Pharmacological and biological treatments are an assortment
of drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine.
A sampling of biological and pharmacological treatments
currently being offered by alternative and medical practitioners
includes the following:
Antineoplastons
Peptide fractions originally derived from normal human
blood and urine, presently being used to treat certain
kinds of tumors as well as AIDS.
Cartilage Products
Derived from cattle, sheep, sharks, and chickens, which
are being used to treat cancer and arthritis.
Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic
Acid (EDTA) Chelation Therapy
Used to treat heart disease, circulatory problems, and
rheumatoid arthritis and to prevent cancer.
Immunoaugmentive Therapy
An experimental form of cancer immunotherapy consisting
of daily injections of processed blood products.
714-X
A nitrogen-providing compound injected into the lymph
system near the abdomen to treat cancer and AIDS.
Coley’s Toxins
A mixture of killed cultures of bacteria from Streptococcus
pyogenes and Serratia marcescens, used for treating
cancer.
MTH-68
A vaccine that uses an attenuated strain of the Newcastle
disease virus of chickens (paramyxovirus), which may
interfere with cancer-related viruses.
Neural Therapy
A therapy that involves injecting local anesthetics
into nerve cell bodies, peripheral nerves, scars, and
elsewhere to treat chronic pain.
Apitherapy
The medicinal use of various products of the common
honeybee to treat a variety of diseases: rheumatic diseases
such as arthritis; neurological diseases such as multiple
sclerosis, low back pain, and migraine; dermatological
conditions (for example, eczema, psoriasis, herpesvirus
infections); chronic pain; and cancer.
Iscador
A liquid extract from mistletoe plants used to treat
tumors.
Biologically Guided
Chemotherapy
A major impediment to full
investigation of alternative pharmacological and biological
treatments is the high expense of conducting the trials.
Most alternative treatments lack sponsors and funding
for clinical trials of safety and effectiveness. Many
potentially useful alternative drugs or vaccines are
supported by data indicating they may be useful in treating
cancer, AIDS, heart disease, hepatitis, and other major
health problems.
Adapted from Alternative
Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons, a report prepared
under the auspices of the Workshop on Alternative Medicine,
held in Chantilly VA on September 14-16, 1992.
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