Autohemotherapy: a cheap cure for everything or a dangerous alternative medicine?

All over the world, there are millions of cases of patients successfully treated with autohemotherapy and yet there are no scientific studies proving its efficiency or articles published in peer reviewed journals.

In Brazil, it is considered an illegal practice and not approved by the Federal Council of Medicine, which threatens to cancel the practicing license of any doctor who recommends or adminster autohemotherapy in his patients.

So, what is the real deal about Autohemotherapy? If it is for real, it´s a cheap cure for many diseases and would seriously hurt the farmaceutical insdustry, since it consists on using your own blood to cure yourself.

Or is it a dangerous and oldfashioned practice that needs to be studied further? And is there any real intention to prove or disprove the success of autohemotherapy?

I have done my share of research and I come to ATS to ask the opinion of its members as well as their experience with this topic.

WHAT IS AUTOHEMOTHERAPY?

This is a threatment that consists of removing blood from your veins and injecting it back into the muscular tissue, usually in the arm or buttocks. Doing that would increse the ammount of macrofags in the body. Macrofags are the front line cells that enter defensive reactions in the body, they constantly circulate throughout all organs with the only aim – to find and remove undesired elements.

From my research, there are some variations of Autohemotherapy. In some clinical websites, it talks about injecting the fresh blood. Others talk about mixing the blood with homeopatic substances before injecting it back, either in the muscular tissue, or just under the skin. Some others talk about mixing the blood with Ozone.

When mixing the blood with Ozone, there are two distinct kinds of practices, known as Minor Autohemotherapy and Major Autohemotherapy:

Minor Autohemotherapy(MiAHT): Minor autohemotherapy involves removing a small amount of blood into a syringe that has been preloaded with a small amount of ozone. The blood and ozone are mixed in the syringe and then it is reinjected, all without removing the needle from the arm, by using an infusion set (commonly called a butterfly). This means that there is a short piece of silicone tubing connecting the needle and the syringe, so that movement of the syringe is not transferred to the needle. In most cases, heparin is not used in this procedure, and it is much faster.

Major AutohemotherapyMAHT): Major Autohemotherapy involves removing 50 - 300 cc of blood into an evacuated, pre-heparinized flask, to which ozone is added. The flask is then shaken to provide contact between the ozone and the blood. Then it is reinfused over a period of time, up to 30 minutes.

WHY PEOPLE SEARCH FOR AUTOHEMOTHERAPY?

From my researches, many people hear about it from third parties or are directed to websites where people share their testimonies about being healed by autohemotherapy.

It is a lot cheaper than conventional treatment.

It is very hard to find testimonies against the treatment of people who were treated by autohemotherapy and failed or got worse by it. I tried and failed. Everywhere you look, there are only people saying how autohemotherapy did for them what conventional medicine couldn't.

There are even claims of curing CANCER and AIDS.

AUTOHEMOTHERAPY IN BRAZIL:

I first heard of this from my dad. I have a 25 year old brother who looks healthy, strong and handsome, but because he only eats crap, he is constantly getting sick. Instead of eating right, or even going to the doctor to find out what is wrong with my brother, my dad told him to do autohemotherapy. Why? Because he heard it from the taxi driver at the airport as being a very good alternative therapy that treats everythying. I actually found the website where my dad was asking for help to find someone who administers autohemotherapy where we live.

My dad also bought a DVD from Dr Luis Moura. That doctor is the name behind the autohemotherapy fever in Brazil. His DVDs are being sold and pirated all over the country, especially over the internet.

The Federal Council of Medicine in Brazil already said it is going to cancel Dr Luis Moura´s practicing license and hold him responsible for anyone who is injured in any way by autohemotherapy.

The Brazilian Society for Hemathology and Hemotherapy also pronounced itself against the treatment, saying there were no studies, either in Brazil, or internationally, that proved the efficiency of autohemotherapy.

The National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance, in Brazil, also pronounced itself against autohemotherapy.

One of the most important medical universities in Brazil, FMUSP, has a teacher expert in Hemathology and Hemotherapy that also condemns autohemotherapy, saying that Dr Luis Moura, or anyone else selling this as a real treatment, is but a charlatan.

