by Stanley W. Jacob (Author), Jack C. de la Torre (Author) First isolated as a chemical compound by a Russian chemist in 1866, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) proved to be a near-perfect solvent for decades before its remarkable biological and medical activities were discovered. DMSO is one of the most prodigious agents ever to come out of the world of drug development. Its wide range of biological actions involving plants, animals, and humans has led to the publication of tens of thousands of articles in the scientific literature. Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease examines the major clinical uses of DMSO in humans as supported by basic evidence derived from experiments in animals, including its effects in disorders such as osteoarthritis, interstitial cystitis, gastrointestinal inflammatory changes, scleroderma, respiratory distress, myasthenia gravis, cardiac disease, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer's disease.