Editing Hydrogen peroxide (section)

===Use in alternative medicine===
Practitioners of [[alternative medicine]] have advocated the use of hydrogen peroxide for various conditions, including [[emphysema]], [[influenza]], [[AIDS]], and in particular [[cancer]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Douglass WC |title=Hydrogen peroxide : medical miracle|date=1995|publisher=Second Opinion Pub.|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-885236-07-4}}</ref> There is no evidence of effectiveness and in some cases it has proved fatal.<ref name="largeOral">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020820074823/https://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/HTMLdocs/HydrogenPeroxide3.htm Hydrogen Peroxide, 3%. 3. Hazards Identification] Southeast Fisheries Science Center, daughter agency of [[NOAA]].</ref><ref name="baddrink">{{cite journal |vauthors = |title = Questionable methods of cancer management: hydrogen peroxide and other 'hyperoxygenation' therapies |journal = CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians |volume = 43 |issue = 1 |pages = 47–56 |year = 1993 |pmid = 8422605 |doi = 10.3322/canjclin.43.1.47 |s2cid = 36911297 |doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name="snopesH2O2">{{cite web| vauthors = Mikkelson B |title=Hydrogen Peroxide|url=https://www.snopes.com/medical/healthyself/peroxide.asp|website=Snopes.com|date=30 April 2006|access-date=7 July 2007|archive-date=15 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215183404/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hydrogen-peroxide/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="lethalInjection">{{cite web |url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/naturopath-sentenced-for-injecting-teen-with-hydrogen-peroxide |title=Naturopath Sentenced For Injecting Teen With Hydrogen Peroxide — 7NEWS Denver |publisher=Thedenverchannel.com |date=2006-03-27 |access-date=2015-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320012431/https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/naturopath-sentenced-for-injecting-teen-with-hydrogen-peroxide |archive-date=20 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Both the effectiveness and safety of hydrogen peroxide therapy is scientifically questionable. Hydrogen peroxide is produced by the immune system, but in a carefully controlled manner. Cells called [[phagocyte]]s engulf pathogens and then use hydrogen peroxide to destroy them. The peroxide is toxic to both the cell and the pathogen and so is kept within a special compartment, called a [[phagosome]]. Free hydrogen peroxide will damage any tissue it encounters via [[oxidative stress]], a process that also has been proposed as a cause of cancer.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Halliwell B |title = Oxidative stress and cancer: have we moved forward? |journal = The Biochemical Journal |volume = 401 |issue = 1 |pages = 1–11 |date = January 2007 |pmid = 17150040 |doi = 10.1042/BJ20061131 |s2cid = 850978}}</ref>
Claims that hydrogen peroxide therapy increases cellular levels of oxygen have not been supported. The quantities administered would be expected to provide very little additional oxygen compared to that available from normal respiration. It is also difficult to raise the level of oxygen around cancer cells within a tumour, as the blood supply tends to be poor, a situation known as [[tumor hypoxia]].

Large oral doses of hydrogen peroxide at a 3% concentration may cause irritation and blistering to the mouth, throat, and abdomen as well as abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.<ref name="largeOral"/> Ingestion of hydrogen peroxide at concentrations of 35% or higher has been implicated as the cause of numerous [[Air embolism|gas embolism]] events resulting in hospitalisation. In these cases, [[Hyperbaric medicine|hyperbaric oxygen therapy]] was used to treat the embolisms.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = French LK, Horowitz BZ, McKeown NJ |title = Hydrogen peroxide ingestion associated with portal venous gas and treatment with hyperbaric oxygen: a case series and review of the literature |journal = Clinical Toxicology |volume = 48 |issue = 6 |pages = 533–8 |date = July 2010 |pmid = 20575671 |doi = 10.3109/15563650.2010.492526 |s2cid = 25148041 }}</ref>

[[Intravenous therapy|Intravenous injection]] of hydrogen peroxide has been linked to several deaths.<ref name="deaths">{{cite news| vauthors = Cooper A |title=A Prescription for Death?|work=CBS News|date=12 January 2005|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-prescription-for-death/|access-date=7 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717085909/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/12/60II/main666489.shtml|archive-date=17 July 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="snopesH2O2"/><ref name="lethalInjection"/>
The [[American Cancer Society]] states that "there is no scientific evidence that hydrogen peroxide is a safe, effective, or useful cancer treatment."<ref name="baddrink"/> Furthermore, the therapy is not approved by the U.S. FDA.