Beware of “miracle cure” claims surrounding DMSO

Recent social media posts have revived interest in using a compound called dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO for short, to treat various medical conditions. For instance, posts on X and TikTok encouraged people to use DMSO for pain relief and inflammation. In this Insight article, we take a look at the scientific evidence for such claims.

A brief history of DMSO

Dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO for short, was first discovered in the late 19th century as a by-product from the kraft process for making paper from wood pulp. Around the same time, Russian chemist Alexander Zaytsev synthesized it in the laboratory. His synthesis is still used to date in making DMSO, now a popular solvent (a substance used to dissolve other substances) for industrial use, as well as in laboratories.

But it was organ transplantation research that paved the way for scientific interest in DMSO’s potential uses in medicine. Scientists found that freezing biological material like cells and tissues (cryopreservation) could preserve their biological function in the long run, but whole organs became seriously damaged from the same freezing process. This greatly limited the potential applications of organ transplantation, since it ruled out long-term preservation of organs.

Thus began the quest for a cryoprotectant, or a substance that could protect organs from the damage caused by freezing. In 1959, researchers in the UK reported in Nature that DMSO protected red blood cells from damage caused by freezing^[1]. Around the same time, Stanley Jacob, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon Medical School, was looking for a way to preserve whole kidneys.

Jacobs came across the Nature study and decided to examine DMSO for its potential in protecting kidneys from freezing damage. Along the way, he also conducted studies to explore the potential pharmacological properties of DMSO. He found that DMSO appeared to relieve pain. Furthermore, it was rapidly absorbed through the skin, and in the process, transported other molecules along with it. These findings, along with others, sparked the interest of pharmaceutical companies.

However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sounded the alarm after some animal studies emerged showing that DMSO caused abnormal changes in the eyes. An article from the McGill Office for Science and Society noted that these developments took place against the backdrop of tightening drug regulations following the thalidomide scandal in the 1960s:

“The FDA did not always exist, and there was a time when medicines were not tested for their effectiveness or safety. Regulation often followed in the bloody footsteps of public health disasters […] Meanwhile, a senator from Tennessee, Estes Kefauver, wanted to tighten the screws around the drug industry to better protect consumers, and the worldwide thalidomide disaster lent credence to his proposal. In 1962, and for the very first time, a new drug in the United States now needed substantial evidence for its safety and effectiveness before being approved. And it is in this new regulatory landscape that DMSO enters the story.”

In light of the then-recent harms caused by thalidomide and the concerning safety data about DMSO from animal studies, the FDA decided to err on the side of caution and denied the new drug application for DMSO. The agency also went one step further and banned all human testing of DMSO, but this ban was lifted in 1966, and studies in humans once again resumed, albeit with some restrictions.

DMSO’s place in medicine

Today, DMSO is used in various medical applications, notably as a cryoprotectant employed in stem cell and organ transplantation^[2]. It’s also used in veterinary medicine to reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

DMSO is also used as a solvent for topical therapies in humans, for example in a topical pain relief medication that’s been approved by the FDA. However, the therapeutic effects of DMSO itself remain poorly established in humans. To date, the FDA has approved DMSO as a therapy for only one condition: interstitial cystitis, a type of inflammatory condition that affects the bladder. It should be noted that for this application, DMSO needs to be administered directly into the bladder using a catheter and be expelled after 15 minutes by urinating.

Claims of DMSO’s analgesic effects not backed by evidence

The scarcity of evidence hasn’t stopped many from claiming that DMSO is a miracle cure for conditions ranging from arthritis to cancer. In fact, such claims have circulated for decades, occasionally achieving a breakthrough in mainstream awareness, such as when the news program “60 Minutes” ran a segment about DMSO in the 1980s.

Social media posts have recently revived interest in using DMSO to treat a variety of medical problems. For example, the X account “A Midwestern Doctor”, which has a record of publishing health misinformation, encouraged people to use DMSO for pain relief, citing anecdotal evidence.

While there are many anecdotes about DMSO’s ability to provide effective pain relief, these accounts are difficult to verify and don’t provide reliable evidence for DMSO’s effectiveness.

Science Feedback reached out to the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists for comment. In an email, Sailesh Mishra, the Faculty’s Medicines Lead, explained:

“While DMSO has a long history of anecdotal use for pain relief, it is not a first-line or proven treatment for most pain conditions. Its significant risks, particularly its ability to carry toxins into the body and its lack of robust modern scientific evidence, mean it must be approached with caution and with professional medical guidance where pain physicians are familiar with its application. Currently it’s not on the British National Formulary and is not routinely used in the UK.

For most people, safer, well-researched options for pain management, like topical NSAIDs, paracetamol, nerve pain medications, physical therapy and rehabilitation are more reliable and safer options.”

Clinical evidence about DMSO’s ability to relieve pain is scarce. A meta-analysis published in 2011 looked at clinical trials examining the effectiveness of DMSO in reducing pain experienced by people with osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint condition that causes pain and swelling.

The authors of the meta-analysis found only two randomized controlled trials that addressed this question. They reported finding no evidence that DMSO was effective at providing pain relief for people with osteoarthritis, although they also cautioned that “No definitive conclusions can currently be drawn from the data due to the mixed findings and the use of inadequate dosing periods”.

A study from 2009 found that DMSO alone didn’t provide more pain relief compared to a placebo in people with osteoarthritis^[3].

In brief, what little evidence we have from randomized clinical trials doesn’t suggest that DMSO is effective at relieving pain in osteoarthritis. Moreover, these studies don’t tell us whether DMSO would be effective at treating pain from conditions other than arthritis. More research on this subject is still needed, ideally randomized controlled trials, to help us establish whether DMSO is truly beneficial as an analgesic.

