter (cc) vials. Domoso is supplied in pint
bottles and in gallon bottles for veterinary use. These products are sold mainly to
doctors and pharmacists, but many businesses have acquired supplies for resale to
the public. Veterinary DMSO gel comes in a 120 gram tube of 80 percent
concentration. There has to be some water mixed in to dilute pure DMSO,
otherwise it tends to freeze at around 68
°
F. Adding one part water to 10 parts
solvent will drastically lower the freezing temperature. The material is exceedingly
hard to handle without water in the solution. Many of the industrial grade DMSO solutions have an acid or acetone
contamination of several percent. Although this solvent grade is being used for
pharmaceutical purposes from one end of the country to the other, there is some
hazard involved. Human skin reacts to the contaminants and to too high a DMSO
concentration. Acetone contamination can lead to serious medical consequences. Because of its small molecular weight, acetone is readily carried into the blood by
acetone-contaminated DMSO. Prolonged exposure to acetone can lead to liver
damage and death. So 
caveat emptor
—let the buyer beware—when he buys crude
DMSO from his friendly local dealer. While DMSO side effects and toxicity will be discussed in 
Chapter 5
, 
we
advise here that the most efficacious remedy for acid burning or skin rash resulting
from DMSO usage is to coat the topically treated skin with aloe vera cream. Aloe
vera is a transparent mucilaginous gel derived from the leaf of the aloe, a cactus-
like plant. It is useful as a follow-up to any topical DMSO application—its use is
recommended after each DMSO treatment, with or without skin irritation
occurring. Aloe vera is a good preventative for such external irritation. The usual oral dosage of DMSO is one to two teaspoons per day. The drug is
mixed with tomato juice or grape juice, since it is quite foul tasting by itself.Arthritics benefit from taking 50 percent DMSO orally as well as applying it
topically. Some physicians give patients as many as three injections of DMSO
intravenously per day. This is not the intravenous infusion or drip technique, but is
a slow push into the blood stream all at once. This method is reported to be useful
for treating the more serious degenerative diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis,
crippling arthritis, multiple sclerosis, parkinsonism, and others. As much as 20 cc
DMSO in injections have been given as a push. The drug is diluted to
approximately 25 percent concentration with sterile water. The slow intravenous drip procedure is carried out over a two- to three-hour
period. Then 50 cc to 100 cc of DMSO are placed into a 500 cc glucose or saline
solution and dripped into a vein in the patient’s arm. EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid) chelation therapy, the intravenous
injection of a synthetic amino acid that removes ionic calcium from the blood
stream, may be administered at the same time with the chelating agent being a
portion of the same DMSO intravenous solution for infusion. EDTA itself will
often relieve the symptoms of arthritis. Please note that these injection procedures must be performed by a physician
trained in the use of DMSO and EDTA. There are some possible side effects,
which are completely reversible and harmless but can be frightening to someone
unacquainted with how to counter them. As with any other medicine, the doctor
should be properly trained and experienced in the use of these compounds. 37
,
38CHAPTER 4
General Medical Uses for DMSO
Ruth P. Lewis of Sarasota, Florida, age sixty-four, was in so much pain from
rheumatoid arthritis she couldn’t walk without the aid of a four-legged walking
device. Suffering from her joint complaints for over twenty years, she had also
recently sustained a back injury and was told by her physicians that she must have
complete bed rest for at least six months. It was the only thing to do, they
emphasized. Mrs. Lewis realized that remaining in bed for so long could cause her never to
walk again, even with the aid of her walking device. So, rather than give her life
over to remaining flat on her back, the woman had her son and her husband
physically carry her into the Douglass preventive medicine clinic, then located in
Marietta, Georgia (the clinic has since been moved to Clayton, Georgia), to
undergo a course of treatment with DMSO. “I had previously experienced many months of severe pain in my hips and legs,
visiting specialists, diagnostic clinics, hospitalization in traction, and other
procedures,” said Mrs. Lewis. “When I entered the doctor’s office for DMSO
treatment, I was unable to put both feet on the ground. After two-and-a-half weeks
of intravenous DMSO treatment, I walked out of that office without any help
whatsoever—no cane—no support at all. “I had not been able to close my right hand completely for over a year. It even
kept me awake at night with severe pain. But after the IV, topical, and oral DMSO
treatment, I can now close my hand tightly. The arthritis has not returned,” said
Ruth Lewis. “I cannot put into words what this drug has done for me. I highly recommend it. I saw many people come and go during my clinic stay; all walked out well,” she
said. *   *   *
“In January 1980, I injured my knee and was in terrific pain, at times immobile,”
wrote a retired schoolteacher, sixty-two-year-old Gertie D. Brown of PortCharlotte, Florida. “My orthopedist stated that I had a torn ligament, and that this
would require surgery. But I refused to have the knee operation. Six months later I
heard of Dr. William Campbell Douglass through the media (television) and of the
wonderful results his patients were getting from the use of DMSO. I immediately
contacted Dr. Douglass’s clinic and started receiving treatments. I received at
least eight intravenous DMSO treatments and got wonderful results, too.”
