GSE
Vitamin C Health Benefits
The many health benefits of
Vitamin C
Studies using health beneficial vitamin
C have been negatively slanted - After first promoting the health benefits
of consuming Vitamin C in the 1940's, the medical/pharmaceutical
industry then realized that its use would seriously cut into their profits, and
so campaigned against it. Studies discounting the benefits of
Vitamin C used insufficient amounts or procedures
were not followed.
Reduces Heart disease
Antioxidant
Vitamin C
protects against oxidation damage of arterial
walls
• Strengthens the collagen structure of arteries
• Lowers total cholesterol
• Lowers blood pressure
• Inhibits platelet aggregation
Atherosclerosis is a
vitamin C deficiency
disease - Although eventually harmful, oxidized cholesterol deposition
in artery walls provides a temporary, life-saving repair until access to
vitamin C allows arterial damage to be repaired
Cardiovascular
Disease
Rath/Pauling Therapy (to strengthen connective tissue)
Increases Lifespan
In one of the largest and most detailed studies
of Vitamin C,
UCLA doctors showed that taking
vitamin C
could produce an increase in longevity - of 5 to
7 years for men, and 1 to 3 years for women. The study, based on 11,384 individuals
, found that as little as 300 mg. of C extended
lifespan by 6 years.
Engstrom JE et al, 1992).Vitamin C intake
and mortality among a sample of the United Statespopulation. 1992
- Researchers have demonstrated
that
vitamin C
slows down telomere shortening - by 52-62 % in
a controlled experiment. Telomeres are the end caps of DNA that shorten with many
generations and limit the number of replications of DNA.
Furumoto K, et al, Age-dependent telomere shortening is
slowed down by enrichment of intracellular vitamin C via suppression
of oxidative stress, Life Sciences, 1998.
Reduced risk of death
20,000 men and women aged 45 -79 followed 4 years.
Just a 50 mg increase in vitamin
C consumption was able to reduce the
relative all-cause mortality rate by 20% - C had even greater reductions in the risk of
death from all causes
Prof Kay-Tee Khaw et al. Relation
between plasma ascorbic acid and mortality in men and women in EPIC-Norfolk prospective
study: a prospective population study. The
Lancet
Abstract
Enhances healing of wounds, burns and fractures
C's ability
to facilitate the healing of wounds, fractures and burns is no doubt attributed
to its role in the synthesis of collagen (Stone, 1972)
Used as an aid in withdrawal from drug addictions
Narcotics, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and sugar
Protects against pollution and cigarette smoke
Reduces pain
Reduces the risk of cataracts
Decrease in Non-Respiratory Disease
30% decrease in amount of illness of non-respiratory
disease in subjects receiving 1 g
AA /day, relative to those receiving
placebo
Anderson TW, Reid DB, Beaton GH. Vitamin C and the common
cold: a double-blind trial. Can Med Assoc J. 1972
Sep 23;107 (6):503-508.
PMC free article
PubMed
Improves Psychological Disorders
Vitamin C
has also been used for psychological disorders, including schizophrenia, depression,
and paranoia
- Helps form
SEROTONIN
- Vitamin C required
to convert amino acid tryptophan to 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), the precursor for
the mood / brain hormone,
SEROTONIN
Reduces effects of stress
Vitamin C counters
free radical damage caused
by stress
Vitamin C fed to rats undergoing stress prevented the expected
increase in cortisol levels and other stress-related hormones - CORTISOL is a "fight
or flight" hormone released by the adrenal glands in response to stress, and
allows us to spring into action when we sense danger.
CORTISOL
is responsible for relaying the news of stress via the bloodstream to all
parts of the body and mind, but frequent exposure to high levels of stress hormones
exhausts the body's physical resources, impairs learning and memory, and makes people
susceptible to depression.
Vitamin C is required for the synthesis of stress hormones EPINEPHRINE
and NOREPINEPHRINE
(NORADRENALINE) - Secreted by the adrenal medulla in a fight or flight response
to a stressful situation
- Vitamin
C stimulates adrenal medulla
gland to release stress hormones - norepinephrine, from which
EPINEPHRINE is synthesized, and dopamine from adrenal medulla's chromaffin cells.
