Vitamin C- The Real Story

by Steve Hickey

  We cannot predict what vitamin C’s status will be ten years from now. Public interest in vitamin C is strong and growing—vitamin C is the most commonly taken vitamin supplement. Yet, the powerful lobbying of the pharmaceutical giants, together with the conservatism of physicians and scientists, may mean that it will remain largely untested in sufficiently high doses. Currently, it looks as if the benefits of intravenous sodium ascorbate in cancer might start to be exploited. However, this will likely involve vitamin C given alone or alongside conventional chemotherapy. In this way, the larger potential benefits of redox synergy between vitamin C and other nutrients, such as alpha-lipoic acid or forms of selenium, will remain hidden from view.

  One day soon the practice of medicine may be revolutionized by an appreciation of the beneficial effects of high-dose vitamin C. The only thing preventing such progress is the refusal of medical science to perform the necessary clinical trials. Vitamin C is only one of many nutrients that can potentially provide incredible health benefits when taken in orthomolecular doses.

  Soon perhaps, health care without high-dose nutrient therapy will be considered to be like childbirth without sanitation or surgery without anesthetic. But can we afford to wait?

  References

  INTERNET RESOURCES

  Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (free full-text papers)

  http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/

  Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute

  http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/

  Frederick R. Klenner’s book Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C

  www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/198x/smith-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm

  C for Yourself

  www.cforyourself.com

  Vitamin C Foundation

  www.vitamincfoundation.org/

  Ascorbate Web

  www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate

  Irwin Stone’s book The Healing Factor: Vitamin C Against Disease

  http://vitamincfoundation.org/stone/

  REFERENCES

  Chapter 1: A Remarkable Molecule

  1. Carr, A.C., and B. Frei. “Toward a New Recommended Dietary Allowance for Vitamin C Based on Antioxidant and Health Effects in Humans.” Am J Clin Nutr 69:6 (1999): 1086–1107.

  2. Simon, J.A., and E.S. Hudes. “Serum Ascorbic Acid and Gallbladder Disease Prevalence among U.S. Adults: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).” Arch Intern Med 160:7 (2000): 931–936.

  3. Meister, A. “Glutathione-ascorbic Acid Antioxidant System in Animals.” J Biol Chem 269:13 (1994): 9397–9400.

  4. Meister, A. “On the Antioxidant Effects of Ascorbic Acid and Glutathione.” Biochem Pharmacol 44 (1992): 1905–1915.

  5. Mårtensson, J.M., J. Han, O.W. Griffith, et al. “Glutathione Ester Delays the Onset of Scurvy in Ascorbate-deficient Guinea Pigs.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90 (1993): 317–321.

  6. Montecinos, V., P. Guzmán, V. Barra, et al. “Vitamin C is an Essential Antioxidant that Enhances Survival of Oxidatively Stressed Human Vascular Endothelial Cells in the Presence of a Vast Molar Excess of Glutathione.” J Biol Chem 282:21 (2007): 15506–15515.

  7. Cancer Research U.K. “U.K. Failing to Eat 5 a Day.” Press release, September 21, 2007.

  8. Gadsby, P. “The Inuit Paradox: How Can People Who Gorge on Fat and Rarely See a Vegetable Be Healthier than We Are?” Discover Magazine (January 10, 2004). Bell, R.A., E.J. Mayer-Davis, Y. Jackson, et al. “An Epidemiologic Review of Dietary Intake Studies among American Indians and Alaska Natives: Implications for Heart Disease and Cancer Risk.” Ann Epidemiol 7:4 (1997): 229–240.

  9. Hansen, J.C., H.S. Pedersen, G. Mulvad. “Fatty Acids and Antioxidants in the Inuit Diet. Their Role in Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and Possible Interactions with Other Dietary Factors. A Review.” Arctic Med Res 53:1 (1994): 4–17.

  10. Lewis, H.W. Why Flip a Coin? New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1997.

  11. Stone, I. “The Natural History of Ascorbic Acid in the Evolution of the Mammals and Primates and Its Significance for Present Day Man.” Orthomolecular Psych 1:2–3 (1972): 82–89. Stone, I. “Fifty Years of Research on Ascorbate and the Genetics of Scurvy.” J Orthomolecular Psych 13:3 (1984). Available online at: www.orthomed.org/resources/papers/stnwnd.htm. Stone, I. “Studies of a Mammalian Enzyme System for Producing Evolutionary Evidence on Man.” Am J Phys Anthropol 23 (1965): 83–86.

  12. Pauling, L. “Evolution and the Need for Ascorbic Acid.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 67 (1970): 1643–1648.

  13. Pigolotti, S., A. Flammini, M. Marsili, et al. “Species Lifetime Distribution for Simple Models of Ecologies.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:44 (2005): 15747–15751. Newman, M.E.J., and R.G. Palmer. Modeling Extinction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003.

  14. Reich, D.E., and D.B. Goldstein. “Genetic Evidence for a Paleolithic Human Population Expansion in Africa.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:14 (1998): 8119–8123.

