Organic germanium was first successfully synthesized by Dr. Kazuhiko Asai of Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Asai found that organic germanium protect against cancer by stimulating the production of interferon, a substance that stimulates the production of natural killer (NK) cells, which directly combat cancer cells. Dr. Asai was the first to develop the process for producing an organic germanium that was chemically identical to the form extracted from plants, but much less costly and therefore more accessible to the public. The chemical name for this organic germanium compound is bis-carboxyethyl germanium sesquioxide. Since then, several other Japanese companies have patented other processes for the production of organic germanium.
Organic germanium helps increases oxygen in the body, which has been shown to retard the growth of cancer cells an may even help return those cells to their normal state. Dr. Otto Warburg, who won the Nobel prize for his cancer research, discovered that cancer cells cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment. Organic germanium carries oxygen across cellular membranes into the cell, which helps fight diseases caused by insufficient cellular oxygenation, or oxidative free-radical damage. One study published in the Journal of Interferon Research concluded that organic germanium restored the function of T-cells, B-lymphocytes, and natural killer cell activity, while increasing the number of antibody-forming cells, without any side effects. Research suggests that germanium may help treat cancer of the lungs, bladder, larynx and breast, as well as depression, asthma, arthritis, heavy metal poisoning, sinus infection, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, neuralgia, leukemia, and cirrhosis.