Laetrile mix 'can kill’

Press, 8 March 1978, Page 9

Laetrile mix 'can kill’

NZPA-Reuter Chicago;; ; Laetrile (extracted fromii 'apricot Kernels) and certain’: foods, primarily fresh fruits and vegetables, can kill if a I digested together, according (i Ito a group of University of J California researchers. d 1 Cancer patients taking the I] controversial drug, laetrile,) ’should not eat fresh fruits;! land vegetables, including let-ii ituce. celery, peaches, pears,! 'nectarines, bean sprouts, andj; ■alfalfa sprouts. the re-1] searchers say. Another dan- 1

• gerous combination is lae-r itrile an-1 almonds, the re- . ’searchers say. The result of laetrile, a); cyanogenic glycoside, coming)' into contact with foods con-! ’taining hydrolytic enzymes is I: I hydrogen cyanide—a deadly • Ipoiso . they say. ; Laetrile is indirectlyli blared for at least two)’ poison deaths. As manv as ' ■ 17 other deaths have been • (attributed to eating apricot •pits, the researchers write in tiie current edition of the!

•journal of the American’ (Medical Association. ! “It is toxic, which makes! it unique among the cancer .quack remedies." Dr Jerrv P. (Lewis, leader of the University of California research team, writes. Hydrogen cyanide attacks, [the heart, brain, and central (nervous system. Within one to five minutes, the poison can cause difficulty in breathing. difficulty in walking, vomiting, convulsions, and i unconsciousness. j