http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3041485.stm

Vitamin C can help beat arthritis

An increase in fruit and vegetables in the diet could help in the fight against osteoarthritis, say researchers. Scientists found that a diet low in fruit and vegetables - particularly those containing vitamin C - appeared to increase the risks of developing inflammatory arthritis.

Researchers from the Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC); University of Manchester and the Institute of Public Health, at Cambridge University studied about 25,000 people over eight years to see the effect of diet on their arthritis risk. Research dietician Dorothy Pattison said: "We wanted to find out whether fruit and vegetable consumption - the main dietary source of vitamin C - could affect a person's risk of developing inflammatory polyarthritis." All those studied in the EPIC-Norfolk study (an ongoing study of diet and chronic diseases) were given health and dietary assessments.

They were then followed up to see which of them developed inflammatory polyarthritis. They found 73 cases of the condition and when they looked at their food diaries they found that these people had a particularly low intake of fruit and vegetables. Professor David Scott, President of the British Society for Rheumatology, said more research was now needed into the area. "It seems there is a particularly strong link between the risk of developing some forms of arthritis and a low intake of vitamin C.

"We feel these findings may have important implications for the role of diet in reducing the risk of inflammatory arthritis." Dr Madeleine Devey, of ARC said the Norfolk Arthritis Register had produced some interesting data. "It has already established that smoking and blood transfusions are two significant risk factors for developing rheumatoid arthritis. "These latest findings suggesting that low doses of vitamin C could also be a risk factor are clearly worthy of further study."
 

 From my reading and talking to those who know - Sodium Ascorbate powder -can take higher doses without bowel problems
Here is a summary of the Vitamin C articles I've posted before

From one of the most
knowledgable docs on Vit C - also mentions Archie Kalokerinos MD inAustralia who discovered cure for SIDS in aboriginal babies (too bad we don't use it here - Vit C)

http://doctoryourself.com/cathcart_thirdface.html
    
Why A Sick Body Needs So Much Vitamin C
Megadoses: Why?
 
 The Third Face of Vitamin C
Robert F. Cathcart, M.D.
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, 7:4;197-200, 1993.

http://www.orthomed.com/klenner.htm

Journal of Applied Nutrition Vol. 23, No's 3 & 4, Winter 1971 Observations On the Dose and Administration of Ascorbic Acid When Employed Beyond the Range Of A Vitamin In Human Pathology
Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., F.C.C.P.

*********
"How Much Is Too Much?
Dr. Robert Cathcart believes the ideal intake for any individual is the highest level they can tolerate without loose bowels. On the basis of his experience with 11,000 patients over 14 years this bowel tolerance level may be 10 to 15 grams in a healthy person, 30 to 60 grams in a person with a cold, and over 199 grams per day in a person with a serious infectious illness. During an infectious illness the best clinical results have been achieved by maintaining high vitamin C levels in the blood through 3 or more grams every four hours. Fortunately, vitamin C is one of the least toxic substances known to man. Four studies gave 10 grams of vitamin C to over 3000 patients without a single reported incidence of toxicity. Other than the bowels there has not been one single case of toxicity resulting from taking vitamin C supplements, despite unfounded reports of potential risk for kidney stones, raising blood uric acid levels, or 'rebound' scurvy. It is unlikely that any vitamin has been tested to such an extent for toxicity and it is safe to assume that supplemental levels of at least 10 grams a day, or up to bowel tolerance, are completely safe. "

(again this may need to be sodium ascorbate form)

http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/mega_1_1.html#HOLFORD

VITAMIN C:
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
By Patrick Holford

*******
http://www.internetwks.com/pauling/hoffer.html
(links to some of the articles in the bibliography are there on the webpage) (c) 1996
First published June 1996  in THE TOWNSEND LETTER FOR DOCTORS AND PATIENTS 
Reprinted with permission by the Author and The Townsend Letter

The Vitamin Paradigm Wars

http://www.orthomed.com/polio.htm

July, 1949         SOUTHERN MEDICINE & SURGERY                209

The Treatment of Poliomyelitis and Other Virus Diseases with Vitamin C

Fred R. Klenner, M.D., Reidsville, North Carolina

********

http://www.whale.to/p/vitc.html

VITAMIN C, the cheap anti-viral

"We found measles to be a medical curiosity, by 1950 we could kill the measles virus in 24 hours. We also found we could dry up chicken pox in the same time."---Dr Klennr, M.D. Ascorbic acid was shown to inactivate (1936-7) the herpes virus by Holden et al. The vaccinia virus by Kliger and Bernkopf. The Hoof and mouth virus by Langenbusch and Enderling. Rabies virus by Amato

"Viral hepatitis of all types is one of the easiest diseases for ascorbic acid to cure."---Dr Cathcart, M.D.

In a study of 108 open heart surgery patients (receiving under 1.5 gms ascorbic acid/day), 11% developed hepatitis (alter et al, 1975). In contrast in the Murata-Morishige study there were no cases of hepatitis among 1100 patients receiving over 2 gms ascorbic acid. "In 1949 Klenner described his successful treatment of polio…using ascorbic acid. The main value of his work is in showing that any viral disease can be successfully brought under control with ascorbic acid if the proper large doses are used…..Millions have been spent in unsuccessful attempts to find a nontoxic, effective virucide….while, harmless, inexpensive, and non-toxic ascorbic acid has been within easy reach."---Dr. Irwin Stone

Klenner in 1948, and Dalton in 1962 reported their successful experiences with virus pneumonia treated with ascorbic acid in 42 cases and 3 cases respectively. Paez de la Torre in 1945 found good results in measles with children. Klenner in 1949, successfully used ascorbic acid as a prophylactic in a measles epidemic and gave a dramatic case history in his 1953 paper in the treatment of a 10 month old baby with measles. Zureich, in 1950 treated 71 cases of chicken pox with ascorbic acid and Klenner in 1949 also mentions the good response with this disease. Klenner also cites the dramatic results he obtained in virus encephalitis and also in 33 cases of mumps and many cases of influenza. Vargas Magne in 1963 treated 130 cases of influenza for one to 3 days using up to 45 grams of ascorbic acid. 114 recovered and 16 did not respond.

"Although we were able to cure many cases of polio with massive doses of ascorbic acid, one single instance demonstrates the value of vitamin C. Two brothers were sick with poliomyelitis. These two boys were given 10 and 12 grams of ascorbic acid, according to weight, intravenously with a 50 c.c. syringe, every eight hours for 4 times and then every 12 hours for 4 times. They also were given one gram every two hours by mouth around the clock. They made complete recovery and both were athletic stars in high school and college. A third child, a neighbour, under the care of another physician received no ascorbic acid. This child also lived. The young lady is still wearing braces."---Dr Klenner

Dr Cathcart http://www.mall-net.com/cathcart/
Vit C Foundation http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/
Klenner paper http://www.orthomed.com/klenner.htm
Null http://www.thehealingcenter.com/
Dr Pittman http://www.he.net/~center/
OrthoMed http://www.orthomed.org/
Ascorbate Web http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/
Linus Pauling site http://www.internetwks.com/pauling/
C for Yourself http://www.CforYourself.com/

******
And from Hilary Butler

"Don't use Calcium ascorbate - ever.  There are very good reasons why,  not least of which is how it is metabolised in the body.  Calcium Ascorbate is a no no.  I learned the hard way.  Brief description.  In order to metabolise ascorbate, the Vitamin C needs a sodium ion. It splits into two compounds, one of which is used, the other excreted.  The basic biochemical unit of the cell is the sodium ion.   If you use calcium ascorbate, the calcium sheers away, and sodium is pulled from the nearest cell with it in it.  Once the ascorbate is split, the first thing it does is to chelate out the calcium, which should not be there.  Then what you have left, is what is available. That is why you rarely get diarrhoea with calcium ascorbate.  Because you have to use far more of it to do what sodium ascorbate does.  So  how did ester C become supposedly the best.  I don't know.  I know my facts, because Archie Kalokerinos explained them to me, as have a couple of biochemists.  I needed to know, because when Archie sorted  out my arthritis after the rubella vaccine, he didn't put a label on it.  I didn't know what it was.  So when I ran out, I went to the health shop, and asked for "the best".  Within 9 months, I was in deep trouble and rang Archie to ask if this stuff was supposed to kill me (had a severe sodium deficiency, which was stuffing my immune system even worse than normal!!!).  He asked what was on the bottle, and when I read out Calcium Ascorbate - well - I'm sure he would have boxed my ears if he was in the same room.  Just joking.  He's very calm and gentle, is Archie.  Anyway, he explained that I would need to salt everything in sight for a while, and never to do it again. Hypercalcemia makes cancer cells grow like billie-oh... "

And from someone else - can't verify this, but sounds accurate

Divide the number of pounds by 2.2 to get the kilograms your child weights and then multiply times 200 for minimum mg per day

40 pounds divided by 2.2 = about 18 kilograms X 200 mg per kg of body weight = 3636 mg or 3.6 GM OR X 375 mg (hi end) = 6818 mg or 6.8 gm

See below

For dosage it all depends,but I saved this from another list member...
(Give until they get the poopies and then cut back a little)
Sodium ascorbate powder for breastfed babies.
Dosage rate = between 200 - 375 mg per kg of body weight over waking hours, actual dose depends on individual. So if your baby weighs 4 kilos, one gram vitamin C = 1,000 mgs ( one-quarter of a level tsp) should be split into several doses, and given from morning to evening....One good pinch equals 250 mgs, if you want to use the vague method.