These are neuroendocrine cells that link the nervous and endocrine systems.
Vitamin C
is needed for the DOPAMINE to NOREPINEPHRINE step
of the amino acid tyrosine to EPINEPHRINE pathway - the enzyme PNMT (see
chart below) is only found in the cytosol of adrenal medullary cells.
- EPINEPHRINE also plays a role in blood
pressure regulation -
ALDOSTERONE
synthesis; ALDOSTERONE
is a hormone involved in regulating blood pressure, blood pH and blood volume.
Improves Asthma-related Breathing Disorders
Experts on asthma tell us that some of the reasons
for the rise in asthma in our society are - the increased
stress on the immune system, earlier weaning and earlier introduction of solid foods
to infants, use of food additives, more air pollution, and genetic manipulation
of plants resulting in food components with greater allergenic tendencies.
- Psychologically stressed
infants more susceptible - when high psychological stress experienced
in utero or shortly after birth
- Reduces bronchial
spasm - 1g C /day reduces tendency of bronchial passages to
go into spasm.
Zuskin E et al, Byssinosis and airway responses due to
exposure to textile dust. Lung 1976; Bucca C et al, Effect of
vitamin C on histamine bronchial responsiveness
of patients with allergic rhinitis. Ann Allergy, 1990.
- Prevents exercise-induced asthma
- double-blind trial - 500 mg C/day
for 2 days prevented attacks
Schachter EN et al, A. The attenuation of exercise-induced
bronchospasm by ascorbic acid. Ann Allergy 1982.
Decrease in Respiratory
31% decrease in respiratory illness per subject receiving
200 mg AA/ day - compared to those receiving a placebo
DONALD W. COWAN,
M.D.; HAROLD S. DIEHL, M.D.; A. B. BAKER, M.D. ,VITAMINS FOR THE PREVENTION OF COLDS,
JAMA. 1942;120(16):1268-1271
63% decrease in illness for subjects receiving 1g AA
day
Ritzel G, Ascorbic Acid and Infections of the Respiratory
tract, Helv. med. Acta 28: 63-68(1961 ).
30% decrease in illness when subjects received 1g AA/day
plus an additional 3 g day for first 3 days of a cold
Charleston SS , Clegg KM . Ascorbic acid
and the common cold. Lancet 1972 ;1(7765):1401-1402.
58% decrease when subjects received 1 g AA/day
Anderson TW, Reid DB, Beaton GH. Vitamin C and the common
cold: a double-blind trial. Can Med Assoc J. 1972
Sep 23;107 (6):503-508.
PMC free article
PubMed
30% decrease in illness for younger children receiving
1 g /day, and a 36% decrease for older children receiving 2 g /day
Coulehan
JL et al, VITAMIN C AND UPPER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS IN NAVAHO CHILDREN: PRELIMINARY
OBSERVATIONS (1974)
Very little protective effect was observed when a suspension
containing large numbers of cold viruses was instilled into the nasal cavities of
subjects receiving 3 g AA /day - Presumably the protective effect of AA has
its limits.
Walker GH , Bynoe ML, Tyrrell DA. Trial of ascorbic
acid in prevention of colds. Br Med J. 1967 Mar 11;1(5540):603-606.
PMC free article
PubMed
Increases IQ in children
It has helped to increase the IQ of children
May help Fatigue and Slow Metabolism
Due to stimulation of thyroid hormone production
Anemia Prevention
Aids in the absorption of inorganic iron; also, iron mobilization
from spleen depends on C
Back problems / Disk herniation
Helps prevent back problems by preserving the integrity
of intervertebral disks - Our
donut-like, spinal column disks have a tough, gristle-like exterior and a soft cushioning
interior. Insufficient vitamin C compromises
disc integrity. The tough exterior wears down over time resulting in a pinhole through
which bending movement can push out some of the soft interior material -called a
disc herniation. Squished-out material touching a spinal column nerve can cause
severe pain.