Mrs. Brown’s IV doses of DMSO were quite small. Most of her direct comfort
came from topical application of DMSO to her injured knee and to other joints that
had given her aching pain over the years. “The knee is not fully strong, so when I do quite a bit of walking it feels
weak,” said Gertie Brown. “Before retiring, I apply a small amount of the topical
DMSO and the next morning I am ready to return to my daily activities. For those
who seem to have great problems with joint pain, I strongly recommend [that they]
try DMSO.”
*   *   *
A handsome man, six-foot-tall Marvin Combs of Bradenton, Florida, doesn’t look
his sixty-six years. He still works hard in construction as a building contractor. Mr. Combs said, “Being in an auto accident with a terrific whiplash that also
aggravated other existing health problems, DMSO gave me decided improvement
over the back pain and for my other troubles. Medicine prescribed by other
doctors had given me no results at all. But lawyers fighting my accident case
thought I should continue with my original doctors. So I stopped the DMSO
treatment. Again I got no results from the numerous pain pills prescribed and just
built up high prescription costs. “The way I know how I now feel, I surely will return for additional DMSO
treatment [after this accident claim is concluded] as it is the only thing I can
honestly say gave me relief even to the aggravated problems I already had. To me
it is wonderful there is something to help folks besides stuffing a lot of pills into
one’s system.”
Unfortunately, payment for medicine like DMSO is not reimbursed by health
or liability insurance policies because it is not considered a legal form of therapy. This, despite Combs’s medical record that says: “Arrived 
with severe pain in his
neck, left arm, lower right arm, some tenderness in both legs, and general arthritis. After five days, he ‘sleeps like a baby because I have absolutely no pain.’ Relief
was obtained after the third IV. He was able to return to his normal routine directlyafter the conclusion of DMSO treatment.”
One of the ways to determine progress from using DMSO for weak, arthritic
joints is to measure grip strength in the hands before and after receiving DMSO
treatment. The technique involves inflating a rolled-up sphygmomanometer cuff,
the same instrument used to measure blood pressure, to 20 millimeters of mercury
(mm/Hg). The patient then grabs hold of the cuff and squeezes it as hard as
possible to raise the mercury reading on the attached pressure gauge as high as he
or she is able. A normally strong man’s hand should be able to put out between
200 mm/Hg and 300 mm/Hg of pressure; a normally strong woman might squeeze
the blood pressure cuff in a range from 100 mm/Hg to 200 mm/Hg. Before DMSO treatment, Combs could raise the mercury reading only to the
40 mm/Hg level with either hand. In three days of taking intravenous DMSO he
doubled his grip strength reading to 80 mm/Hg with either hand. He will probably
grow stronger when he returns to using DMSO. *   *   *
Another building contractor, sixty-one-year-old Russell Whitney of Arcadia,
Florida, is a severe arthritic who consumes an exceedingly high daily amount of
sugar—fifty-one teaspoonsful in his refined foods. This high sugar intake is quite
significant, for it may contribute to the patient’s arthritic disability. Sugar’s
deleterious effect on the body will be discussed at length in 
Chapter 7
. Mr. Whitney had excellent results with DMSO usage. His consumption of
overly refined foods and sweets did not prevent the solvent from exerting a
beneficial effect. The man’s ability to sleep without pain improved greatly; the
swelling of his finger joints went away; he tapered off all pain medication within
five days of the start of DMSO treatment. The patient is a sportsman and hunter. Immediately following his DMSO
intravenous infusions, he left on an African hunting safari that lasted for three
months. The DMSO treatment allowed him to lift, cock, aim, and shoot a heavy
hunting rifle and enabled him to tramp jungle trails without pain. GENERAL MEDICAL USES OF DMSO
First listed in the 
Physician’s Desk Reference
 of 1980, the editors’ statement for
DMSO says: “There are no known contraindications.”