Express some breastmilk, dissolve the vitamin C.  Using a plastic dropper, drip it into the inside of her cheek until all in, or get it into her as she breastfeeds by inserting the dropper without breaking her "seal" - not so easy!!!

You should start to notice a significant difference within 24 hours.

Can Vitamin C Cure Deadly Infections and Neutralize Potent Toxins?

Colorado Springs, Colorado-November 14, 2002-When dosed high enough, vitamin C alone can cure life-threatening infections and neutralize many otherwise fatal toxin exposures, according to author Thomas E. Levy, M.D., J.D. in his new book, Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins: Curing the Incurable. In citing over 1,200 articles from scientific and medical journals around the world, Dr. Levy shows that many viral diseases such as polio, hepatitis, and encephalitis have been consistently cured by high doses of vitamin C given intravenously. While maintaining that lower doses of vitamin C taken by mouth may have little or no effect on many infections, Dr. Levy adds that high enough doses administered directly into the blood can demonstrate clinical effects that border on the unbelievable. He notes that large enough oral doses of vitamin C can prevent many infections, but intravenous dosing is often needed to cure infections already contracted.

An extensive chapter outlines the evidence that many potent toxins are completely neutralized by a prompt and vigorous dosing of vitamin C, even though current medicine offers little or no other effective treatments for them. Dr. Levy cites literature that shows vitamin C can completely reverse and clinically cure advanced poisonings from agents such as tetanus toxin, mushroom toxin, barbiturates, snakebite venom, and heavy metals like lead, to name only a few. Because of this toxin-neutralizing ability, Dr. Levy further notes that the scientific evidence supports vitamin C as being an ideal agent for treating many of the infectious diseases that also produce very potent toxins, such as diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough).

The importance of giving a high enough dose of vitamin C directly into the blood is repeatedly emphasized. Dr. Levy asserts that virtually all of the studies proclaiming the ineffectiveness of vitamin C for given infections or toxins use very small doses, sometimes several thousand-fold too small. A chapter documenting the safety of vitamin C at daily doses up to 300,000 mg is included. Compelling evidence is presented contradicting the common belief that vitamin C causes kidney stones.

The reader is challenged to scientifically evaluate all of the assertions made in the book. Many of the articles cited come from the most highly esteemed medical journals in the world, including The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and The Journal of the American Medical Association. The book is nicely arranged so that the reader can quickly go to a particular infection or toxin and see what specific effects vitamin C has been reported to have on that condition over the last century. The scientific literature on vitamin C and over 25 infectious diseases and 100 toxic agents is examined.

Can these fantastic assertions of Dr. Levy really be correct? Even if the abilities of vitamin C have been overstated in this book, it appears that the intravenous dosing of high doses of vitamin C warrants serious consideration as at least an additional treatment for many infections and poisonings.

Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins
  Curing the Incurable
Library of Congress Number: 2002093697; 451 pages
ISBN: 1-4010-6964-9 (Hardcover); 1-4010-6963-0 (Softcover)
Published by Xlibris Corporation
1-888-795-4274
www.Xlibris.com
 

How Much Vitamin C Is Too Much?
It’s generally accepted that a healthy dose of vitamin C can help ward off colds. But just how much is
enough?

By Jack Phillips

Many people do not realize that man is one of the few mammals which does not manufacture its own supply of vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid. The rates of production by a number of different animals like the cat, dog and goat have been measured. The heavier the animal the more vitamin C it produces.

However, a 154-pound man would need to produce between 1.75 and 3.50 grams per day to keep up with the other animals. There are experts who feel that taking more than 140 milligrams per day of this vitamin is wasteful because, for many people, more than this amount results in urine containing the vitamin—“Expensive Urine.”

Loading tests have shown that 20 to 25 percent of a 1 gram per day dose shows up in the urine within 6 hours. When much larger doses are taken, as much as 62 percent can show up within hours. Generally speaking, the recommended daily allowances have been based on the amounts needed to prevent scurvy in healthy young men. But healthy young men represent only a small part of the total population. To my knowledge, no one has determined how much of any vitamin is required by unhealthy old men—or women.

The results of a test involving 88 patients, half being schizophrenic, are reported in Dr. Linus Pauling’s book How to live Longer and Feel Better. Each was given 1.75 grams of vitamin C by mouth. During the following 6 hours each patient’s urine was collected and then analyzed.

The amounts excreted varied from 2 percent to 40 percent of the amount ingested. The mental patients excreted about 60 percent less than the others. This clearly indicates that the need for vitamin C is quite variable. Just as one size shoe doesn’t fit every foot, the recommended daily allowance is not going to fill everybody’s need for this essential vitamin.

Incidentally, excreted vitamin C is not a complete loss. According to Dr. Pauling, it protects against urinary tract infections. Large doses can have a laxative effect causing looseness of the bowel. This is said to be greater when the vitamin is taken on an empty stomach. Dr. Pauling recommended using this laxative effect to reduce chances of developing colon cancer. Additionally, the vitamin appears to be most effective in fighting disease when the dose is close to the bowel tolerance limit.

Vitamin C is one of the few naturally anti-viral materials. There has been much controversy about its usefulness against colds and influenza. It is notable that Dr. Pauling’s interest in vitamin C was sparked by his observation that he and his wife experienced a striking decrease in the number and severity of colds after they started taking large quantities of it. I have enjoyed the same benefit.

The effects of the vitamin are dose related. Many tests at low dosages during the early years of this controversy showed little effect except reductions in  the duration of symptoms. However, physicians experienced with this therapy recommend intakes near the bowel tolerance limit, said to be between 4 and 15 grams per day for people in good health. Dr. Irwin Stone, a pioneer in the use of vitamin C, recommended taking 1.5 to 2 grams by mouth at the first sign of a cold and repeating the dose at 20 to 30 minute intervals until symptoms disappeared. He said this usually happened by the third dose.

Collagen is the material that holds your body together. Vitamin C is destroyed in the process of producing collagen. If your skin is cut, collagen is generated to make scar tissue. It seems obvious that the more extensive the damage, the greater the amount of vitamin C needed for the repair. There are many references in the scientific literature attesting to the efficacy of vitamin C in wound healing. When I had a need for a hernia repair, I put the theory to a test. I increased my intake of vitamin C prior to the surgery and took 52 grams of it in the 24 hours after it at the rate of about 2 grams per hour.

I experienced no digestive difficulties, my wound healed well and I did not need the prescribed pain medication.I was careful to reduce this high intake over the next 3 days to avoid a rebound effect. If you take a lot of vitamin C and stop taking it suddenly, your liver will take it out of your immune system leaving you vulnerable to infection.

It is interesting to note that your bones are made up of layers of collagen and the mineral apatite which together form a matrix of semiconductors. It is reasonable to believe, therefore, that vitamin C is also of value in maintaining the integrity of your skeleton.

POISON?

There are those who say that large quantities of vitamin C are poisonous. Dr. Pauling reported that he took 18 grams of it every day and he lived to be over 90. In bulk, vitamin C is not expensive. It costs about 3.5 cents per gram. Thus 1.75 grams costs about 6 cents and 18 grams about 65 cents. Of course your body needs other supplements to stay healthy.

Dr. Joel Wallach has stated that there are 60 minerals, 16 vitamins, 12 essential amino acids and 3 essential fatty acids that your body requires in order to prevent dietary deficiency diseases.  The soils in the United States have been deficient in minerals for years so you cannot get everything you need from food alone. In 1994, Dr. Wallach stated that the life span for the average American was 75.5 years, but was only 58 years for medical doctors.

An attempt to update the life span for physicians was unsuccessful because a representative of the American Medical Association stated that they no longer keep these statistics. Possibly the physicians who have been advising their patients to avoid “Expensive Urine” have been taking their own advice—and dying early of “Cheap Urine.” ™

 

Pediatr Infect Dis J 2003 Jan;22(1):34-9    Related Articles,>Links 
 
Impaired endothelial function in the brachial artery after Kawasaki disease and the effects of intravenous administration of vitamin C.

Deng YB, Li TL, Xiang HJ, Chang Q, Li CL.

Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. youdeng@public.wh.hb.cn

BACKGROUND: Previous studies in patients with a history of Kawasaki disease have focused on vascular endothelial function in coronary arteries, and the endothelial function of systemic arteries is not fully understood. Furthermore the effect of vitamin C on systemic endothelial function after Kawasaki disease has not been elucidated. OBJECTIVES: We attempted to analyze endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in the brachial artery after Kawasaki disease by using high resolution ultrasonography and to investigate whether the acute administration of vitamin C could restore such systemic endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: We compared 39 patients (7.1 +/- 2.7 years) 1.0 to 9.6 years after acute Kawasaki disease with 17 matched healthy subjects (7.0 +/- 3.1 years) as controls. Using high resolution vascular ultrasound, we measured brachial artery responses to reactive hyperemia (with increased flow causing endothelium-dependent dilatation) and sublingual nitroglycerin (causing endothelium-independent dilatation). RESULTS: The percent change in diameter of the brachial artery induced by reactive hyperemia in the patients with a history of Kawasaki disease (6.2 +/- 3.9%) was significantly lower than that in the control group (14.1 +/- 6.8%; P < 0.0001). No significant difference could be found in percent change in diameter induced by sublingual administration of nitroglycerin between the control (33.2 +/- 13.7%) and the patients with a history of Kawasaki disease (30.6 +/- 9.2%; P = 0.49). There was no significant difference in percent change in diameter of the brachial artery induced by reactive hyperemia between the patients who received gamma-globulin (6.0 +/- 4.0%) and those who did not receive gamma-globulin (7.9 +/- 3.3%; P = 0.33). Intravenous infusion of vitamin C significantly increased the percent change in diameter of brachial artery induced by reactive hyperemia in 19 patients with history of Kawasaki disease (6.6 +/- 3.5 to 13.0 +/- 5.5%; P < 0.0001), whereas no significant increase was seen in the percent change in diameter of brachial artery induced by reactive hyperemia in 20 patients with history of Kawasaki disease after placebo administration (6.5 +/- 4.5 to 7.3 +/- 4.9%; P = 0.20).

 CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed decreased percent change in diameter of the brachial artery induced by reactive hyperemia in patients with history of Kawasaki disease compared with the healthy children, indicating that systemic endothelial dysfunction exits after Kawasaki disease. Although such systemic endothelial dysfunction after Kawasaki disease is not influenced by early treatment with high dose gamma-globulin in the acute stage of Kawasaki disease, it can be restored by the acute intravenous administration of vitamin C.

PMID: 12544406 [PubMed - in process]
   

A junk food diet of cheese, crackers, soda, cookies, chocolate and water--along with no fruit and vegetables whatsoever--caused a young college student to develop scurvy, a condition brought on by vitamin C deficiency.

Scurvy, which once affected sailors who did not get enough vitamin C in their diets, is characterized by symptoms such as bleeding gums, loose teeth, muscle degeneration and weakness. Another sign of scurvy is a change in skin color on the legs, which results from bleeding underneath the skin. The student went to the doctor because he was experiencing swelling and bruising on his legs. He was also found to have bleeding gums and a rapid heartbeat.

Although the student was eating enough calories, researchers estimated that his vitamin C intake was about 0.1 milligram per day--well below the 90 milligrams per day recommended daily allowance (RDA) for nonsmoking men. His blood level of vitamin C was found to be at least four-fold below normal range.

He was advised to take a multivitamin and a vitamin C supplement, and after four days of use his symptoms greatly improved. The condition improved further after an additional two weeks of extra vitamin C. Researchers stressed that people need vitamin C every day, and even though they may be eating enough food, they may not be getting enough vitamin C. Scurvy occurs more often among the elderly and alcoholics, who often have unbalanced diets. Previous research has shown that although many Americans have low levels of vitamin C, the deficiencies are not enough to cause scurvy.

Factors such as smoking cigarettes and feeling stressed may increase the amount of vitamin C that a person needs, researchers noted.

Vitamin C good for the brain

4 June 2002
with Norman Swan

Some fascinating new research into Vitamin C suggests a rather fundamental role for the vitamin in the brain. I’ll preface what comes next by saying the findings are in mice so the next rodent group they’ll have to test is lawyers then after them humans. Vitamin C relies on two chemicals to transport it around. One of these transporters takes vitamin C from the intestine into the blood stream and the second transports it from the blood into various organs including the brain.

A group of researchers removed the gene for the second transporter – the one for the organs – from and observed what happened. These transporter-challenged mice died almost immediately after birth because of haemorrhage into the brain and failure to breathe properly. Coincidentally – or perhaps not at all coincidentally – these are the major complications of prematurity in human babies.

What this study has shown is that vitamin C has far more profound influences on human development than people have assumed and maybe it has a role in the care of pre term babies. Some people have tried vitamin C supplements in premmies without much benefit. The reason may be that the babies need more of this transporter to get the vitamin into the brain more effectively.

To test that they’ll need experimental animals which survive into adulthood.

Bring out the lawyers.
For reference
Sotiria S et al. Nature Medicine 2002;8:514-517

Hedgier MA. (commentary) Nature Medicine 2002;8:445-446

The recent attention to vaccinations, that may become mandatory as supplies increase and demand FALLS have raised many fears about some of the most dangerous medical vaccination procedures resulting in severe disability. I received the following protocol from Dr.G M-H which he has permitted me to forward

This is hardly new stuff! Australian Drs reported this years ago. Check urine with dip stick paper for vit C. If it shows +ve then the risk of injury is markedly reduced for all vaccines. Method can be used on small babies onwards. Test just before (1 hour) jab, do not vaccinate until level shows +ve. Give patient Vit C in powder form to raise levels. Keep levels up for 5 days afterwards. Simple! What is enough? For an adult a minimum of 8 g /day in two doses. For an child 5 g in two doses. For an infant 2 g in two doses. If in doubt, more is better BUT ALWAYS TEST BEFORE INNOCULATION.Mercury used as vaccine preservative also helped by the vit C. Use in powder form with lemon/apple juice if you can. This also effective in SIDS or Cot Death. Dose to prevent SIDS is 100mg/day per month of age up to 10 months. Then increase dose by I gm per year of age. I have used Vit C for years oral/IM/IV. In this polluted world we need it. Very Effective IV in Cancer if used long enough in conjunction with other support  therapies. If the organs are damaged beyond repair before we see the patient by the Ca then Vit C eases th death, no pain, no drugs. Brilliant Stuff.

 

Progress

"BE DILIGENT... SO THAT EVERYONE MAY SEE YOUR PROGRESS."
1 TIMOTHY 4 : 15 (NIV)

If you think accepting change is difficult - try introducing it to others!

You'll have for enemies all those who've done well under the old system and only lukewarm defenders among those who aren't sure how well they'll do under the new one. Resistance to progress is universal; it seizes every generation by the throat and attempts to stop all forward movement.

In 1553, Admiral Richard Hawkins recorded that during his career on the high seas, 10,000 men under his command had died of scurvy. He also noted that oranges and lemons (Vitamin C) completely cured it. But his observations went unheeded for 200 years, during which time thousands more sailors died needlessly. In 1753, James Lind, a British Naval surgeon, published a book saying that scurvy could be eliminated with lemon juice. He even cited case histories to prove it. But instead of being honored, he was ridiculed by the Lords of the Admiralty and by the leading physicians of the day. In fact, his advice was ignored for another 40 years. Not until the year after his death in 1794 was a Naval Squadron supplied with orange juice before a voyage. On that voyage which lasted 23 weeks, there wasn't one case of scurvy. Even so, another 10 years passed and thousands more died before regulations were enacted requiring sailors to drink a daily ration of lemon juice. With that enactment, scurvy finally disappeared from the British Navy.

What a lesson for us as God's people! Let's not let complacency, prejudice, or the fear of change, rob us of the joy of becoming all God intends us to be.
 

Vitamin C touted to fight virus
Proponents say huge doses could counter SARS

Recommended levels too low, says Toronto doctor

JANICE MAWHINNEY
LIFE WRITER

Could high doses of vitamin C be an effective treatment for SARS? Toronto physician Fred Hui believes that administering vitamin C intravenously is a treatment worth trying.  The advantages: It's cheap, available and relatively free of side effects. The disadvantages: Nobody knows if it works. Nevertheless, Hui would like to see people who are quarantined taking Vitamin C in high doses. And he'd like to see people admitted to hospital for the pneumonia-like virus treated with the vitamin intravenously while also receiving the usual
drugs for SARS.
 
Hui earned his M.D. at the University of Toronto in 1979, and has since studied traditional Chinese medicine in Beijing. "I appeal to hospitals to try this for people who already have SARS," says Hui. "I urge people who have come into contact with someone who has SARS to try it."  Members of the public would also do well to build up their levels of vitamin C, he says.  Vitamin C is underused in orthodox medicine, Hui believes. He says it hasn't been supported by research and promotion because it can't be patented.  Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi first isolated vitamin C in 1928, and later won a Nobel prize for his discoveries. 

