Two physicians, Dr. Peter Himmel and Dr. Trina Seligman, report that treatment with shark cartilage may help alleviate some symptoms of scleroderma. Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis) is a serious disorder which is characterized by a thickening and stiffening of the skin, blood vessels, and tissues in the lungs, heart, and kidneys. The onset of the disease is usually between the ages of 30 and 50 years and women are affected three times as often as men. The disease is painful and leads to a gradual loss of motion of the joints. There is no effective cure. Their conclusion is based on only four cases and clearly needs validation in larger trials. The four patients were all women between the ages of 45 and 63 years who had suffered from scleroderma for 5 to 20 years when they began the shark cartilage therapy. Each patient received 7 cc of shark cartilage extract (Car-T-Cell) daily in the form of a vial which was ingested (sublingually) on an empty stomach. All patients experienced improvements in their condition after a few months of therapy. One patient reported a significant improvement in her pain and fibromyalgia, another increased her walking distance to a mile a day from only a few blocks and was able to return to work, while a third reported a complete reversal of her arthritis symptoms.
Himmel, Peter B. and Seligman, Trina M. Treatment of systemic sclerosis with shark cartilage extract. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 14, No. 2, Second Quarter, 1999, pp. 73-77