Disk Lesion Surgery Avoided - 1964 - Greenwood
J, Jr. -500 patients - "A significant number of patients with disc lesions were
able to avoid surgery by the use of large doses (1g/day) of
vitamin C ". Effectiveness of
ascorbic acid in controlling vertebral disc
lesions is likely attributed to its essential role in the synthesis of collagen
Polio treated with vitamin
C
Dr. Klenner handled 60 polio cases during an epidemic
in Dr. Klenner's home state - "These
patients presented all or almost all of these signs and symptoms: fever of 101 to
104.6 degrees F., headache, pain at the back of the eyes, conjunctivitis, scarlet
throat; pain between the shoulders, the back of the neck, one or more extremity,
the lumbar back; nausea, vomiting and constipation."
"The treatment employed was Vitamin C in
massive doses. The initial dose was 1000 to 2000 milligrams
(1 to 2 grams) depending on age. Children
up to four years received the injections intramuscularly . . . the temperature curve
was adopted as the guide for additional medication. Temperature response after the
second hour was taken to indicate the second one or two gram injection. If there
was a drop in fever after two hours, two more hours was allowed before the second
dose. This schedule was followed for 24 hours. After this time the fever was consistently
down, so the drug was given 1 to 2 grams every six hours for the next 48 hours.
All patients were clinically well after 72 hours.
"Where spinal taps were performed, it was the rule to find a reversion of the
fluid to normal after the second day of treatment." ( Note: No paralysis developed
in any of the 60 cases. )
Reduces risk of cancer and metastases
Clinical, experimental, and population studies have shown
that Vitamin C can reduce cancer rates -
A high Vitamin C intake reduces the risk
for virtually all forms of cancer, including cancers of the lung, colon, breast,
cervix, esophagus, oral cavity, and pancreas.
- C inhibits formation
of carcinogenic nitrosoamines
- Protects Lymphocyte
(type of WBC) DNA - vitamin C
in nature. Five subsequent human high-dose C (up to 5g / day) could not find evidence
that vitamin C induces gene mutations.
- Reduces Metasases
- increased collagen production increases the resistance of
tissues to invasion by metastases and infiltration by malignant tumors.
(Dr. Ewan Cameron, Dr. Linus Pauling, "Oncology", 1973)
Liquid Preparations Seem to be more
effective against cancer than dry doses - Dr. Ewan Cameron
was a former Scottish surgeon, who later became Medical Director and Senior Research
Professor at the Linus Pauling Institute, working with Dr. Linus Pauling until his
death in 1991. While working in the Scottish hospital, his patients diagnosed with
cancer were often subject to waiting months before a scheduled surgery. Dr. Cameron
decided to place diagnosed cancer patients on vitamin
C rather than do nothing. He collaborated with Dr. Pauling, who advised a
10g dose, but his patients objected to taking the several large tablets required.
Dr. Cameron's pharmacist suggested that a liquid preparation of
AA be more acceptable. Conversion of
AA , to a non-sour liquid was accomplished by
adding baking soda (Also added were sorbitol as a preservative / sweetener, and
cherry syrup for flavor). Cameron's patients in rural Scotland were sent back home
with a several week supply of the concocted AA
mixture in two brown one liter bottles, with refrigeration recommended. Dr. Cameron
reported dramatic improvements in median cancer survival. In addition to much longer
survival, some patients experienced protracted remissions - there were survival
plateaus observed in cancers which had been uniformly fatal.
Constance Tsao, a researcher at the
Pauling Institute, carried out a substantiating experiment under Pauling's guidance
Four groups of identical mice
were given human breast cancer. The diet of each group was different:
Group 1: Given standard food
Group 2: Given large amounts of
Vitamin C in food
Group 3: Given large amounts of
Vitamin C in drinking water
Group 4: Received food with
Vitamin C and copper salts (known to markedly
accelerate the oxidation of Vitamin C) .