American physician Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel prize winner, studied the vitamin's importance to the immune system and suggested in 1970 that people taking higher doses than those officially recommended could prevent the common cold, or shorten its duration. The medical establishment reacted with strong opposition to his ideas, but the public was more receptive. Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant, an important ingredient for the synthesis of collagen, and essential for the production of white blood cells, antibodies and other disease-fighting elements. During illness, the body's vitamin C levels are depleted.

Because SARS is a virus, Hui says, the effects of vitamin C should improve the body's defenses against it. And since it has a low cost, is universally accessible, and is easily tolerated by the body, there is nothing to lose in trying it as a treatment for SARS.  Vitamin C is water soluble, he notes, so the body excretes any excess and no toxicity accumulates. No dose of vitamin C high enough to be toxic has yet been discovered. "This is one of the most harmless substances there is," Hui states. "There used to be concern about kidney stones, but that was theoretical. It was never borne out in an actual case."

The doses needed to be effective vary from individual to individual, he says, noting that smokers, elderly people, diabetics, chronic drinkers and people who are ill or are in high stress situations need higher doses. Pollution also increases the amount of vitamin C needed.  Hui says he believes everyone could benefit from at least one gram a day of vitamin C, and more for most people. The recommended daily allowance - the level needed to keep from getting scurvy - is 75 mg for adult men and 90 mg for women.  Hui says he routinely takes six grams of vitamin C a day, spread throughout the day. He also recommends high doses to relatives, friends and patients. When someone takes a dose higher than the individual's body needs, Hui says, the digestive system reacts by producing loose stools or diarrhoea. He recommends that people increase the dose until they experience loose stools, and then cut their vitamin C intake back by one measure to find the exact dose most useful to them at that time.  One possible nuisance side effect, particularly for those with sensitive stomachs, Hui warns, is an acidic stomach. To avoid this, he recommends taking the vitamin C with food, or taking it in a form buffered with minerals. Buffered vitamin C is available in tablets, capsules, or granules that can be mixed in a glass of water of juice.  The amounts of vitamin C Hui recommends are too high to be taken in food.

David Jenkins, professor of medicine and nutritional science at the University of Toronto and a physician at St. Michael's Hospital, says he hadn't heard of using high-dose vitamin C to fight SARS, but he finds the idea intriguing since some studies have found the vitamin effective with the  common cold. "The common cold is a coronavirus, and SARS is a coronavirus so they are the same viral type," he observes. "In the absence of a vaccine, this sounds like an interesting approach."  Jenkins doubts that the whole medical establishment will greet the idea with enthusiasm. "Many of my colleagues grumble even about following Linus Pauling up to 10 grams a day," he says. "They're worried about the acid load. And anyone who takes high doses of vitamin C and stops cold turkey can become deficient, even with normal intake. A gradual cutback is okay."

He says he's never heard of anyone taking doses as high as 100 or more grams a day as recommended by some proponents of the use of vitamin C for people with active SARS.  "That could lead to torrential diarrhoea," he warns. "Anyone who tries this should only do it under medical supervision, and should use caution.' Jenkins says he wouldn't automatically throw cold water on the idea and his own position is one of cautious interest. "This is new stuff for many of us," he adds. "That's an awful lot of C."

Humans are one of the few animal species, like other primates and guinea pigs, whose bodies can't produce their own vitamin C, so need to get it through diet.  Hui says he has found intravenous vitamin C effective in his medical practice with patients who have viral illnesses.  "For people with infectious mononucleosis, instead of letting them take six months to recover, I give them a vitamin C drip and they recover within days," he says.

"When a patient comes in with a bacterial infection, that calls for antibiotics. When the signs point to a virus, I recommend pumping up the oral vitamin C. A low dose just doesn't have the right mechanisms to be effective. A high dose of vitamin C produces hydrogen peroxide, which kills  germs." When Hui started speaking out about the benefits of high doses of vitamin C,he soon heard from the outspoken California physician Robert Cathcart, one of the leading authorities on the clinical use of this vitamin. Cathcart maintains that when vitamin C isn't widely effective in cases of viral infections like SARS, it is because doses are not high enough. "I can tell you that SARS will be cured by massive doses of intravenous sodium ascorbate (vitamin C)," he declares on his Web site. "What is not getting across, for whatever reason, is that the amount of intravenous sodium ascorbate necessary to take out SARS is truly massive, like perhaps 120 to 180 grams a day or more .... Let us not fool around with phony low doses that will not work." He complains that some people refer to doses such as four grams as megadoses. "For these purposes, four grams is ridiculously inadequate." Hui says it's the right time for hospitals, quarantined people, and anyone concerned by the present public health situation, to try high dose vitamin C.  "This may be the key to winning the fight against SARS," he says. Among many Web sites with vitamin C information is http://www.garynull.com/documents/vitaminc.htm.

 

 
How to Get Intravenous Vitamin C Given to a Hospitalized Patient

Intravenous Vit C
Home Intravenous Vitamin C Checklist
1) Know before you go. It is immeasurably easier to get what you want if you contract for it beforehand. Prenuptial agreements, new car deals, roofing and siding estimates, and hospital care need to be negotiated in advance. When the tow truck comes, it is too late to complain about who’s driving. Same with an ambulance, or a hasty hospital admission. You have to pre-plan, and here’s how:

2) Get a letter. Yes, a “note from the doctor” still carries clout. Have you general practitioner, today if possible, sign a letter stating that he backs your request for a vitamin C I.V. drip, 10 grams per 12 hours, should you (or your designated loved one) require hospitalization. Have copies made and keep them handy. Update the letter annually. You now have your G.P.’s permission. Good start, but not enough.

3) Get some more letters. Obtain a similar letter form every specialist that you have used, are using, or may use in the foreseeable future. This sounds cumbersome, but is no more unmanageable than most people’s grocery lists. Keep it in perspective: this is just as important as wearing a medical alert bracelet or keeping a fresh battery in Grandpa’s pacemaker.

4) Make some calls. Telephone a representative or two from every hospital within one hundred miles of your home. Find out which wants your business the most. When you find a “live one” on the phone, write down their name and title, and follow up with a letter.

5) Write for your rights. In your letter, ask for the hospital’s permission to have a vitamin C IV drip, infusion, push or injection, as well as oral vitamin C, should you or your designated family member(s) come in to that hospital. YOU MUST GET THIS IN WRITING. Now, do NOT say, “I want that in writing,” because people do not like that. But if you WRITE to them by US Mail, they will naturally write back to you. Bingo.

Helpful hint: do NOT correspond by email; you want a real signature on hospital letterhead. (And no, don’t ask for that either! It will happen automatically if you write first.)

You might be wondering, What if they write back, “No, we won’t.” Hold onto that letter. You can make a real stink with it should you need to play hardball in court, and I do NOT mean a handball court.

These actions are much more likely, however:

a) They simply will not write back. OK, so ask yourself this: What if your credit card company didn’t respond to your letters? So would you entrust your life to a hospital that refuses to even answer their mail? Make a point to go someplace else. If you live in a rural community or smaller city, you might be thinking that you do not have a choice of hospitals. Maybe not for the first 24 hours in an unexpected circumstance. But people can be moved. That’s what modern transportation is for. Famous hospitals get people from all over. How many people do you know that live within walking distance of Sloan-Ketterling, Roswell, the Brigham, or the Mayo Clinic?

b) What is most likely is that the hospital’s representative will send you a garbage answer, with a response so noncommittal as to be unusable. This may mean that your wrote the wrong person, or wrote the wrong letter. Try this: have your doctor “write” the letter. The doctor’s letterhead and signature; your composition. Go ahead; you can give a professional a rough draft of what you want said. I had lawyer ask me to do exactly that when I sought (and succeeded in getting) a vitamin C IV into my hospitalized father. I wrote it and faxed it to the attorney; his staff rewrote it on his stationery and he signed it. It saves time.

Helpful hint: Be sure your (doctor’s) letter clearly REQUESTS A REPLY.

Another Helpful hint: FAX wherever you can to save time. Always send a back-up copy of the letter by postal mail. Then, write again to confirm that they received it.

c) It is also quite possible that they will ask for more information. This could be a genuine interest, but it is more likely a stall. If you think Nero fiddled whilst Rome burned, you should see what medical bureaucrats can do. To cut through the treacle, you need to understand the nature of the beast. The first rule of lion taming is, You have to know more than the lions. Therefore:

6. Know the law. Many states have enacted legislation that makes it possible for a physician to provide any natural therapy that a patient requests without fear of losing his or her license. If your state has such a law, it will make it somewhat easier to get a doctor to prescribe a vitamin C IV.

7. Know the power structure. Find out who is in charge.

I have heard doctors say that they’d be happy to start a megavitamin C IV but the hospital will not let them. Then, when asked, I have heard the hospital say that they allow vitamin C IV’s but the doctors won’t do them. To avoid an endless Catch-22 situation, you have to know the ropes and where everybody stands.