Lack of evidence to show DMSO treats cancer in humans

Another post from “A Midwestern Doctor”, viewed more than 190,000 times to date, encouraged combining ivermectin and DMSO to treat cancer, claiming “This is because DMSO makes cancer therapies much more potent and possible for low (non-toxic) doses”.

The claim implies that ivermectin is a proven cancer therapy, which is unsubstantiated by evidence. As Science Feedback explained previously, while ivermectin has shown interesting anti-cancer effects in the laboratory, these effects haven’t been replicated in the human body.

We also found a video on TikTok promoting a combination of fenbendazole and DMSO for treating cancer. Fenbendazole is an antiparasitic drug used in animals. Like ivermectin, it’s become a popular subject of miracle cure claims circulating on the Internet. Science Feedback explained in previous reviews that there’s a lack of clinical evidence to show fenbendazole is effective against cancer in humans.

Another post on X highlighted the results of a clinical trial that compared a vitamin C and DMSO combination to standard of care for treating skin cancer. The post was viewed more than 200,000 times. The same trial was promoted by a TikTok video which encouraged people to use DMSO in salves.

The trial did find that the vitamin C and DMSO combination resolved skin cancer lesions in about 86% of participants eight weeks post-treatment, as opposed to 57% of participants in the group that received standard care^[4]. However, it’s also worth noting that the study found no difference between the vitamin C and DMSO combination and standard of care at 12 weeks post-treatment.

Furthermore, the trial was quite small: there were just 13 patients in the group receiving vitamin C and DMSO, and 12 in the standard care group. The study authors also added that “[p]otentially high-risk areas of the body were excluded from enrollment so the anatomic distribution of [basal cell carcinomas] in the study did not reflect occurrence in the general population”.

Neither the TikTok video nor the post on X mentioned these caveats.

The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center states:

“DMSO may help relieve pain but more studies are needed to confirm its safety and efficacy. There is no evidence that DMSO can treat cancer in humans.”

Is DMSO safe?

A review of studies looking at adverse reactions following DMSO administration found that gastrointestinal and dermatological reactions were among the most common adverse reactions. Cardiac adverse reactions were also noted, but only when DMSO was administered intravenously.

The most common gastrointestinal reactions reported were nausea and vomiting, while the most common dermatological reaction was a local burning sensation. However, there were also reports that DMSO could trigger allergic reactions, some of which were serious.

The review concluded that “adverse reactions due to DMSO are often mild and transient and do not qualify as serious adverse events”, and that DMSO seems to be safe, at least in small doses.

However, it also acknowledged that the studies analyzed carried a high risk of bias. One issue with many studies was that they didn’t clearly describe how adverse reactions were reported. This makes it difficult to ensure that studies used the same or similar standards for recording an adverse reaction, which in turn makes it difficult to compare results between studies.

Furthermore, there are also other factors to consider when it comes to safety.

For example, it’s not always clear how DMSO will behave when combined with other medications that a person is taking, and such drug interactions may give rise to unwanted effects. Notably, a 2014 study found that DMSO chemically changed certain chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat cancer, rendering them ineffective^[5].

There is also the question of whether DMSO is safe to use for any medical condition and if so, at what dose. And then there is the fact that DMSO comes in different grades: industrial, veterinary, and medical. Industrial-grade DMSO may contain contaminants that are harmful to human health. As mentioned earlier, DMSO is easily absorbed into the skin. If contaminants are also present in a solution of DMSO, DMSO will also facilitate their absorption into the body.

Canada’s Directorate of Force Health Protection states:

“The companies that produce industrial grade DMSO often use the same equipment to produce toxic substances such as pesticides and so contamination is inevitable. Unfortunately, much of the DMSO sold on the black market is industrial grade and could cause serious short and long-term problems in its users.”

Finally, while DMSO is readily available to the public in the form of supplements, these come with risks. Unlike drugs, supplements are typically subjected to little or no regulation. In the European Union as well as the U.S., the responsibility for ensuring that a supplement is safe rests with the manufacturer or supplier of the supplement, not a regulatory body. Supplements also don’t have to undergo testing to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness, therefore their ability to treat a condition is unproven.

Furthermore, contamination of supplements is “not uncommon”—bacteria, fungi, and heavy metals have been detected in various supplements over the years. Finally, supplements may also contain undisclosed substances, such as drugs, which could pose a health risk to consumers.

Conclusion

DMSO has a variety of medical applications, notably protecting cells and organs from freezing damage so that they can be stored and used for transplantation. It’s also been touted as a panacea for a wide range of medical conditions, with many anecdotes promoting its use. However, clinical evidence to support the use of DMSO for pain relief is scarce, and there’s currently no credible evidence that DMSO treats cancer in humans.

While small doses of DMSO applied to the skin don’t appear to cause serious side effects, there’s still a lot we don’t know about DMSO’s safety in humans, such as its potential interactions with drugs and existing medical conditions. In short, current scientific evidence doesn’t support claims that DMSO is a “miracle cure”, and such claims in general should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.

References

• 1 – Lovelock and Bishop. (1959) Prevention of Freezing Damage to Living Cells by Dimethyl Sulphoxide. Nature.
• 2 – Murray and Gibson. (2022) Chemical approaches to cryopreservation. Nature Reviews Chemistry.
• 3 – Simon et al. (2009) Efficacy and safety of topical diclofenac containing dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) compared with those of topical placebo, DMSO vehicle and oral diclofenac for knee osteoarthritis. Pain.
• 4 – Burke and Bailie. (2022) Randomized trial of topical ascorbic acid in DMSO versus imiquimod for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
• 5 – Hall et al. (2014) Say no to DMSO: dimethylsulfoxide inactivates cisplatin, carboplatin, and other platinum complexes. Cancer Research.