The ATTO~news~GRAM

Volume 2 Issue1

  Canada-Wide Clinical Evaluation of
Bovine Cartilage Topical Cream
[cream renamed “Biolanyn”]

(Abbreviated version)

Synopsis:
Since the publication of the book Sharks Don't Get Cancer just over a year ago, there has been a great deal of interest by the North American natural healing industry in the use of shark cartilage as a treatment for cancer.

The same book also devotes considerable attention to the use of bovine cartilage topical preparations to combat a wide variety of skin conditions.

Attogram Corp. has prepared a bovine cartilage skin cream and invited some of its professional customers to participate in an informal, yet adequately documented, clinical evaluation. The study includes approximately two hundred fifty patients under the care of a wide spectrum of health care practitioners consisting of twenty-six naturopathic doctors, twenty-one chiropractors, sixteen nutritional consultants, four medical doctors, two nurses and one veterinarian.

Preliminary results are most encouraging, especially when one considers that the majority of patients had previously found little or no relief from doctor-prescribed or self-selected drugs.

Acne, sunburn, skin ulcers, calluses, psoriasis, eczema, the itch of insect bites, the sting of abrasions, skin cancer and others have shown great improvement in a significant number of cases.

According to the changing demands of increasingly naturally oriented consumers, the cream is formulated to be free of chemicals. Furthermore, Attogram Corp. has enhanced the bioavailability of the active ingredient by special processing techniques so that the cream is very effective, even though its potency is only twenty percent of that cited in the book.

Introduction:
Shark-fin soup has been eaten for countless years by the Chinese, usually daily and in large amounts. The Chinese have long recognized the health benefits of the cartilage in this soup... The spaghetti-like protein fibers ... that are the main constituent of shark-fin soup are the same as those found in the shark's cartilaginous skeleton. These fibers, when properly processed as shark cartilage powder, give the amazing health benefits... ¹

Theory:
Although topical cartilage preparations may exert some beneficial effects on skin diseases through their antiangiogenic factors, I believe the main benefit is derived from the cartilage's biochemical make-up. Both cartilage and skin possess a significant connective tissue component. Cartilage cream saturates affected skin areas with the building blocks necessary for rapid connective tissue repair -- such factors as glucosamine, glycosaminoglycans (GAG), collagen, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfates (a GAG), proteoglycans, manganese, zinc, copper, silicon, vitamin C, and others.

Collagen is a tough protein that physically connects tissues. It constitutes a full 33% of total body protein. Proteoglycans (PG) are the other chief connective tissue component, the main constituent of which are GAGs, long chains of modified sugars. PGs are large, complex polymers that form the framework for collagen to follow.

¹ I. William Lane, PhD, Sharks Don't Get Cancer (Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing Group

The biochemical compatibility of cartilage to skin was clinically illustrated in a 1979 accident victim with burns to 60% of her body. A mixture of GAGs from shark cartilage collagen from cowhide and silicone adhesives was applied as an artificial skin. When peeled away three weeks later, it revealed new tissue underneath with blood vessels and new nerve endings.

Fig. 1 Connective Tissue Components

Referring to Fig. 1, you will notice that glucosamine is an important precursor to GAGs. Glucosamine also constitutes half of hyaluronic acid, the backbone of PGs, on which other GAGs like chondroitin sulfates are added. It also stimulates production of collagen. Furthermore, the conversion of glucose to glucosamine is the rate-limiting step in this entire biosynthetic pathway.

It is therefore conceivable that diabetics, whose glucose metabolism is disturbed, could encounter problems with connective tissue maintenance and repair.

In my own experience, this theory was vividly illustrated when I treated a 65 year old diabetic male neighbor for a non-healing leg ulcer. In the course of various experiments in the processing of bovine cartilage, our company produced a small quantity of freeze-dried powdered material. I instructed the man to place some of this product directly on the ulcer and keep it bandaged for three days. The improvement was so profound that the medical doctor on the case was amazed. Two subsequent similar cartilage applications brought about complete healing of the ulcer.

Diabetic retinopathy, a common cause of blindness, may also be a different manifestation of compromised connective tissue integrity wherein the retinal capillaries develop small ruptures.

Evaluation Results:
Approximately 250 patients under the care of 70 health care practitioners of diverse backgrounds received one or more 70g jars of cream over a three month period.

Most people have not reported back as yet. Preliminary reports, however, indicate a high success rate for a wide variety of skin conditions.

ALL cases reporting back as of July 16, 1993 are listed below, regardless of their outcome.

The following abbreviations have been employed:
w = number of weeks cream has been used
x = number of applications per day (e.g.. 3x)
(q = applied once every other day)
[ ] number inside brackets indicates number of cases fitting this description If an entry is missing w and/or x, it means that it was not given.

Acne: lx [8] excellent results.
q [1] excellent results.

Calluses: [2] good results.

Cancer: 2w 3x [2] itch gone, lesions reduced or gone.

Cat: 2w [1] severe wet, eczema cleared completely.
<2w [1] dry eczema cleared.
[1] dry eczema unchanged since patient licked off the cream.

Diaper Rash: [1] no effect.

Dermatitis: <1w 2x [1] Eyelids had contacted some irritant chemical.
Nothing had helped until tried this cream.

Dry, peeling and cracking: 3w [1] less dryness and redness.

Eczema: [1] hairdresser using chemicals, cleared even under nails
[1] comparable efficacy to steroid creams.
3x [1] better in 13 year old who had had entire life.
4-5x [1] slight improvement for 2 1/2 year old.
[1] stopped using: irritating, drying.
2w [1] less itch, redness and lesions.
6w 3x [1] face cleared up completely.

Fungal (toes): 6w 2x [1] white patches are improving.

Lichen Planus: 2w 2x [1] less itch, lesions less severe.
5w [same case as above] lesions greatly reduced.

Poison Ivy: [1] cleared quickly.

Psoriasis: [1] Worked well in long standing case. Unlike steroid creams,
did not reappear if missed a day.
2w [1] stopped using since drying and irritating.
3w 3x [2] improvement of itch, redness and lesions.
1w [1] itch nearly gone, lesions less, redness same.
1w [1] itch less, scales gone.
2w lx [1] stopped using since made itchier.
q [1] good results.
[1] Cleared up completely in 10 year old this summer.
Would get better in previous summers but never clear.
Had condition since age 2.
2w 2x [1] lesions improving, less redness.
<2w [1] descaled, slightly less itch.
6w [same case as directly above] redness same except areas
exposed to sun-light.

Red Spots: [1] healed in only two applications; nothing else had helped

Rash (itchy): 4w [1] less itch and redness, lesions persisting.

Sun and wind burn: 2 days [1] Almost complete healing of blistered areas on face. Pain relieved after first application.

Ulcers: [1] After a case of phlebitis two ulcers have healed, one remains but getting better. Nothing else helped.

Evaluation Interpretation:
Although this study is not valid according to today's standards of scientific appraisal and statistical design, it does strongly suggest that the Attogram Corp. bovine cartilage cream is very effective over a wide range of skin conditions.

The commercially available cream (Biolanyn) has been reformulated to totally eliminate any unwanted drying effects. But for the purposes of the clinical evaluation, the gum base was necessary to prove that the beneficial effects of the cream are due entirely to its cartilage content, and not to any of the other ingredients.

With few exceptions, if the cream is going to work at all it does so in a relatively short period of time. In my estimation, it is worthy of consideration at the first sign of almost any skin affliction, and also for the cases which are resisting all other forms of therapy.