ABSTRACT
There are some who would lump enzymes, hormones, and vitamins into one big family, all three being secretions of organs and glands that are necessary for the regulation of life processes. (Most enzyme names end with an “-ase” as a distinguishing feature, and the full name more or less describes the purpose.) An enzyme can be defined as a protein that catalyzes or favors a certain specific biochemical reaction, a protein being a very large molecule made up of amino acids. What are called
isoenzymes
are those that catalyze the same reaction but have different chemical compositions or chemical structures. The reactants for the reaction so catalyzed are generally called the
substrates
. However enzymes are categorized, a brief chapter on enzyme therapy is con-
tained in Moss’s
Cancer Therapy
:
The Independent Consumer’s Guide to Non-Toxic Treatment and Prevention
(1992). According to Moss, the successes have mostly been modest, at least with the few known enzymes tried. The digestive enzyme papain has long been used for external sores, and Moss comments that enzymes taken internally will undergo decomposition in the digestive system, and the only benefits may be digestion related. (If so generalized, then any substance taken internally is liable to be converted to something else — or is it? There is more here than first meets the eye, as some medications are plainly effective, either as is or as digestive/conversion products.) Mention is made of the therapy called Wobe-Mugos (Mucos, GmbH, Gruenwald, Germany). Research in all phases of enzyme therapy continues. A short chapter is also provided by Moss on Coenzyme Q or CoQ10 (or ubiquinone). An important use seems to be in counteracting the effect of chemotherapy drugs.