1
Of all the areas in which dimethyl sulfoxide might be used, the public seems tobe most interested in using it for various forms of arthritis; however, informed
physicians know that the solvent has a vast array of applications. In fact, in the
medical and pharmaceutical literature 
this drug is declared to have the widest
range and greatest number of therapeutic actions ever shown for any other
single chemical. DMSO shows approximately 40 pharmacologic properties that
may be advantageous in the prevention, symptomatic relief, or pathology reversal
of human organic disease. Following are sixteen of its major therapeutic properties:
1
. It blocks pain by interrupting conduction in the small c-fibers, the
nonmyelinated nerve fibers. 2
. It is anti-inflammatory. 3
. It is bacteriostatic, fungistatic, and virostatic. 4
. It transports numerous pharmaceuticals across membranes. 5
. It reduces the incidence of platelet thrombi in blood vessels. 6
. It has a specific effect on cardiac contractility by inhibiting calcium to reduce
the workload of the heart. 7
. It acts as a tranquilizer even when simply rubbed into the skin. 8
. It enhances antifungal and antibacterial agents when combined with them. 9
. It is a vasodilator, probably related to histamine release in the cells and to
prostaglandin inhibition. 10
. It inhibits the release of cholinesterase. 11
. It tends to soften collagen by its peculiar cross-linking effect. 12
. It scavenges the hydroxyl free radical. 13
. It stimulates various types of immunity. 14
. It is a potent diuretic, especially when administered intravenously. 15
. It brings about interferon formation in the organism. 16
. It stimulates healing of wounds. The medicine is prescribed in many parts of the world. For example, in the
United States it became prescriptive in veterinary medicine in 1970 and in human
medicine in 1978. It is prescribed in Canada for scleroderma; in Great Britain and
Ireland for shingles; in Germany and Austria for a whole host of disorders
including bursitis, tendinitis, and 
arthritis; in Switzerland for a variety of
disabilities; and in Russia for the widest range of medical uses. Certain fair-skinned people such as those with red or blond hair and blue eyes
are more sensitive to DMSO. For them, the topical, oral, or intravenousconcentration should be 50 percent or less, particularly around the face and neck. DMSO seems to grow cumulative in its effect. Experts have observed and
reported that less DMSO is needed to achieve results as time passes. This is a
“different” quality in a drug, since most pharmaceuticals require increasingly
heavy doses. DMSO attacks the disease itself rather than just the symptoms. DMSO encompasses an entirely new method of treating disease and therein
lies its difficulty with the traditional medical community and the watchdog
bureaucrats. It has been classified as a drug that is useful for a single disease or
class of diseases, but DMSO really is something more than a drug. On the 
60 Minutes
 television broadcast in which Mike Wallace questioned
Stanley Jacob, M.D., Wallace asked: “Dr. Jacob, isn’t a drug that has so many
alleged uses from arthritis to tennis elbow, from burns to spinal cord injuries, from
mental retardation to baldness—isn’t a drug like that automatically suspect?”
Dr. Jacob replied: “No question. And I think that that’s one of the reasons it’s
having problems. And if I had it to do all over again, maybe the major mistake that
I made, Mike, in the beginning was to tell it the way it was. I think if I would have
said it was good for a sprained ankle, but only if the ankle sprain were on the left
side, DMSO maybe, might be approved today.”
