Nexus - 0302 - New Times Magazine-pages

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"This summer, Enzymes of America plans to market its first major urine product called urokinase, an enzyme that dissolves blood clots and is used to treat victims of heart attacks. The com- pany has contracts to supply the urine enzyme to Sandoz, Merrell Dow and other major pharmaceutical companies. Ironically, this enterprise evolved from Porta-John's attempt to get rid of urine proteins—a major source of odour in portable toilets. “When the president of Porta-John began consulting with scien- tists about a urine filtration system, one told him he was sitting on a gold mine. "The idea of recycling urine is not new, however. 'We thought about this,’ says Phillip Whitcome of Amgen, a Los Angeles biotechnology firm, ‘but realised we'd need thousands and thou- sands of litres of urine.’ "Porta-John and Enzymes of America solved that problem. The 14 million gallons flowing annually into Porta-John’s privies con- tain about four-and-a-half pounds of urokinase alone. That's enough to unclog 260,000 coronary arteries." ("Now Urine Business", Hippocrates magazine, May/June 1988) * Ureaphil: diuretic made from urea * Urofollitropin: urine-extract fertility drug * Ureacin: urea cream for skin problems * Amino-Cerv: urea cream used for cervical treatments «Premarin: urine-extract oestrogen supplement Panafil: urea/papain ointment for skin ulcers, burns and infected wounds cell stalbetedetetetetendiedalitaiadainedied --o- ts tists about a urine filtration system, one told him he was sitting on Another urine-related product ingredient is carbamide. a gold mine. Carbamide is the chemical name for synthesised urea. Where do “The idea of recycling urine is not new, however. "We thought —_you find carbamide? In places you'd never thought of, such as in about this,’ says Phillip Whitcome of Amgen, a Los Angeles _ products like Murine Ear Drops and Murine Ear Wax Removal biotechnology firm, ‘but realised we'd need thousands and thou- System which contain carbamide peroxide, a combination of syn- sands of litres of urine.’ thetic urea and hydrogen peroxide. "Porta-John and Enzymes of America solved that problem. The Medical researchers have also proven that urea is one of the best 14 million gallons flowing annually into Porta-John's privies con- and only medically proven, effective skin moisturisers in the tain about four-and-a-half pounds of urokinase alone. That's world. In many years of laboratory studies, researchers discov- enough to unclog 260,000 coronary arteries." ered that, unlike just about all other types of oil-based moisturisers ("Now Urine Business", Hippocrates magazine, May/June __ that simply sit on the top layers of the skin and do nothing to 1988) improve water retention within skin cells (which gives skin its elasticity and wrinkle-free appearance), urea actually increases the But urokinase isn't the only drug derived from urine that, water-binding capacity of the skin by opening skin layers for unknown to us, has been a financial boon to the pharmaceutical hydrogen bonding, which then attracts moisture to dry skin cells. industry. This is a remarkable fact considering that women spend billions In August of 1993, Forbes magazine printed an article about of dollars a year on outrageously expensive skin moisturisers Fabio Bertarelli who owns the world's largest fertility drug-pro- whose ingredients, even in tightly controlled double-blind compar- ducing company, the Ares-Serono Group, based in Geneva, whose _ison tests, don't even come close to hydrating dry skin as well as most important product is the drug Pergonal which increases the _ simple, inexpensive urea. chances of conception. Guess what Pergonal is made from? So, as surprising as it seems, urine and urea do have an amaz- ing, voluminous history in both traditional and modern medicine. An article, titled "Autouro- therapy", published in the New York State Journal of Medicine (vol. 80, no. 7, June 1980), writ- ten by Dr John R. Herman, Clinical Professor of Urology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, | points out the general misconcep- tions regarding urine and its med- ical use: "To make Pergonal, Ares-Serono Urea, the principal organic solid in collects urine samples from > * 110,000 postmenopausal women | Urine, has long been considered to be volunteers in Italy, Spain, Brazil a 'waste product’ of the body. It's and Argentina. From 26 collection centres, the urine is sent to Rome even been considered to be where Ares-Serono technicians then H H isolate the ovulation-enhancing hor- dangerous OF Pin ae ie this, too, is completely untrue. mone." (N. Munk, "The Child is the Father of the Man", Forbes magazine, 16 August 1993) “Autouropathy (urine therapy) did flourish in many parts of the world and it continues to flourish today... There is, unknown to most of us, a wide usage of uropathy and a great volume of knowl- edge available showing the multitudinous advantages of this modality... "Urine is only a derivative of the blood... If the blood should not be considered ‘unclean’, then the urine also should not be so considered. Normally excreted, urine is a fluid of tremendous variations of composition... ",..Actually, the listed constituents of human urine can be care- fully checked and no items not found in human diet are found in it. Percentages differ, of course, but urinary constituents are valuable to human metabolism..." Ares-Serono earned a reported $855 million in sales in 1992, and people pay up to $1,400 per month for this urine extract. Obviously, most of us are operating under a gross misconcep- tion when we wrinkle our nose at the thought of using urine in medicine. Urea, the principal organic solid in urine, has long been consid- ered to be a ‘waste product’ of the body. It's even been considered to be dangerous or poisonous, but this, too, is completely untrue. Like any other substance in the body, too much urea can be harmful, but urea in and of itself is enormously valuable and indis- pensable to body functioning. Not only does urea provide invalu- able nitrogen to the body, but research has shown that urea actual- ly aids in the synthesis of protein, or, in other words, it helps our bodies use protein more efficiently. Urea has also been proven to be an extraordinary antibacterial and antiviral agent and is one of the best natural diuretics ever discovered. Urea was discovered and isolated as long ago as 1773 and is currently marketed in a variety of different drug forms. These are a few more examples of commercial medical applica- tions of urine and urea in use today: Look up urea in a medical dictionary. In Mosby's Medical and Nursing Dictionary, urea is defined not as a useless body waste but as a systemic diuretic and topical skin treatment. It's also pre- scribed to reduce excess fluid pressure on the brain and eyes. 26 ¢ NEXUS Continued on page 63 FEBRUARY-MARCH 1996