Our biggest news channel asked Dr Luis Moura for an interview, but he refused it. In his DVD, Dr Luis Moura compares autohemotherapy to magic and miracle, claiming it has cured CANCER and even AIDS in some patients.

Those claims and the way Dr Luis Moura addresses autohemotherapy is anything but professional.

Here in Brazil, the exceedingly most common type of autohemotherapy is the one considered the CLASSIC one, and oldest one, which is the removal of a small ammount of blood to be injected in the intramuscular tissue, without mixing it with any other substance.

The Federal Council of Medicine in Brazil is hunting down Dr Luis Moura´s license.

SO, I ask you, have you ever heard of autohemotherapy? Do you know someone who has? Do you believe in it or not? Is this for real? Can we cure ourselves with nothing but our own blood?


[edit on 25-5-2010 by henriquefd]

Very interesting thread...and no, I personally have never heard of such a treatment.
I can't really understand how pasting blood through your muscles good do any real healing, unless your muscles are acting as a filter, cleaning out impurities and serving as an additional kidneys..in a strange sort of way.
Although this would all make sense considering over 3000 years ago the King James Bible stated in Leviticus 17:11:
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul"

Found these 2 links that may help regarding this subject as well:
Life is in the Blood
PDF file

Originally posted by Dallas1611
Very interesting thread...and no, I personally have never heard of such a treatment.
I can't really understand how pasting blood through your muscles good do any real healing, unless your muscles are acting as a filter, cleaning out impurities and serving as an additional kidneys..in a strange sort of way.

It seems that when you inject blood in the muscle tissue, it causes such a reaction that the ammount of Macrofags is multiplied and as explained above, "Macrofags are the front line cells that enter defensive reactions in the body, they constantly circulate throughout all organs with the only aim – to find and remove undesired elements."

PS: Thanks for the links. Will check them out.


[edit on 28-5-2010 by henriquefd]

reply to post by henriquefd


You might want to change that to "microphages" man....

reply to post by enlighteneddante


I can't edit those posts anymore. In portuguese, they are called "macrofagos". I searched for the translation in english and found "macrofags". Maybe both "macrofags" and "macrophages" are correct?

"Macrophage", is the correct English term. "Macrofag", would either be a BIG cigarette, or a fat homosexual. It would depend on if you were in England, or America.

A very interesting find to say the least , of course Big Pharma and MD association sure as hell would not want anyone to here this kind of stuff !!

Star and Flag OP

The "science" behind this theory is severely lacking. Injecting your own blood into muscle tissue will not cause in increase in macrophage infiltration for a few important reasons. Firstly, the immediate immune response is mediated by neutrophils, not macrophages. Secondly, in order for this infiltration to occur, you must be introducing foreign antigen. If the foreign antigen is already in the venous/arterial blood stream, it is much, much more likely to be detected there, rather than in the muscular compartment.

Nothing in this "autohemotherapy" makes any sense medically or scientifically, and in fact directly contradicts well-established concepts of basic medicine. The idea that "millions" have been cured by it, as asserted in line one of the OP, is either an attempt at humor or an outright lie.

Originally posted by VneZonyDostupa
The "science" behind this theory is severely lacking. Injecting your own blood into muscle tissue will not cause in increase in macrophage infiltration for a few important reasons. Firstly, the immediate immune response is mediated by neutrophils, not macrophages. Secondly, in order for this infiltration to occur, you must be introducing foreign antigen. If the foreign antigen is already in the venous/arterial blood stream, it is much, much more likely to be detected there, rather than in the muscular compartment.

Nothing in this "autohemotherapy" makes any sense medically or scientifically, and in fact directly contradicts well-established concepts of basic medicine. The idea that "millions" have been cured by it, as asserted in line one of the OP, is either an attempt at humor or an outright lie.

I'm neither lying nor jorking. This is serious. I am not defending autohemotherapy, nor attacking it. I am seriously presenting this issue to the ATS community to see if there is anyone here who could add to the discussion.

