APRICOT PRUNUS ARMENIACA

APRICOT (Prunus armeniaca L.) ++

Synonyms:
- Amygdalus armeniaca (L.) Dumort., Armeniaca vulgaris Lam., P. armeniaca var. vulgaris Zabel.

Activities (Apricot):
- Antidote (f; CRC); Antispasmodic (f; CRC); Antithyroid (1; AKT); Antitumor (f; APA); Antitussive (f; CRC); Aphrodisiac (f; CRC); Cyanogenic (f; CRC); Demulcent (f; CRC); Emollient (f; CRC); Expectorant (f; CRC); Pectoral (f; CRC); Poison (1; CRC); Sedative (f; CRC); Tonic (f; CRC); Vermifuge (f; CRC); Vulnerary (f; CRC).

Indications (Apricot):
- Anemia (f; CRC); Asthma (f; APA; CRC); Bleeding (f; CRC); Bronchosis (2; APA; CRC); Cancer (1; APA; CAN; JLH); Catarrh (f; CRC); Childbirth (f; CRC); Cold (f; CRC); Congestion (f; APA); Conjunctivosis (f; CRC); Constipation (f; APA; CRC); Cough (f; APA; CRC); Cramp (f; CRC); Fever (f; CRC); Heart (f; CRC); Infertility (f; CRC); Inflammation (f; CRC); Insomnia (f; CRC); Itch (f; APA); Laryngosis (f; CRC); Nervousness (f; CRC); Rheumatism (f; CRC); Snakebite (f; APA); Sore (f; APA); Sore Throat (f; CRC); Swelling (f; CRC; JLH); Thirst (f; CRC); Toothache (f; APA); Trichomoniasis (2; APA); Tumor (f; APA; CRC; JLH); Ulcer (f; JLH); Vaginosis (2; APA); Vulvosis (2; APA); Worm (f; CRC).

Dosages (Apricot):
-  Do not use (APA). Not covered (PHR).

Contraindications, Interactions, and Side Effects (Apricot):
- Class 3 (AHP). Also known as bitter almond. One of the products apricot seed components break down into in the human body is highly toxic prussic acid. Fifty to 60 kernels of apricot seed can kill adults; 7 - 10 can be fatal in children. My CRC handbook says that a double kernel is said to be enough to kill a man (CRC). I think that is overkill. Headache and nausea occurred in some patients being treated for chronic bronchosis with a paste of apricot seed and sugar. Possible adverse interaction when taken with Astragalus, skullcap, or kudzu root (TMA, 1996). Kernels may cause contact dermatosis. Cyanogenetic glycosides in the seed can cause cyanide poisoning (CAN). Because of cyanide toxicity, apricots use in pregnancy and lactation is to be avoided. Avoid in pregnancy; ingestion of cyanogenic substances may be teratogenic. Oral doses of 50 mg HCN (+~ 30 g kernels = 50 - 60 kernels with ca 2000 ppm HCN). More than 20 deaths have been reported from laetrile and apricot kernel ingestion (CAN). Symptoms of acute intoxication include convulsions, dizziness, drowsiness, dyspnea, headache, hypotension, nausea, paralysis, coma,
poisoning include aminophenol, cobalt edetate, hydroxocobalamin, nitrite, and thiosulphate. Symptoms of chronic intoxication (from HCN, cyanogenic foods, or drugs such as laetrile) include ataxia, blindness, cretinism, goiter, hypertonia, increased blood thiocyanate, lesions of the optic nerve, mentalretardation, and thyroid cancer. Demyelinating lesions and other neuromyopathies ....  may occur secondary to chronic cyanide exposure, including long-term laetrile therapy. Agranulocytosis has also been attributed to long-term laetrile therapy. Laetrile, spelled with capital L, signifies a synthetic patented in 1961 but never sold in the U.S. Spelled with a small l, laetrile is, for lay purposes, synonymous with amygdalin. After making this distinction, APA spells it with small l, except of course, at the beginning of a sentence, when they say, Laetrile consists of 6 percent cyanide (prussic or hydrocyanic acid), a highly poisonous
substance that can kill by depriving the brain of oxygen. Then they unleash a hyperbolic error, I presume, the laetrile content of apricot pits varies from as much as 8 percent in some apricot varieties to twenty times that amount in wild varieties. Krebs marketed laetrile with a small l as vitamin B-17 (AHA).

Clinical (Apricot):
- A retrospective analysis of laetrile in patients with cancer showed slight activity. A subsequent clinical trial concluded that laetrile was ineffective in cancer treatment. Claims for laetrile were based on three different theories: (1) Claimed that cancerous cells contained copious beta-glucosidases, which release HCN from laetrile via hydrolysis. Normal  cells were reportedly unaffected because they contained low concentrations of beta-glucosidases and high concentrations of rhodanese, which converts HCN to the less toxic thiocyanate. Later, however, it was shown that both cancerous and normal cells contain only trace amounts of beta-glucosidases, and similar amounts of rhodanese. Also, it was thought that amygdalin was not absorbed intact from the gastrointestinal tract (CAN); (2) Proposed that after ingestion, amygdalin was hydrolyzed to mandelonitrile, transported intact to the liver and converted to a beta-glucuronide complex, which was then carried to the cancerous cells, hydrolyzed by beta-glucuronidases to release mandelonitrile, and then HCN. This was believed an untenable theory; (3) Called laetrile vitamin B-17, and with that, cancer is a result of B-17-deficiency. It postulated that
chronic administration of laetrile would prevent cancer. No evidence was adduced to substantiate this hypothesis. Furthermore, it was even claimed that patients taking laetrile reduced their life expectancy, both through of lack of proper medical care and chronic cyanide poisoning. In order to reduce potential risks to the general public, amygdalin was made a prescription-only medicine in 1984 (CAN).