On the doctor side:
Which physician (as opposed to witch doctor) is in charge? It could be the attending surgeon; it could be your general practitioner; it could be the chief resident. One thing is for sure: someone has the power to prescribe. Go to the person that can do you the most good (or harm) and start your negotiations there. If you can persuade the king, the castle is yours.

On the hospital side:
Which of the administrators has the clout? Talk to their secretaries (they are the people who really run things anyway) and you will find out. It could be that the most influential person for you may be the hospital’s patient rights advocate or V. P. for customer service. It might even be the public relations director. Who knows? You sure don’t, so remove the veil of anonymity and find out.

On the patient side:
The patient, if conscious, has all the power because it is his/her body. If a patient insists loud and long enough, s/he can get almost anything. Since patients tend to be sick, and therefore easily slip into becoming non-combatants, a family member has to get in there and pitch for them. A highly experienced nurse told me that she would never leave a family member in a hospital without a 24-hour-a-day guard in the form of a friend or family member or other advocate. That is sound advice from a lady who’s seen it.

Next to the patient, the most powerful family member is the spouse. After that, it would be children. You do not have to have power of attorney to have power, but it helps. If the patient is unable to speak, act, or think, it may be essential. Do not wait until the patient is incapacitated to plan this. Your family needs to come together (difficult though this may be) and present a preplanned, unified front to the medical and administrative people. You may think I am overstating the case, but I have seen patients die simply because NO ONE TOOK THE REINS AND GOT THE VITAMIN C IN THE VEINS. I have seen vitamin C IV’s halted simply because the patient was moved to (or from) intensive care. Think that one over. I have seen vitamin C prescriptions over-ridden by a nurse or a pharmacist. You would not think that possible, would you. Well, it is. There is no nice way to phrase this. Stay on top of the situation or you will have a premature burial on your hands.

8. Know your recourse. If you are rich, get your lawyer on the phone. Better yet, bring your lawyer into the hospital. If you are like the rest of us, you may simply have to bluff if you threaten to call your attorney. The purpose here is to save the life of your loved one, not to make a buck from a malpractice suit. Personally, I think malpractice suits are a sign of the most abject failure on the part of the family, as well as the medical profession. In the same way that accident insurance does not prevent accidents but only pays the costs, so do malpractice settlements fail to resuscitate a dead family member. “Death control” is somewhat like birth control in that you have to act before the event takes place. But if we push the analogy, we realize a grim truth: there is no such thing as a “morning after” pill for rigor mortis, nor can you abort a funeral.

9. Know the facts about vitamin C IV’s. For this, there is absolutely no alternative to reading up on the subject. Here is what you will want to begin with:

http://www.doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/vitaminc.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_cathcart.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/naturedoc.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/hospitals.html

Professionally speaking, I am not really all that interested in vitamins. I am, however, extremely interested in saving life. The reading I referenced above may make all the difference in your case.

10. Know how to settle controversy and avoid the run-around.

Doctors and hospitals are quick to offer rather bogus reasons why they would deny your request for a vitamin C IV. Each of these arguments is a lot of bull, and easily refuted.

Their argument: “We do not have Vitamin C for intravenous infusion in our pharmacy”
Your response: “So get some. From another hospital; by Fed Ex, by medevac helicopter. Or, just make it yourselves. Look: here’s instructions on how to prepare it, written by a highly experienced physician.
http://www.doctoryourself.com/vitciv.html

Their argument: “We have never done this before.”
Your response: “Then this is a wonderful opportunity to learn. I’ve never lost a (insert family member’s position here) before.”

Their Argument: “The patient is too ill.”
Your response: “That’s why we want the vitamin C IV.”

Their argument: “We might get into trouble if we do this.”
Your response: “You will be in legal trouble for sure if you don’t.”

Their argument: “There is no scientific evidence that this is safe, effective, appropriate for this case, blah, blah, blah…”
Your response: “Read this.” (This short phrase is to be spoken as you produce a large stack of actual medical studies written by medical doctors who have successfully used vitamin C IV’s. See references mentioned above.)

Their argument: “But we do not have time to read all those papers.”
Your response: “That’s OK. I already have, and it’s my body (or my father’s, or my mother’s). Run the vitamin C IV. Start with 10 grams every 12 hours and do not stop it without my written authorization.”

Their argument: “This hospital operates under our authority, these are our rules, and this is the way it is done.”
Your response: “This is my mother. If you deny her the treatment the family requests, you will be sued, and we will win. Do you really want to go to the wall on this one?”

Confrontational? Admittedly, yes. But I have seen too many people die too soon. Dr. Frederick Robert Klenner was right when he said, “Some physicians would stand by and see their patient die rather than use ascorbic acid (vitamin C) because in their finite minds it exists only as a vitamin."

Don’t let it happen to your family.


Reprinted from the book FIRE YOUR DOCTOR, copyright 2001 and prior years by Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470 USA Telephone (716) 638-5357

 

TOPICAL ASCORBATE STOPS PROLONGED BLEEDING FROM TOOTH EXTRACTION

by Hugh D. Riordan, M.D. and James A. Jackson, MT(ASCP), Ph.D.

http://www.brightspot.org Email: staff@brightspot.org

"A woman of age 82 had a decayed lower incisor tooth removed by her dentist about 4 p.m., and was sent home with two gauze packs to apply to the socket if needed to control bleeding. Five hours later she was seen in her home by Dr. Riordan due to uncontrolled bleeding estimated at the time as 1 to 2 mL/min. Obvious signs of extensive bleeding were apparent in her bathroom where she had been for the entire period. A loose suture was suspected, but none was found. The patient then stated that no suture was used. Blood was oozing not only from the socket, but from a broad area of local gum tissue, particularly posteriorly. Her blood pressure was satisfactory, 160/86.

"Direct pressure applied with several gauzes did not slow the continuous oozing. The woman was a Christian Scientist opposed to the use of drugs and medical treatment, but she did allow the application of a gauze dusted with buffered vitamin C powder. The gauze initially contained roughly 0.1 g of the vitamin (which contained 19 mg calcium, 11 mg magnesium, and 4 mg potassium per 100 mg vitamin C in the form of carbonate or bicarbonate buffers, pH 6.8 in water). The bleeding slowed significantly with this treatment. Then the entire bleeding surface of her gums was dusted with about 0.25 g of the powder. After the third application of a similar amount, the bleeding stopped.

"She was next asked to dissolve slowly in her mouth a zinc lozenge; it contained 12 mg zinc as aspartate, 150 mg vitamin C, 1000 IU vitamin A, 100 mg propolis, and 25 mg slippery elm in a base of goldenseal and fructose. A beautiful fibrinous clot, 3 or I cm in length, formed along the inner surface of her gum within three minutes.

"At this time it was noticed that she had extensive petechiae (pinpoint-sized hemorrhages in the skin) over her arms, evidence of vitamin C deficiency. She agreed to take 1 g of the buffered vitamin C twice daily in fruit juice and to use two zinc lozenges daily. The woman slept overnight without bleeding. She felt weak the next day, but felt well one day later, still with no further bleeding. So far as we are aware, treatment of prolonged dental bleeding by topical ascorbate has not been reported previously. It raises the question of whether topical ascorbate and zinc lozenges may be useful in other, similar cases. It is hoped that interested dentists will try this treatment and report their findings."
 

Vitamin C Use May Lower Heart Disease Risk


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 15 - Findings from a large prospective study suggest that use of vitamin C supplements may protect against coronary heart disease (CHD).

Given the vitamin's antioxidant properties, it is plausible that high blood levels would protect the heart from injury, lead author Dr. Stavroula K. Osganian, from The Children's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues note. Still, previous studies examining the cardioprotective effects of vitamin C have yielded conflicting results. Most studies that have shown a benefit of vitamin C use have involved populations with low or deficient intake of the vitamin. The new findings, published in the July 16th issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, are based on data from the Nurses' Health Study in which 85,118 women completed food-frequency questionnaires and were followed for 16 years. During the study period, 1356 women developed CHD. After adjusting for age, smoking status, and other heart disease risk factors, the researchers found that vitamin C intake was inversely related to CHD risk. Women who used vitamin C supplements were 28% less likely to develop CHD than were nonusers.

Among women who did not use supplements, dietary vitamin C intake was only weakly tied to CHD risk. The results suggest that use of vitamin C supplements may protect against  CHD, Dr. Osganian said in a statement. However, "our study cannot provide conclusive evidence for a protective role nor can it exclude the possibility that the association may be due to some other health-seeking characteristic among vitamin C supplement users," he added.

Randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials are needed to prove that vitamin C is cardioprotective, Dr. Balz Frei, from Oregon State University in Corvallis, notes in a related editorial. However, such trials may be "prohibitively expensive and impractical" and "we may never know with certainty whether vitamin C supplementation is of benefit in the primary prevention of CHD."