I wouldn't doubt those numbers, because Brazil has around 200 million people and autohemotherapy is growing at a huge rate. In Europe, it seems to be a lot more common than here, since they have clinics especialised in it. In Brazil, there can't be any clynics, because it is considered illegal practice, so it's all done on clandistine places, or even in small pharmacies.

I didn't come up with that number. That's what Dr Luis Moura says on his DVD.

Either way, I thank you for your input and wish I had the medical knowledge to discuss this matter on the same level.

Originally posted by henriquefd


I wouldn't doubt those numbers, because Brazil has around 200 million people and autohemotherapy is growing at a huge rate. In Europe, it seems to be a lot more common than here, since they have clinics especialised in it. In Brazil, there can't be any clynics, because it is considered illegal practice, so it's all done on clandistine places, or even in small pharmacies.

I don't doubt that millions have tried it. What I doubt is that millions were "cured" by it, as it says in the OP. Nothing about this treatment would cure any disease, especially when this Dr. Luis Moura doesn't even know that macrophages don't invade muscular tissue sites for 5-7 days after exposure to antigen.

Originally posted by VneZonyDostupa


I don't doubt that millions have tried it. What I doubt is that millions were "cured" by it, as it says in the OP. Nothing about this treatment would cure any disease, especially when this Dr. Luis Moura doesn't even know that macrophages don't invade muscular tissue sites for 5-7 days after exposure to antigen.

That's the kicker and what intrigues me. There are many people claiming to get cured by it. And nobody is proving otherwise. Some accused it as being just a placebo, but then the argument didn't stand, because it seems autohemotherapy is also used in veterinary, and you can't cure animals with placebos.

EDIT: Here is something I found touching the matter of antigens:

The reported beneficial action of autohemotherapy has been attributed to the presence of antigens in the blood [*6] which stimulate the production of antibodies when injected into the tissues. This explanation finds support in the work of Dr. E. C. Rosenow (Mayo Foundation, 1915-44), which established the presence of a causative organism or antigen in the blood [*7] during active stages of many diseases. Thus might the action of autohemotherapy be likened to that of an autogenous vaccine.

link


[edit on 18-6-2010 by henriquefd]

Originally posted by henriquefd


That's the kicker and what intrigues me. There are many people claiming to get cured by it. And nobody is proving otherwise. Some accused it as being just a placebo, but then the argument didn't stand, because it seems autohemotherapy is also used in veterinary, and you can't cure animals with placebos.

The problem with this is that science is based on repeatable, verifiable evidence, not anecdotes. If took anecdotes as solid evidence of a treatment working, we would overrun with snake oil salesmen, as we were in the 19th century.

EDIT: Here is something I found touching the matter of antigens:

The reported beneficial action of autohemotherapy has been attributed to the presence of antigens in the blood [*6] which stimulate the production of antibodies when injected into the tissues. This explanation finds support in the work of Dr. E. C. Rosenow (Mayo Foundation, 1915-44), which established the presence of a causative organism or antigen in the blood [*7] during active stages of many diseases. Thus might the action of autohemotherapy be likened to that of an autogenous vaccine.

link


[edit on 18-6-2010 by henriquefd]

Again, you're missing a fundamental bit of medical knowledge here. Yes, there are antigens in the blood, and yes, they would be picked up by neutrophils in the muscle and then presented to B-cells for antobody production. However, if the antigens are already present in the venous blood, than they have already been picked up by neutrophils. These cells are more plentiful (in a nearly 100-fold magnitude) in the bloodstream than in the tissue. If autohemotherapy patients were shown to be antibody-positive after hemotherapy, my humble medical opinion would be that the antibodies were produced due to bloodstream detection, not muscular detection. It takes 2-3 days for a detectable antibody response to occur, so it is entirely possible for someone to have undetectable levels of antibodies on day 1, have autohemotherapy on day 2, and then suddenly have detectable antibody levels on day 3, though it would have nothing to do with autohemotherapy.

henriquefd, I wasn't aware of this "alternative" treatment, will look into it from the very beginning.

But, while searching for it, I came upon a news article claiming that Brazil's Vice President "José Alencar Gomes da Silva" is being helped by autohemotherapy in his battle against cancer.

