Cancer - the dreaded C word! And the question whether Vitamin B12 has anything to do with it? Let's look at what we know:
- Vitamin B12 is needed by cell DNA to switch off genes that aren't needed right now
- most cells only need 1 or 2 genes switched on to perform their function. eg thyroid cells need the gene to produce thyroxin switched on, and nothing else. so they need lots of B12 to keep everything else switched off.
- poisons like cigarette smoke and alcohol take B12 out of the body, leaving a whole lot of symptoms which are the same as B12 deficiency, because the B12 has left the body and the person actually does have B12 deficiency (obvious when you think about it)
- lack of B12 means that genes can't be switched off. Genes left switched on could cause cancer (because most genes just manufacture more cells, ie tumours). So it's Vitamin B12 deficiency that causes cancer and B12 may cure it.
So where did the rumour come about?
- researchers noticed that B12 all went to the cancer site and collected in the tumour. Most researchers immediately stopped the B12 supplements because they wondered if the B12 made the cells stronger. One team went on adding B12 and noticed that the tumours disappeared - they didn't get killed the way most cancer "cures" work, they went back to normal function and also went back to normal size.
Kind of better?