"What we know with certainty, however, is that a healthy diet and lifestyle lowers the risk of CHD, and is what we should advocate to CHD patients and healthy people alike," Dr. Frei added.

J Am Coll Cardiol 2003;42:246-255.
 

MEGADOSES OF VITAMIN C: A GREAT IDEA BUT NOT A NEW ONE

(This paper originally was published as "The Pioneering Work of William J. McCormick, MD" in my column, Taking the Cure, appearing in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2003, p 93-96. It is reprinted here with permission.)

Darwin had a far easier time with the acceptance of evolution than orthomolecular physicians have had gaining acceptance of the therapeutic use of ascorbic acid.

It takes vitamin C to make collagen and strong connective tissue. That fact is in every nutrition textbook ever written. It has also been shown that vitamin C supplementation enhances collagen synthesis. (1) And does so rapidly, too. (2) But few know that, some 50 years ago, it was Toronto
physician William J. McCormick, M.D., who pioneered the idea that poor collagen formation, due to vitamin C deficiency, was a principal cause of diverse conditions ranging from stretch marks to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

STRETCH MARKS

In 1948, Dr. McCormick (3) wrote:

"[T]hese disfiguring subdermal lesions, which for centuries were regarded as a natural sequence of pregnancy, are the result of increased fragility of the involved abdominal connective tissue, secondary to deficiency of vitamin C."

The strength of a brick wall is not truly in the bricks, for a stack of bricks can easily be pushed apart. Collagen is the "mortar" that binds your cells together, just as mortar binds bricks together. If collagen is abundant and strong, body cells hold together well. It is possible to see how this property would prevent stretch marks.

CANCER

It is a logical but large step to propose that, if cells stick together, tumors would have a tough time spreading through them. Irwin Stone (4) credited McCormick with taking that very step:

"In cancer, the maintenance of collagen synthesis at optimal levels, may provide such tough and strong tissue ground substance around any growing cancer cells so that they would be firmly anchored and could not break away and metastasize."

This simple theory would be the foundation for Linus Pauling and Ewan Cameron's decision to employ large doses of vitamin C to fight cancer. After all, if cancer cells are going to try to metastasize, it makes sense to provide abundant vitamin C to strengthen collagen to keep them from doing so.

Dr. McCormick was among the first to comment that persons with cancer typically have exceptionally low levels of vitamin C in their tissues, a deficiency of approximately 4,500 mg. This could help explain why a cancer patient's collagen is generally not tough enough to be able to prevent cancer from spreading.

McCormick also thought that the symptoms of classic vitamin C deficiency disease, scurvy, closely resemble the symptoms of some types of leukemia and other forms cancer. Today, although scurvy is generally considered to be virtually extinct, cancer is all too prevalent. If the signs of development of cancer and scurvy are similar, could they be fundamentally the same disease under different names? In his 1962 paper "Have We Forgotten the Lesson of Scurvy" (5) Dr. McCormick writes:

"As long ago as 1609, Martini cited by (scurvy research pioneer Dr. James) Lind stated that scurvy is nearly allied to the plague, as it occasions carbuncles, buboes and cancer. In an effort to clarify this relationship we published two papers (6,7) in which we advanced the hypothesis that deficiency of vitamin C, by bringing about disintegration of epithelial and connective tissue relationships, owing to liquefaction of the intercellular cement substance collagen) and disintegration of the connective tissue of the basement membrane, results in breakdown of orderly cellular arrangement, thus acting as a prelude to cancer."

He also cites this obscure but interesting reference in the 1905 edition of Northnagel's Encyclopedia of Practical Medicine (8) which describes the scorbutic aspects of acute lymphatic leukemia: "The most striking clinical symptoms of this disease are the hemorrhages and their sequelae. . . Every touch produces hemmorhage, making a condition completely identical with that of scurvy."

Dr. McCormick's conclusion is that

"Our major effort (against cancer) should be directed toward prevention of the cause of the cellular disarrangement - collagenous breakdown of epithelial and subepithelial connective tissues - as manifested in open sores or fissures that fail to heal readily, and unusual or easily produced hemorrhage. Such lesions may be early warning signs of future cancer. They likewise are early signs of scurvy." (p. 10)

If our civilization is suffering from a scurvy epidemic under the current name of cancer, then the symptoms, progress and results of the two diseases may have a common cause (vitamin C deficiency) and a common treatment: vitamin C in large quantity. If this is even partially true, then all cancer patients should receive large doses of ascorbic acid as a matter of routine.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

As scorbutic gum tissue spontaneously hemorrhages, so also a scorbutic artery can literally "bleed" into itself. McCormick, over twenty years before Linus Pauling, reviewed the nutritional causes of heart disease and noted that four out of five coronary cases in hospital show vitamin C
deficiency. In one paper (9) he wrote that, as early as 1941,

"Paterson (10) called attention to the low vitamin-C status of coronary thrombosis cases. He found that 81 per cent of such cases in hospital practice had a subnormal blood-plasma level as compared to 55.8 per cent in a corresponding group of general public ward patients. He attributes the precipitation of thrombosis to a prior subintimal capillary hemorrhage at the site of the lesion, which he has verified at autopsy. He regards this hemorrhagic prelude as due to C-avitaminosis and suggests that patients with this disease be assured of an adequate intake of this vitamin."

And while the exact meaning of the word "adequate" has been at the heart of nutrition controversy ever since, supplementation with even a moderate quantity of vitamin C has been shown to prevent disease and save lives. Just 500 mg daily results in a 42 percent lower risk of death from heart disease and a 35 percent lower risk of death from any cause. (11)

VITAMIN C AS ANTIBIOTIC AND ANTIVIRAL

Dr. McCormick proposed vitamin C deficiency as the essential cause of, and an effective cure for, numerous communicable illnesses. In "The Changing Incidence and Mortality of Infectious Disease in Relation to Changed Trends in Nutrition" (12) McCormick cited mortality tables as early as 1840, and suggested that tuberculosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough, rheumatic fever and typhoid fever are primarily due to inadequate dietary vitamin C. It remains as novel an idea today as it was nearly 60 years ago to say that disease trends in history might be understood as waves of lack of vitamin C intake.

Dr. McCormick considered vitamin C to be the pivotal therapeutic nutrient "by reason of its chemical action as a reducing agent, and sometimes as an oxidizing agent, vitamin C is also a specific antagonist of chemical and bacterial toxins." Furthermore, in "Ascorbic Acid as a Chemotherapeutic Agent" (13) he stated:

"Vitamin C is known to play an essential part in the oxidation-reduction system of tissue respiration and to contribute to the development of antibodies and the neutralization of toxins in the building of natural immunity to infectious diseases. There is a very potent chemotherapeutic
action of ascorbic acid when given in massive repeated doses, 500 to 1,000 mg. (hourly), preferably intravenously or intramuscularly. When thus administered the effect in acute infectious processes is favorably comparable to that of the sulfonamides or the mycelial antibiotics, but with
the great advantage of complete freedom from toxic or allergic reactions." (p. 151)

There is considerable evidence that vitamin C in large, frequent doses can cure what are usually called infectious diseases. To establish that these diseases are actually vitamin C deficiency diseases, we should be able to prevent them by regular, abundant supply of the vitamin. This is exactly what can be done, McCormick said:

"Once the acute febrile or toxic stage of an infectious disease is brought under control by massive ascorbic acid administration, a relatively small maintenance dose of the vitamin will be adequate in most cases to prevent relapses, just as in fire protection small chemical extinguishers may be adequate to prevent fires in their incipiency, whereas when large fires have
developed, water from large high-pressure fire hoses becomes necessary." (p. 152)

Along with his contemporary, Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., McCormick was an early advocate of using vitamin C as an antiviral and an antibiotic. Klenner would go on to use much larger quantities (350-700 mg per kg body weight per day). In the 1950's, even McCormick's relatively modest four or five daily 1,000-2,000 mg doses were perceived as astronomically high, and something to be feared.

In some minds, this remains the case today.

KIDNEY STONES

Ever since Linus Pauling began publicizing the value of megadoses of vitamin C in the early 1970's, it has been a cornerstone of medical mythology that vitamin C can cause kidney stones. The accusation is false. (14) Everybody has heard about unicorns and can describe one in detail. You could probably draw a unicorn. You can see one in your mind right now. Yet unicorns do not exist. They are imaginary, without substance or proof. Just like a vitamin C kidney stone. The vitamin C kidney stone myth is the best known non-fact in non-existence. Every physician has heard of one, but not one of them has ever seen one. That is because they simply do not exist.

As Dr Abram Hoffer has said, "Contrary to popular medical belief, vitamin C does not cause kidney stones; at least it never has so far. Maybe in it will in the next 1000 years."

