Vitamin B17 is another name for laetrile, derived from amygdalin, a controversial compound sometime used for alternative cancer therapy. Despite the name, laetrile isn't a vitamin. Laetrile is classified as a cyanogen, a compound that breaks down into cyanide. Laetrile occurs naturally in the pits and seeds of many fruits, including apricots, apples and cherries. Laetrile isn't approved for use as an anti-cancer agent by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and can cause serious side effects, particularly if taken while consuming nuts or fruits containing amygdalin. Taking the drug orally produces more side effects than injections, Cancer Research UK states.
Hypoxia
Laetrile, like cyanide, can cause hypoxia, or low oxygen levels in your blood. As a result, your tissues and organs won't receive enough oxygen and will begin failing. Symptoms of hypoxia include headache, a bluish tinge to the skin known as cyanosis, dizziness, mental confusion, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, weakness and coma. Nerve damage can cause difficulty walking and loss of balance. Fever, a drop in blood pressure and liver damage can occur.
Delay in Treatment
Some people take laetrile or a commercially-produced partially-synthetic product called Laetrile, as a cancer treatment, believing that the drug is more effective or more natural than traditional cancer treatments. Clinical trials haven't proven this to be the case, the National Cancer Institute states. While the cyanide released from laetrile can kill cancer cells, it also kills normal cells, a problem with many types of traditional chemotherapy. In some cases, researchers can adapt a drug to target faster-growing cells like cancer kills, but this doesn't seem possible with laetrile, Cancer Research UK reports.
Death
Taking large doses of laetrile, particularly by mouth or taking the drug while also consuming food sources which contain amygdalin can cause death, Cancer Research UK warns, adding that a dose of 50 g of amygdalin can be lethal. Potential sources of amygdalin include raw almonds and other nuts, flax seed, crushed fruit stones or pips, apricots or peaches. Carrots, celery, bean sprouts, butter beans, lima beans or mung beans and high doses of vitamin C can also increase your risk of overdose leading to cyanide poisoning.
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