In portuguese:

VICE-PRESIDENTE DA REPÚBLICA CURA CÂNCER COM AUTO-HEMOTERAPIA

Imagine that... the VP of the country using this treatment.

Extremely high profile.

Originally posted by jjjtir
henriquefd, I wasn't aware of this "alternative" treatment, will look into it from the very beginning.

But, while searching for it, I came upon a news article claiming that Brazil's Vice President "José Alencar Gomes da Silva" is being helped by autohemotherapy in his battle against cancer.

In portuguese:

VICE-PRESIDENTE DA REPÚBLICA CURA CÂNCER COM AUTO-HEMOTERAPIA

Imagine that... the VP of the country using this treatment.

Extremely high profile.

I couldn't help but to reply to this old topic. @jjjtir, you couldn't be more wrong. VP José Alencar was never cured by AHT. VP José Alencar DIED FROM CANCER in March last year, after almost 15 years of surgery, chemo, intensive care unit treatment. He remained alive for almost 15 years while having cancer because he was rich and had access to state of the art medical treatments and because he had great doctors. And although he had access to something as miraculous as autohemotherapy in Brazil, VP Alencar traveled abroad to treat his cancer - he was a patient to the MD Anderson Cancer Treatment center in Houston, Texas, a place of excellence and a world reference in cancer treatment. You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet.

a reply to: henriquefd
I never knew the therapy had a name.
We had a farm about 20 years ago and a for a 3 - 5 years we struggled with our cattle getting more and more warts. We tried everything the veterinarian suggested but to no avail. It got so bad that I started putting these super strong rubber bands that are used to castrate young bulls over the ever increasingly large warts and thus cutting off the blood flow to the huge warts causing them to die off and control them somewhat by removing the largest ones that way.
One day a old rancher suggested a bizarre treatment to us and I would maybe not have tried it if I hadn't been desperate to have something work. He suggested we remove a large syringe of blood from a large vein that the cattle have on the underside of the tail, and inject it right back into the thigh. We tried it first on the animal that was in the worst condition (A small bull weighing at approx 100kg) and within a week the warts started shrinking and if I remember correctly, they fell off in about 3 weeks. All it took was 1 single injection of the animal's own blood. No subsequent treatment whatsoever. We did that with the rest of the affected animals and never had the problem again.

a reply to: henriquefd

Has all the hallmarks of being quackery. Anything that claims to cure everything including aids and cancer is patently nonsense and preys on the medical ignorance of the believer. Why do people keep falling for this crap?

Can anyone debunk this, it is a simple test. Maybe some of the veterinary can do this test and then send us result in this topic?

The guy that write about his bulls have 1 post and that is not a big credit for believing him.

a reply to: saadad

Yes, you are right, I just joined this forum and this was my first post here. The other day a friend of mine said he was thinking about trying this on himself. I remembered doing this on cattle with positive results, So I decided to do some research on the internet about people doing this themselves and came across this forum.

It was very straight forward and to repeat it should be very simple as well. But I no longer work with cattle and have no opportunity to try this again soon. I would very much like to hear from anybody else who has tried this on livestock and what their results were.
I wish I had taken photos and documented this at the time to have photos to share with you guys.

Never heard of this practice before, it sounds really weird. After reading the post about working for the cattle I was automatically thinking of my old dog who has a nasty tumor on his chest.
I'm still looking it up on the web, but so far I found this:
Successful treatment of herpetic infections by autohemotherapy

and this:

Autohemotherapy is a safe treatment for urticaria and eczema. Across studies, autohemotherapy tends to be somewhat more effective overall than control therapy, but the advantage is not statistically reliable. Urticaria patients who test positive on the autologous serum skin test respond more favorably to autohemotherapy on average than those who test negative. More randomized trials are required to clarify the effectiveness of autohemotherapy.

Link

Interesting.
I'll keep searching.

i have been using the treatment for 2 years... after 2 months of treatment... simply injecting 10ml of your own blood back into your muscle weekly.. I noticed a huge change in my immune system... I don't get the common cold as easily as before etc...