Writers often pass by the fact that Dr. McCormick actually advocated vitamin C to prevent and cure the formation of some kidney stones as far back as 1946 (15), when he wrote:

"I have observed that a cloudy urine, heavy with phosphates and epithelium, is generally associated with a low vitamin C status. . . and that as soon as corrective administration of the vitamin effects a normal ascorbic acid (vitamin C) level the crystalline and organic sediment disappears like magic from the urine. I have found that this change can usually be brought about
in a matter of hours by large doses of the vitamin, 500 to 2,000 mg, oral or parenteral." (p. 411)

In what might be seen as a display of almost too much therapeutic versatility, Dr. McCormick affirmed that calculi in other parts of the body could be cleared up by plenty of vitamin C, including stones in the biliary tract, the pancreas, tonsils, appendix, mammary glands, uterus, ovaries, prostate and "even the calcareous deposits in arteriosclerosis." He said that calcareous deposits in the eye "may be cleared away in a few days by correction of vitamin C status, and I find also that dental calculus (tartar on the teeth), which lays the foundation for so much dental havoc, can be quickly suppressed and prevented by an adequate intake of vitamin C."

Odd though this final statement may seem, "there appears to be a very real correlation between vitamin C state (as a possible nonmechanical contributor) and debris irrespective of tooth cleansing habits," wrote Professor of Oral Medicine Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., D.M.D., in 1993. (16) Dr. Cheraskin cited a clinical trial that "reported a resolution of materia alba, calculus, and stain when 500 mg of ascorbic acid was daily administered for 90 days."

CIGARETTE SMOKING

Fifty years ago, McCormick (17) wrote:

"The writer has found, in clinical and laboratory research, that the smoking of one cigarette neutralizes in the body approximately 25 mg of ascorbic acid, or the equivalent of the vitamin C content of one average-size orange. On this basis, the ability of the heavy smoker to maintain normal vitamin C status from dietary sources is obviously questionable, and this alone may account for the prevalence of vitamin C deficiency in our modern adult population."

This was quite a statement in 1954, at a time when physicians were literally endorsing their favorite cigarette in magazines and on television commercials.

No doubt it is purely coincidental that calculii, cigarettes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, connective tissue, and collagen all have the letter "C" in common. William J. McCormick's lifetime of work helped establish that these words also have a vitamin in common. Dr. McCormick fought vitamin C deficiency wherever his clinical experience found it. His early use of gram-sized doses to combat what then and now are usually regarded as non-deficiency-related illnesses set the stage for today's 100,000 mg/day antiviral/anticancer vitamin C IV's. For such a good idea, the spread of this knowledge to date has been exceptionally slow. Without McCormick's published work, it might never have spread at all.

(All 17 footnoted references for this paper are posted in their entirety at http://www.doctoryourself.com/mccormick.html )

Locating William J. McCormick's papers is now somewhat easier than it used to be because a number of them have been posted on the Internet. at  http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/ .

 

http://www.heartcenteronline.com/myheartdr/home/research-detail.cfm?reutersid=3749&nl=4


Vitamins reduce inherited high cholesterol effects

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Children and young adults who have inherited high cholesterol may reduce their risk of clogged arteries by taking vitamins C and E, researchers reported on Monday. The vitamins improve blood flow through the arteries and may prevent the damage that leads to atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries, the researchers said.Writing in the journal Circulation, Marguerite Engler of the University of California San Francisco and colleagues said the study is the first to show that vitamins can reverse the damage as well."When we gave these children moderate doses of vitamins C and E for six weeks, we saw a significant improvement in blood-vessel function, which is an important indicator of cardiovascular health," Engler said in a statement.An estimated 50 million U.S. children have high levels of cholesterol, and thus a high risk of heart disease and heart attack. The American Heart Association defines this as cholesterol of 200 or higher and low- density lipoprotein--LDL or "bad" cholesterol--of 130 or higher.Drugs including statins work very well to lower cholesterol levels in adults but they can have severe side effects and are not usually recommended for children. "The findings of this study suggest hope for children with abnormally high cholesterol levels that their condition can be improved through vitamin supplements," said Patricia Grady, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research, which helped fund the study. KIDS NOT GETTING THE RIGHT DIET Diets rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat, especially animal fat, have also been shown to lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease--but most Americans do not eat this kind of diet. "Our dilemma was that these kids are supposed to be getting...many servings of fruits and vegetables a day but they aren't doing it," Engler said in a telephone interview. "We thought, 'let's still keep up the diet counseling but also let's try the vitamin supplements'." Engler's team studied 15 children and young adults age 9 to 20, who had average total cholesterol levels of 242 and LDL levels of 187.Half the children got daily does of 500 milligrams of vitamin C and 400 international units of vitamin E for six weeks. The other half got placebos. Then the groups were switched. Better diet alone reduced LDL by about 8 percent, but the vitamins, as expected, did not affect cholesterol levels. The researchers measured how well the arteries were working by examining flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery. They were looking for signs of endothelial dysfunction, which can cause blood vessels to stiffen, meaning they do not stretch to accommodate increased blood flow. It is one of the earliest signs of atherosclerosis. The endothelium is the inner lining of the blood vessels. It releases nitric oxide, which causes the blood vessels to open. The vitamins may restore this process in damaged arteries by reacting with charged particles known as free radicals that damage cells. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery was around 6 at the start and for those patients given placebo or diet alone, but it was 9.5 after the children got the vitamins.
"Normal FMD of the brachial artery in children is reportedly between 8 percent and 12 percent," the researchers wrote.SOURCE: Circulation, 2003. Publish Date: August 12, 2003


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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/464048?mpid=20940

Low Blood Levels of Vitamin C Linked to Mortality

Laurie Barclay, MD

Nov. 6, 2003 — Low blood level of vitamin C is strongly predictive of mortality, according to the results of a study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "Older persons are at risk of both poor nutrition and increased oxidative stress," write Astrid E. Fletcher from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the U.K., and colleagues. "Plasma ascorbate concentrations fall with increasing age, and concentrations of other antioxidants may also be reduced."

In this add-on study to the Medical Research Council Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community, 1,214 persons aged 75 to 84 years randomly selected from the patient lists of 51 British family practitioners provided a blood sample and completed a food-frequency questionnaire. Median follow-up was 4.4 years.

Blood ascorbate concentrations were strongly inversely related to all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. These trends were only marginally reduced after adjustment for confounders or supplement use. Individuals in the lowest quintile for ascorbate concentration (<17 µmol/L) had the highest mortality, whereas those in the highest quintile (>66 µmol/L) had the lowest mortality (hazard ratio = 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34 - 0.84). After excluding subjects with cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline, mortality for those in the highest quintile was still about half of that in the lowest quintile (hazard ratio = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.28 - 0.93).

Tocopherol, beta-carotene, and retinol levels did not predict total mortality, nor were dietary antioxidants measured by the food-frequency questionnaire associated with all-cause or cardiovascular disease mortality. "A key question is how to increase concentrations of ascorbate in older age groups. Enthusiasm for vitamin supplementation has been tempered by the negative results from randomized trials, which were conducted predominantly in middle-aged populations," the authors write. "The best recommendation for older persons, as for middle-aged and younger persons, is to maintain a diet rich in a variety of antioxidant micronutrients. At older ages, however, several factors, such as reduced appetite and taste, poor dentition, physical and economic barriers to food sources, and lack of motivation, present formidable challenges to this strategy."

The European Union and the U.K. Medical Research Council and Department of Health helped support this study.

Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;78:999-1010

Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD
 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&
list_uids=14690777&dopt=Abstract

Int J Infect Dis. 2004 Jan;8(1):21-5.   Related Articles,Links 
 
In vitro inactivation of the rabies virus by ascorbic acid.

Madhusudana SN, Shamsundar R, Seetharaman S.

Department of Neurovirology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Post Box 2900, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560029, India. mshampur@hotmail.com

OBJECTIVE: The current recommended inactivating agent for the rabies virus, beta propiolactone (BPL) is very expensive and potentially carcinogenic. There is a need to evaluate alternative chemicals, which will inactivate the virus without affecting its antigenicity. In this study the effect of ascorbic acid on the infectivity of the rabies virus has been investigated. METHOD: Vero cell grown fixed rabies virus CVS strain was treated with 0.1 mg/ml, 0.5 mg/ml and 1mg/ml final concentrations of ascorbic acid and 5 microg/ml of copper sulfate and kept at 4 degrees C along with untreated virus material. Each aliquot was titrated after various intervals for viral infectivity using both mice inoculation and titration in vero cells. The antigenicity of the virus material was determined by antibody induction in mice and modified NIH tests in parallel with virus material inactivated with a 1:4000 concentration of BPL. RESULTS: An optimal concentration of 0.5 mg/ml of ascorbic acid and 5 microg/ml of copper sulfate completely inactivated the virus after 72 hours. The inactivated virus retained good antigenicity and potency value, which was comparable with using BPL. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that ascorbic acid can be used as an inactivating agent for fixed rabies virus grown in cell culture particularly for the preparation of diagnostic reagents. Further studies are required to evaluate its effect on the cell associated virus, probable therapeutic potential and feasibility of replacing BPL in production of inactivated rabies vaccine.

