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Cetyl-Myristoleate also known as CMO or CM, was discovered by
Harry W. Diehl, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health,
working alone in his home lab. Diehl took a fatty acid, myristoleic
acid, and combined it with a fatty alcohol molecule, cetyl alcohol,
creating an ester of that fatty acid called cetyl myristoleate. He
discovered that it was the presence of this compound in swiss albino
mice that prevented them from developing joint problems. Diehl's
laboratory experiments on CM were published in the Journal of
Pharmaceutical Sciences in March, 1994.
It is believed that
CMO acts as a type of joint "lubricant" and anti-inflammatory agent.
Based on animal studies and several human case histories CMO is now
believed to be a useful and effective treatment for both
osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In a double-blind study,
106 people with different types of arthritis who had failed to
respond to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs received cetyl
myristoleate (540 mg per day orally for 30 days), while 226 others
received a placebo. These people also applied cetyl myristoleate or
placebo topically, according to their perceived need. Some 63.5% of
those receiving cetyl myristoleate improved, compared with only
14.5% of those receiving the placebo. (Siemandi H. The effect of
cis-9-cetyl myristoleate (CMO) and adjunctive therapy on arthritis
and auto-immune disease: a randomized trial. Townsend Letter for
Doctors and Patients
1997;(Aug/Sept):58-63.)
Dosage
It has
been suggested that CMO be taken in dosages of 400 to 500 mg daily
for 30 days.
Note: Claims for this substance have been
sweeping - based upon an isolated finding that it provides
protection against adjuvant-induced arthritis in animal subjects.
Until further positive research results are obtained from
well-designed and executed clinical trials, the human use of cetyl
myristoleate supplements cannot be
substantiated.
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