Vitamin B17, also known as laetrile, refers to an artificial form of amygdalin, a plant substance found in certain nuts, plants, and fruit seeds. While commonly labeled as a vitamin, B17 lacks approval from the American Institute of Nutrition Vitamins and is not recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (132). Laetrile is…
Everything old is new again, or so it always seems with alternative medicine.
Before I explain what I m talking about a bit more, let me just preface my remarks with an explanation for why there was no post tomorrow. I realize that most people probably don t care that much if I miss a day or two, but I care. Basically, I was in Chicago from Thursday through Sunday taking a rather grueling review course in general surgery offered by the American College of Surgeons. The reason is that I have to take my board recertification examination in general surgery in December. It was an amazing course, and I was stunned at how much outside of my specialty had changed in the decade since I last had to recertify, just as, I m sure, those who don t specialize in breast surgery were shocked at how much has changed in how the surgical care of breast cancer has changed in the last decade. (I might have more to say about this in a later post.) The primary reason I m mentioning now (other than because