Indeed, DMSO has been too dramatically therapeutic to be believed. For
instance, a January 11, 1981, news report in the 
Ocala Star Banner
, Ocala,
Florida, carried the headline: “
DOCTOR
 
CLAIMS
 
DMSO
 
SAVED
 11.” The story read:
SAN
 
DIEGO
 (
AP
)—A doctor at the University of San Diego credits the
controversial drug DMSO with saving the lives of 11 people who suffered
severe head injuries. Dr. Perry E. Camp, a UCSD Medical School neurosurgeon, said
Friday that dimethyl sulfoxide was effective for 11 of 30 people judged
near death and for which other lifesaving methods have proved useless. “To take patients like that and have even one out of 10 
survive is
phenomenal,” Camp said. “The fact that we have any survivorship at
all . . . doesn’t sound like much, but it is extremely encouraging,” Camp
said. 2
“A few researchers claim this painkiller may be the aspirin of the 21st
century,” said the New York 
Daily News. 3
Such drama reported in the press doesn’t make DMSO more popular among
the orthodox medical community. It puts too much pressure on doctors to use apharmaceutical they’re not well acquainted with. Without question, any legitimate scientific resistance to the general medical
uses of DMSO is at a minimum. Possible therapeutic doubt exists merely in the
minds of those physicians who have not informed themselves of the published
medical studies in scientific literature. If you hear a doctor downgrade the drug,
usually you’ll discover that he has not actually used it or has done little literature
research on it. Resistance is purely political. DMSO got bad press in 1965, and the FDA
disapproved of it then. Once the bureaucracy does that, it has trouble backtracking
on its original objections. Today, there are still pockets of resistance within the
FDA. The political opposition is not based on anything solid but on emotion and
the greater ease in saying something negative. Also, economic opposition may be generated by the large pharmaceutical
firms, because DMSO is not patentable in the general sense. Its broad medical
usage would dilute the value of the vast quantities of pharmaceutical agents on
which the pharmaceutical companies hold patents. It is natural, therefore, to find
little enthusiasm for such a nonpatentable therapeutic substance that is able to be
produced and marketed so cheaply. Consider, for instance, the four “wonder drugs” now being pushed for arthritis
by the drug companies and the doctors: Motrin, Tolectin, Nalfon, and Naprosyn. All of them have proved to be “. . . about as effective . . . as aspirin . . . clearly
any differences are small,” according to the February 1977 issue of 
The Resident
and Staff Physician
, page 109. What about the cost and safety of these pretenders? At the time of this writing,
Nalfon cost the patient a minimum of $175 a month. This is about 
twenty times
 the
cost of equally effective aspirin and 
ten times
 the cost of topical DMSO—a tough
pill to swallow. Tough to swallow indeed. Consider the following possible side effects of
Nalfon as compared to non-toxic DMSO:
Gastrointestinal bleeding and possible hemorrhagic death
Ulcers
Gastritis
Clotting abnormalities causing hemorrhage–possible stroke
Hemolytic anemia (destruction of blood cells)
Meningitis (brain inflammation–possible death)
Kidney failureVasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels)
Heart failure
Fatal aplastic anemia
Side effects of Nalfon were reported in the April 4, 1980 and February 6, 1981
issues of 
The Medical Letter. They include personality changes, paranoia, and
rage. The latter two side effects are serious psychiatric signs that may lead to
murder, suicide, or both. DMSO has proved to have interesting and valuable biological properties. Some of them are discussed briefly in this chapter and others are explored in
greater detail in the chapters that follow.