The result: only the aqueous
Vitamin C was of significant benefit
- and the mice receiving copper salts
vitamin C lived longer than the rats
receiving vitamin C in food, which
were not benefitted at all .
Dr. Moertel's Clinical Trial -
A physician at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Charles Moertel, then reported a clinical
trial in cancer patients which was purportedly designed to confirm or refute Cameron's
claims of cancer patient benefit from vitamin C .Moertel
took advanced cancer patients, many with advanced colon cancer who had failed chemotherapy
(a devastating therapy that suppresses the immune system to the point where
vitamin C would be of little benefit), and
subjected them to a randomized clinical trial. Patients either received 1
gram of vitamin C three times daily in the
dry state, or patients received a look-alike placebo vitamin C was useless
in advanced cancer patients.
Dr. Cameron's Theory was that large amounts of
C may stimulate the immune system by simulating an infection - Vitamin
C (ascorbate) is oxidized to
dehydroascorbate (DHAA)
when it stops a
free radical .
For body homeostasis, under normal circumstances DHAA
is converted back into ascorbate by the enzyme dehydroascorbate reductase. Therefore,
the presence of progressively increasing concentrations of
vitamin C breakdown products simulates (1)
major infection or (2) some other major deterioration of normal homeostatic reduction
of oxidized vitamin C , which is the method
by which vitamin C is restored after losing
its ability to absorb a free radical. We now know that
vitamin C is chemically unstable in aqueous
solutions and progressively undergoes oxidative change. Therefore it seems quite
possible that a rise in oxidation by-products of vitamin
C from the employment of such as Dr. Cameron's pharmacological
AA mixture used to ingest the
vitamin C may be the alert signal that a serious
attack on the vital integrity of the body was in force, and that an immune activation
was the appropriate adaptive response. Pauling, himself, seems to have suspected
this hypothesis as representing an integrating theory.
In summary - vitamin C itself.
Dr. Cameron's 1976 Clinical Trial of Vitamin
C therapy for terminal cancer -
discussed in the book "Cancer and Vitamin
C ", by Dr. Ewan Cameron, M.D. and Dr. Linus Pauling, Ph.D.
A dosage of 10 grams a day of Vitamin C
was given to 100 terminally ill ("untreatable") cancer patients. A control group
of 1,000 terminal cancer patients(matched for sex, age and type of cancer) received
no Vitamin C.
The results of this study were rather significant. The average survival rate
of the vitamin C patients, at the time of the
reporting of the study in 1978, was 4.2 times larger than that of the control group.
Moreover, the degree of subjective pain was much less and quality of life much greater
for the vitamin C treated patients. Perhaps
most striking was the fact that 16 of the 100 Vitamin
C treated patients were still alive in 1980, all of the 1,000 controls had
died.
vitamin C Vitamin C needed by Immune System WBCs, but Glucose
and Vitamin
C compete for cell entry -
vitamin C was needed by WBCs to be able to
phagocytize viruses and bacteria. White blood cells require 50 times higher concentration
inside the cell as outside, so they have to accumulate
vitamin C .
G lucose
and
C
compete, but the playing field is not equal -
Glucose and
Vitamin C have similar chemical
structures, and compete for
INSULIN pumps to enable
INSULIN- mediated cell
entry. However, the evolutionary "fight-or-flight" response favors
glucose entry into cells
at the expense of vitamin C . If there is more
glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin
C allowed into the cell.
Blood sugar of a mere
120 reduces the phagocytic index by 75%, slowing the immune system down to a crawl.
References / Credits
An excellent article by physicist Gary Wade on
Vitamin C studies used against Cancer and AIDS:
http://www.rifeenergymedicine.com/vitaminc.html
The work and professional publications of Dr. Fred R. Klenner, M.D., former chief
of staff at Memorial Hospital in Reidsville, NC, has provided us with much supporting
evidence for the beneficial uses of Vitamin C .
Vitamin C ", by Dr. Ewan Cameron, M.D.
and Dr. Linus Pauling, Ph.D.
Stone I (1972 )"The Healing Factor: Vitamin C
Against Disease"