PMID: 14690777 [PubMed - in process]   
 

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi42.html

How Much Longer Can Modern Medicine Ignore Evidence That Vitamin C Prevents Heart and Blood Vessel Disease?

by Bill Sardi

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How much longer can modern medicine ignore a growing body of evidence that vitamin C supplements are effective in preventing arterial disease and could replace statin cholesterol-lowering drugs?

In early July the New England Journal of Medicine published a report showing that oxidation (hardening) of cholesterol particles {LDL and lipoprotein(a)} increases the risk of arterial disease by 14 times (that's 1400%!). [New England Journal Medicine. 353:46-57, 2005] The report drew widespread attention in the news media.

Subsequently I wrote the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and pointed out that a study conducted in 2004 by researchers at the Department of Food Science and Institute of Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, showed that Vitamin C concentrations in LDL cholesterol, which can be achieved by taking vitamin C pills, are capable of inhibiting oxidation of LDL cholesterol by about 75%. [J Agriculture Food Chemistry 52: 6818-6823, 2004]

Furthermore, research conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health last year found oral vitamin C can achieve blood serum concentrations three times higher than previously thought possible, in the range of what the Cornell researchers reported.
[Annals Internal Medicine 140:533-7, 2004]

This evidence confirms what Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath proposed over a decade ago, that vitamin C can prevent heart and blood vessel disease. [National Academy Sciences 87: 6204-07, 1990]

Letter goes unpublished

For unknown reasons, major medical journals and the news media are ignoring these reports. The editor of the New England Journal of Medicine said he couldn't publish my letter because of limited space. It's not like this is a trivial matter, the lives of millions of adults are on the line. But this trusted medical journal had no space to air an important issue.

Long known that vitamin C lowers cholesterol

Before the first statin cholesterol-lowering drug (Mevacor) was approved in 1987, it was widely reported in medical journals that ascorbic acid reduces cholesterol in animals.

[Annals N Y Academy Science 258:410-21, 1975; Atherosclerosis. 24:1-18, 1976; Experientia 32:687-9, 1976] But a subsequent study conducted in 1983 in humans dismissed the idea. [J Lipid Research 24:1186-95, 1983]. However, this study was flawed in that low-dose vitamin C was employed and high blood concentrations were not achieved throughout the day as previously recommended.

Repeated doses needed

In 1982 researchers at the Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine in the Slovak Republic, advised that "In every form of high cholesterol therapy, an adequate vitamin C supply should be ensured in doses capable of creating maximal steady-state levels of ascorbate in human tissues." [J Lipid Research 24:1186-95, 1983] Their advice was overlooked and the stage was set for the introduction of more toxic ways to lower cholesterol by use of drugs that interfere with liver function.

Evidence that vitamin C halts sudden cardiac death

Even if it can be argued that vitamin C doesn't sufficiently lower cholesterol, University of North Carolina researchers have shown that chronic vitamin C deficiency "severely compromises collagen deposition and induces a type of plaque morphology that is potentially vulnerable to rupture." It is unstable arterial plaque that is attributed to more than a half-million sudden-death heart attacks that occur annually, mostly to males who have normal or low circulating cholesterol levels. [Circulation 105: 1485-90, 2002]

More documented evidence

In July of 2004 the British Medical Journal published a breakthrough report which showed that narrowing of blood vessels at the back of the eyes precedes the onset of high blood pressure by 10 years [British Medical Journal 329: 79, 2004]. Subsequently London optometrist Sydney Bush, PhD, D.Opt, wrote a letter to the editor saying for years he had
been prescribing vitamin C to his patients with these same changes at the back of their eyes and had photographically documented reversal of artery disease. [British Medical Journal 23 July 2004; 25 Nov 2004] The medical profession has hardly taken notice.

More evidence accumulates

Yet another report claims vitamin C is as effective as statin drugs in preventing the first step in atherosclerosis, a condition in which fats collect under the inner lining of damaged artery walls, eventually narrowing or blocking arteries and obstructing blood flow.

Researchers at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, reporting in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, indicate peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors (PPARs) are involved in inflammation which is the initiating factor in artery disease.

Here's the shocker - while statin cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce gene-controlled activation of PPARs, vitamin C does this equally as well! The researchers said their laboratory experiment "provides incontrovertible evidence to support the view that both statins and vitamin C have identical effects on the expression of genes coding for PPARs." Moreover, vitamin C concentrations required to produce this preventive effect are "well within the permissible dose of this vitamin." [European Journal Clinical Nutrition 59: 978-81, 2005]

The prospect of vitamin C therapy

The prospect of using vitamin C to prevent atherosclerosis, which is far less expensive and problematic compared to statin drugs, would be welcomed by many patients, especially those who experience toxic side effects from the drugs. Oral vitamin C could act like a statin drug to lower circulating cholesterol levels, prevent unstable plaque involved in sudden-mortal health attacks, and prevent the first step in arterial disease.

Since vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, oral dosing should be repeated throughout the day as recommended by Steve Hickey and Hilary Roberts in their book Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C ( www.lulu.com/ascorbate ) Spreading the dose of vitamin C throughout the day also minimizes the occurrence of transient diarrhea.

Cranberries as a companion to vitamin C

Of further interest is that Cornell University researchers report that molecules in cranberries, called polyphenols, also inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. One-hundred grams (100,000 milligrams) of cranberries are equivalent to 1000 milligrams of vitamin C or 3700 milligrams of vitamin E in countering LDL cholesterol oxidation. [Life Sciences 77: 1892-901, 2005] Normally cranberries provide 0.3% polyphenols, but cranberry extracts typically provide 7.0% polphenols and a new type of concentrated cranberry extract (CRAN-X) yields 30 percent polyphenols, making it at least equally as capable of inhibiting LDL cholesterol oxidation as an equal amount of vitamin C. Furthermore, cranberries have potent anti-adhesion factors that help prevent bacteria and cholesterol from sticking to artery walls. [Phytochemistry July 28, 2005; Critical Review Food Science Nutrition 42: 301-16, 2002]

Stonewalling continues

With all of this evidence, health authorities continue to stonewall the public and even earnest physicians regarding the promise of vitamin C for cardiovascular disease. Even after an analysis of nine studies by National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland involving 293,172 subjects over a 10-year period, which found that the use of vitamin C supplements providing 700 milligrams or more of ascorbic acid, reduces the relative risk of coronary heart disease by 25 percent [American Journal Clinical Nutrition 80:1508-20, 2004], health authorities continue to deny that vitamin C could possibly be of value.

For example, a report in the July 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association said that ". there is currently no basis for recommending that patients take vitamin C or E supplements or other antioxidants for the express purpose of preventing or treating coronary artery disease." In 2004, the AHA Nutrition Committee similarly concluded that "At this time, the scientific data do not justify the use of antioxidant vitamin supplements for cardiovascular disease risk reduction." [Journal American Medical Association Volume 294: 351-358, 2005] The lack of adequate peer review and candid reporting by health authorities is alarming.

News media opts out

If the news media were monitoring and reporting on advancements nutritional medicine, public health authorities would be challenged to respond and their shell game in regards to vitamin C would be revealed. But the news media appears to be bought off.

Trudy Lieberman, writing in a recent issue of the Columbia Review of Journalism, suggests the news media is in league with the pharmaceutical industry to avoid reporting negative news about drugs because of its reliance upon the advertising dollars. In 2004 the big five TV networks received $1.5 billion in advertising revenue from pharmaceutical companies. Drug advertising in printed news media is also significant: Time magazine $67 million; Newsweek $43 million; The New York Times, $13 million.

This may explain why landmark reports regarding vitamin C, published in peer-reviewed medical journals, are being ignored by the news media. It appears millions of American lives are at avoidable risk for heart disease and sudden mortal cardiac arrest as the news media attempts to guard a $9 billion statin drug market.

Don't wait for your doctor to write a prescription for vitamin C. For now, the public will have to move ahead on its own, given that the medical profession is dragging its feet. In 1970 Dr. Linus Pauling broke through to the public with his book, Vitamin C and the Common
Cold, and consumption of vitamin C rose by 300 percent and mortality from heart disease decreased by 30%.

August 15, 2005

Bill Sardi [send him mail] is a consumer advocate and health journalist, writing from San Dimas, California. He offers a free downloadable book, The Collapse of Conventional Medicine, at his website.

Copyright © 2005 Bill Sardi Word of Knowledge Agency, San Dimas, California. Not intended for commercial use or posting on other websites. Permission to reprint should be obtained from the author.

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