WHAT IS MSM?
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) also known as dimethyl sulfone, is a naturally occurring nutrient, a sulfur compound found in normal human diets & those of virtually all other vertebrates. In its purified chemical form, it is odourless, essentially tasteless, white, water-soluble, crystalline solid. Its chemical formula is (CH3)2S02.

WHERE IS MSM FOUND?
It has been suggested by one of the world's most prominent atmospheric chemists that MSM & its related compounds, DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide), & DMS (dimethylsulfide) provide the source for 85% of the sulfur found in all living organisms. (1) The cycle of these naturally occurring sulfur compounds begins in the ocean where microscopic plants & animals called plankton release sulfur compounds called dimethylsulfonium salts. These salts are transformed in the ocean water into the very volatile compound dimethylsulfide (DMS) which escapes from the ocean water as a gas & rises into the upper atmosphere. Here, in the presence of ozone & high-energy ultraviolet light, the DMS is converted into its cousins, DMSO & MSM. Unlike the DMS, both DMSO & MSM are very soluble in water, & they return to the surface of the earth in rain. Plants absorb the two compounds very rapidly into their root systems, concentrating them up to one hundred fold. MSM & the sulfur it contains are incorporated into the plant structure. Through the process of plant metabolism, the MSM, along with the other sulfur compounds it has spawned, are ultimately mineralised & transported back to the sea & the sulfur cycle begins anew.

MSM has been found in the blood & the adrenal glands of cows. (2,3) Cow's milk contains between two & six parts per million MSM. (4) It is also found in green vegetables. (5)

WHY IS MSM IMPORTANT FOR US?
MSM is found naturally in the human body. It occurs in the blood & in organs as well. It has been detected in normal human urine. (6) The natural level of MSM in the circulatory system of an adult human male is about 0.2 parts per million. (7) Normal human adults excrete from four to eleven milligrams of MSM per day in their urine. In mammals, the concentration of MSM in the body's various storehouses decreases with age, possibly as a result of changing diet or body metabolism. Some research suggests that there is a minimum concentration of MSM that must be maintained in the body to preserve normal function & structure. (7)

The MSM we ingest in fresh fruits, vegetables, & milk contributes essential sulfur for the synthesis of connective tissue, enzymes & Immunoglobulins. Sulfur is an important element in the formation & good health of hair & nails. Fine food-grade MSM is commercially available from Life Plus.

HOW DOES THE BODY INCORPORATE MSM?
Experiments using MSM that contains radiolabled sulfur (35S) have shown that after ingestion, MSM gives up its sulfur to form the collagen & keratin of the hair & nails, to form the essential amino acids methionine, cysteine, & to form serum proteins. (8)

WHAT ABOUT TOXICITY?
MSM is rated as one of the least toxic substances in biology, similar in toxicity to water. (9) Common table salt is much more toxic than MSM. The lethal dose, LD5O, of MSM for mice is over 20 g/kg of body weight. When MSM was administered orally to human volunteers, no toxic effects were observed at intake levels up to 1 gm/kg of body weight per day for 30 days. (10) Intravenous injections of 0.5 gm/kg daily for five days per week produced no measurable toxicity in human subjects. MSM has been widely tested as a food ingredient without any reports of allergic reactions. An unpublished Oregon Health Sciences University study of the long term toxicity of MSM over a period of six months shows no toxic effects. More than 12,000 patients have been treated at the Oregon Health Sciences University with MSM at levels above 2 grams daily with no serious toxicity. (10)

HOW DOES THE BODY GET ITS MSM?
MSM is a natural component of many fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood & meat. It is also found in tea, coffee & chocolate. Cow’s milk is a particularly rich source of MSM. However, heat & processing can reduce the MSM in foods.

WHAT CAN MSM DO FOR US?
Scientists don’t yet know precisely the normal functions of MSM in the human body. Its main effect seems to be to restore cellular permeability in aged body cells. At the Oregon Health Sciences University there have been many observations of what MSM can achieve in the way of health & well-being when taken as a dietary supplement in doses of 250 to 750 milligrams per day. The following are some conditions helped by MSM. (7)

• Response to allergies.  Oral MSM has alleviated the allergic response to pollen & to foods. The anti-allergic property of MSM is on par with or better than traditional antihistaminic preparations.
• Control of hyperacidity.  Patients who have used antacids & histamine receptor antagonists to control hyperacidity can employ MSM with excellent results.
• Control of constipation.  Patients with chronic constipation have had prompt & continuing relief with a daily supplement of 100 to 500 mgs of MSM orally.

RELIEF FROM SNORING
Research at Oregon Health Sciences University on 35 subjects suffering from chronic snoring has shown that MSM in a 16% water solution administered to each nostril 15 minutes prior to sleep provided significant reduction in 80% of the subjects after one to four days of use.

As a control, in eight of the patients showing relief with MSM, a saline solution was substituted for MSM without their knowledge. Seven of eight patients resumed loud snoring. The change occurred within 24 hours of the substitution. After the MSM treatment was restored, these eight again showed a significant reduction of snoring.