Dmso_Nature_s_Healer_-_Morton_Walker.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        This will
say to doctors, ‘protect your people without fear of being sued. ’”
State Senator Regina Smith, Public Health Committee co-chairperson, noted
that doctors are liable for all other drugs they prescribe. She indicated that it
would be a dangerous precedent to exempt this experimental drug. 5
 The
Connecticut bill was defeated, but DMSO supporters said that they planned to
submit a revised version in the future. They did not. I agree in principle with Senator Smith, but the FMA has gone to the opposite
extreme. Florida medical liability policies won’t cover the use of DMSO for
anything other than interstitial cystitis. Between the time the FMA issued its official statement about DMSO and the
State Legislature of Connecticut introduced a bill to get physicians off the hook in
the event something went wrong with any patients for whom they had prescribed
DMSO, the State of Florida spoke up. James T. Howell, M. D. , State Health
Officer in the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services of Florida, felt it
necessary to respond 
on DMSO. Through the press Dr. Howell expressed a grave
concern that an industrial solvent-type of DMSO was made available for human
consumption. He was also worried about the veterinary product. He said that
neither of these had been refined for human consumption and could be extremely
harmful. Two programs with a tremendous viewing audience broadcast over CBS-TV,
one in March 1980 and a repeat in July 1980, seem to have caused people to
throw caution aside. The public insisted upon getting hold of this painkilling drug
whether it’s surrounded with controversy or not. All that people want is relief of
pain whatever the cause. Interestingly, some prominent figures in sports, politics,
acting, and other occupations are submitting to DMSO treatment, too, without
regard to whether its use is legally admissible by the judgments and standards of
the FDA. The various applications of DMSO in clinical practice and for home use as a
self-care remedy for such problems as arthritis, shingles, headaches, cataracts,
herpes simplex, burns, Down’s syndrome, spinal cord injuries, bursitis, sprains,and many other conditions, make it an ideal product. The various modes of
treatment such as skin applications, intravenous therapy, and oral and
intramuscular therapy are desperately wanted by the famous and unfamous alike. THE NEW PAINKILLER BECOMES A MEDIA CELEBRITY
When Governor George Wallace traveled across the country to find pain relief
from DMSO administered by Dr. Stanley Jacob, this new painkilling drug got a big
boost. He began treatment July 1, 1980, to relieve discomfort associated with
paralysis. Wallace had been confined to a wheelchair since he was wounded in a 1972
assassination attempt while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for
President at Laurel, Maryland. Doctors described Wallace’s discomfort as
occurring in the “flank,” a medical term referring to the area between the lowest rib
and the waist. While his pain was not excruciating, it was persistent and limited
Wallace’s everyday activities. 6
The governor’s flank discomfort reportedly disappeared, especially by
faithfully dabbing DMSO on the painful area from time to time during the course
of a month. As Wallace was a well-known public figure, his success in relief from
pain has had an impact on the promotion of the drug as a painkiller and anti-
inflammatory agent that works. An even greater booster was the television news show that Wallace watched
that featured DMSO as the definitive but controversial product for eliminating pain
when all else failed. Wallace was controversial himself at one time and he knew
the incongruity of such a label. The TV show stimulated the governor to seek
treatment with DMSO. On March 23, 1980, and again on July 6, 1980, the popular television program
60 Minutes
 reported on DMSO. In a broadcast segment titled “The Riddle of
DMSO,” CBS news correspondent Mike Wallace gave broad national attention to
this chemical. On the program, Dr. J. Richard Crout, the chief FDA opponent of
DMSO, said that double-blind studies were mandatory before approval would be
forthcoming from his agency. Yet, researchers can’t conduct double-blinds
because of the distinctive odor of the product. Within a few minutes of putting it
on your skin, you can taste it on your tongue; it penetrates the skin and runs
through the blood stream so effectively. There is a lot more to the issue of DMSO, however, and on 60 
Minutes
 MikeWallace brought in the human factor in which the relief from pain is of primary
importance. He showed Emily Rudich playing the piano in spite of her severely
deformed fingers and years of searing, unrelenting pain from arthritis. Referring to DMSO’s effect on her condition, Mrs. Rudich said, “I have some