After 90 days of treatment, none of the subjects reported any toxic reactions. A patent has been granted for MSM preparations as an aid for the relief of snoring. (11)

SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
SLE is an inflammatory tissue disease without known cause. It occurs mostly in young women (90% of lupus patients are women) but also in children. The disease may begin abruptly with a fever, like an acute infection, or over several months or years with periodic bouts of fever & fatigue. Most sufferers complain of painful joints as in arthritis. Patches of raised, red rash areas of skin also characterise the disease. A type of kidney dysfunction, lupus nephritis, is often involved at the onset & later in the course of the disease, & urinary tract infections are also common. The disease can also affect the heart, lungs, spleen, blood, & gastrointestinal tract, SLE is considered an autoimmune disease since most patients are found to develop anti-nuclear bodies in their blood at some time in the course of the illness. (12)

Experiments conducted on mice bred for their propensity to acquire lupus showed MSM to have a protective effect both before & after the onset of the disease. Mice maintained on a diet including 3% MSM in their water supply from age one month suffered lower death rates & liver damage than control groups drinking only tap water. After seven months, 30% of the control group had died while none of the MSM-fed mice had died. Also, when mice seven months old & already showing signs of advanced lupus were fed the MSM diet, 62% of the mice were still alive after nine months, compared to 14% of the control group that received only tap water. (13)

BREAST CANCER
Research done at Ohio State University College of Medicine shows that oral MSM can protect rats against the onset of breast cancer. (14) Rats specially bred to be susceptible to breast cancer when given certain carcinogenic compounds were fed a diet containing added MSM for eight days. Following this preliminary period, the rats were given doses of the carcinogen dimethylbenzanthracene orally. The health of the rats was monitored for nearly one year & compared to a similar group of carcinogen-dosed rats that had not received the MSM diet. Although there was no statistical difference in the number of tumors developing in the two groups, the MSM-diet rats developed their first tumors some 100 days later than the non-MSM diet rats & these tumors became cancerous some 130 days later than those in the control group. The average life expectancy of rats is two years. This would make 100 days the equivalent to about ten years in human life.

COLON CANCER
The same researchers from Ohio State University Medical College also studied the protection dietary MSM provides to rats injected with dimethylhydrarine, a compound that induces colon cancer. (15) One group of rats received MSM as 1% solution in their drinking water throughout the time of the experiment. The control group received only tap water. One week after the start of the dietary regimen, all rats were injected with the carcinogen. At two-month intervals the rats were examined for tumors under anaesthesia. Rats without any appearance of tumors were returned to the experiment. Again, the number of bowel tumors occurring in the rats was statistically the same for treated & untreated rats over the entire nine months of the experiment. However, the time of appearance of the first bowel tumors was considerably longer in the MSM treated rats. The conclusion of the researchers was that MSM significantly lengthens the time of tumour onset compared to the controls & MSM should be further investigated as a chemopreventative agent for colon cancer.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Researchers at Oregon Health Sciences University studied a strain of mice that were prone to spontaneous development of joint lesions similar to those in rheumatoid arthritis. (16) They found that animals that were fed a diet that included a 3% solution of MSM in drinking water from the age of two months until the age of five months suffered no degeneration of articular cartilage. In a control group of mice receiving only tap water, 50% of the animals were found to have focal generation of articular cartilage.

REFERENCES
 1. Lovelock, J. E., et al., Nature, Vol. 237, 452, 1972.
 2. Ruzicka, L. et al., Helv chim acta, Vol. 23, 550, 1940.
 3. Pfiffner, J.J. & North, H.B., J. Biol Chem, Vol. 131, 731, 1940.
 4. Williams, K.I.H. et al, Proc Exp Biol & Med, Vol 122, 865, 1966.
 5. Pearson, T.W. et al., J Arric Food Chem, Vol.29, 1089, 1981.
 6. Williams, K.I.H. et al., Arch Biochem Biophys, Vol. 113, 251, 1966.
 7. Jacob, J.W. & Herschler, R., Ann N.Y. Acad Sci, Vol. 411. xiii, 1983.
 8. Richmond, V.L., J Nutrition, Vol. 116, No. 6, June 1986.
 9. Toxicology of Drugs & Chemicals, 4th Edition, Deichman, W.B. & Gerarde, H.W. eds, Academic Press, 1969.
10. Jacob, S.W., Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, personal communication.
11. U.S. Patent 5,569,679 (October 29, 1996).
12. Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 20th Edition, Bennett, J.C. & Plum, F. eds. W.B. Saunders Co., 1996.
13. Siegel, J.M., Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, personal communication.
14. McCabe, D. et al., Arch Surg. Vol. 121, 1455,1986.
15. O'Dwyer, P.J., et al., Cancer, Vol. 62, 944, 1988.
16. Morton, J.I. & Moore, R.D., Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 69th Annual Meeting, April 21-26, 1985, 692, 1985.