very badly gnarled fingers from arthritis, and the DMSO eases the arthritis right
away. It’s not a miracle drug, doesn’t really cure it, but it eases it. I had a fever
blister on my lip. I used DMSO three times, and the fever blister went away
immediately. I’ve cut myself in the kitchen, and sometimes quite badly, and have
used DMSO on it and the cuts begin to heal right away. ”
Most dramatic was the case of Sandy Sherrick of Riverside, California, who
had suffered severe whiplash and nerve damage in an automobile accident two
years before. In November 1979, Mrs. Sherrick writhed in an agony of back, neck,
and shoulder pain. “No painkiller, no therapy, no doctor, it seemed, could help,”
said Mike Wallace. “Oh, the pain was extremely bad,” Sandy Sherrick confirmed. “I was to the
point where I cried continuously. I did not cook meals. I did not clean. I barely got
myself dressed. They finally got to the point where they just told me, ‘You’re
going to have to live with it. The weather’s going to affect you, and you’re just
simply going to have to live with it. ’”
Upon learning about DMSO, Mrs. Sherrick grasped at it as a last resort. Feeling awful pain throughout the trip, she flew to Portland, 
Oregon, for treatment
by Dr. Jacob. By the third day of intravenous and topical application of DMSO,
the patient began to feel somewhat better, reported Mike Wallace. 60 Minutes
followed her progress on videotape. Before she left for home, Dr. Jacob showed
her where and how to apply DMSO topically to her neck and back. The television camera then switched to Mrs. Sherrick in her Riverside,
California, home. She was feeling comfortable, smiling, and taking no medicine for
pain relief. She said, “Oh, the pain’s gone. The pain is totally, completely gone
from my neck. I’m telling the truth, the honest-to-God truth. ” She could do her
housework, drive a car, lift packages. “I have not found anything I can’t do. ”
Mike Wallace pointed out that a story like Sandy Sherrick’s does not take the
place of a scientific test, which the FDA requires. “Well, that’s fine. I can understand their feeling,” said Mrs. Sherrick. “But
they’ve got to be able to look at the test results and take me as an individual. I
have no reason to say it does work or it doesn’t. All I can say is what it’s done for
me personally. It worked for me. ”
This powerful presentation reached 70,000,000 TV viewers. Dr. Jacob’s officewas immediately swamped, with up to 10,000 people figuratively crying, “Save
me, save me from pain. ”
Pain victims also came to other physicians around the United States, Canada,
and Mexico who were known to utilize DMSO. They arrived in droves. Telephones in the offices of doctors and pharmacies in Florida, Oregon, Louisiana,
and Nevada rang busily for several days following the Sunday evening broadcast
of 
60 Minutes. A subsequent wire service report about the FDA’s refusal to approve the drug
appeared around the country in Tuesday’s newspapers. In his program footnote, Mike Wallace stated: “Tomorrow morning in
Washington, the House Committee on Aging begins an inquiry into why DMSO is
not available to all Americans for any appropriate ailment, including plain and
simple pain. ” The numbers of letters and telephone calls that came into
congressional offices inquiring about the cause of DMSO unavailability were
massive. A sampling of the letters sent to just one congressman, Claude Pepper of
Florida, are found in 
Chapter 4. The disclosures that came out of this and other Congressional investigations
were shocking to an already embarrassed scientific medical community. The
apparatus by which the Food and Drug Administration studies the efficacy of a
new drug was turned upside down. As fully discussed in 
Chapter 13
, revelations
about ignorance of the scientific 
method or fraudulent tests in relation to the drug’s
effectiveness caused not only DMSO opponents to discontinue clinical trials but
even made its proponents back off. And this disconnection to the product’s
therapeutic effects also included its chief proponent, Dr. Stanley Jacob. As you will read in more detail later on, FDA investigator Dr. K. C. Pani
allegedly took money from Dr. Jacob to pay off his wife’s exceedingly high
medical bills for cancer treatment.
State Senator Regina Smith
Who is the co-chairperson of the Public Health Committee in Connecticut?
The bill was defeated, but the supporters planned to submit a revised version in the future
What was the outcome of the Connecticut bill?
He was worried about the industrial solvent-like properties of DMSO being used for human consumption without proper testing
What was the main concern expressed by James T. Howell, the State Health Officer in Florida?
The show reached 70 million viewers, and as a result, many people sought out DMSO treatment from doctors.
What was the impact of the 60 Minutes broadcast on the popularity of DMSO?
Topical application (rubbed into the skin)
What is one of the primary ways DMSO is administered?