  15. Sykes, B. Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2001. Fay, J.C, and C.I. Wu. “A Human Population Bottleneck Can Account for the Discordance between Patterns of Mitochondrial versus Nuclear DNA Variation.” Mol Biol Evol 16:7 (1999): 1003–1005.

  16. Cann, R.L., M. Stoneking, A.C. Wilson. “Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution.” Nature 325 (1987): 31–36.

  17. Ambrose, S. “Did the Super-eruption of Toba Cause a Human Population Bottleneck? Reply to Gathorne-Hardy and Harcourt-Smith.” J Hum Evol 45 (2003): 231–237. Ambrose, S. “Late Pleistocene Human Population Bottlenecks, Volcanic Winter, and the Differentiation of Modern Humans.” J Hum Evol 34 (1998): 623–651.

  18. Feng-Chi, C., and L. Wen-Hsiung. “Genomic Divergences between Humans and Other Hominoids and the Effective Population Size of the Common Ancestor of Humans and Chimpanzees.” Am J Hum Genet 68:2 (2001): 444–456.

  19. Gigerenzer, G. Calculated Risks. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

  20. Surowiecki, J. The Wisdom of Crowds. New York, NY: Doubleday, 2004.

  21. Hickey, S., and H. Roberts. Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C. Lulu Press, 2004.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Stephen, R., and T. Utecht. “Scurvy Identified in the Emergency Department: A Case Report.” J Emerg Med 21:3 (2001): 235–237. Weinstein, M., P. Babyn, S. Zlotkin. “An Orange a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Scurvy in the Year.” Pediatrics 108:3 (2001): E55.

  24. Enstrom, J.E., L.E. Kanim, M.A. Klein. “Vitamin C Intake and Mortality among a Sample of the United States Population.” Epidemiology 3:3 (1992): 194–202.

  25. Enstrom, J.E. “Counterpoint—Vitamin C and Mortality.” Nutr Today 28 (1993): 28–32.

  26. Knekt, P., J. Ritz, M.A. Pereira, et al. “Antioxidant Vitamins and Coronary Heart Disease Risk: A Pooled Analysis of 9 Cohorts.” Am J Clin Nutr 80:6 (2004): 1508–1520.

  27. Osganian, S.K., M.J. Stampfer. E. Rimm, et al. “Vitamin C and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women.” J Am Coll Cardiol 42:2 (2003): 246–252.

  28. Yokoyama, T., C. Date, Y. Kokubo, et al. “Serum Vitamin C Concentration was Inversely Associated with Subsequent 20-year Incidence of Stroke in a Japanese Rural Community: The Shibata Study.” Stroke 31:10 (2000): 2287–2294.

  29. Kushi, L.H., A.R. Folsom, R.J. Prineas, et al. “Dietary Antioxidant Vitamins and Death from Coronary Heart Disease in Postmenopausal Women.” N Engl J Med 334:18 (1996): 1156–1162. Losonczy, K.G., T.B. Harris, R.J. Hav-lik. “Vitamin E and Vitamin C Supplement Use and Risk of All-cause and Coronary Heart Disease Mortality in Older Persons: The Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly.” Am J Clin Nutr 64:2 (1996): 190–196.

  30. Frei, B. “To C or Not to C, That is the Question!” J Am Coll Cardiol 42:2 (2003): 253–255.

  31. Steinmetz, K.A., and J.D. Potter. “Vegetables, Fruit, and Cancer Prevention: A Review.” J Am Diet Assoc 96:10 (1996): 1027–1039.

  32. Kromhout, D. “Essential Micronutrients in Relation to Carcinogenes
is.” Am J Clin Nutr 45:5 Suppl (1987): 1361–1367.

  33. Feiz, H.R., and S. Mobarhan. “Does Vitamin C Intake Slow the Progression of Gastric Cancer in Helicobacter pylori–infected Populations?” Nutr Rev 60:1 (2002): 34–36.

  34. Michels, K.B., L. Holmberg, L. Bergkvist, et al. “Dietary Antioxidant Vitamins, Retinol, and Breast Cancer Incidence in a Cohort of Swedish Women.” Intl J Cancer 91:4 (2001): 563–567.

  35. Zhang, S., D.J. Hunter, M.R. Forman, et al. “Dietary Carotenoids and Vitamins A, C, and E and Risk of Breast Cancer.” J Natl Cancer Inst 91:6 (1999): 547–556.

  36. Hoffer, A. Adventures in Psychiatry: The Scientific Memoirs of Dr. Abram Hoffer. Caledon, Ontario, Canada: Kos Publishing, 2005.

  37. Greensfelder, L. “Infectious Diseases: Polio Outbreak Raises Questions about Vaccine.” Science 290:5498 (2000): 1867b–1869b. Martin, J. “Vaccine-derived Poliovirus from Long-term Excretors and the End Game of Polio Eradication.” Biologicals 34:2 (2006): 117–122.

  38. Ermatinger, J.W. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.

  39. Watanabe, C., and H. Satoh. “Evolution of Our Understanding of Methylmercury as a Health Threat.” Environ Health Perspect 104:Suppl 2 (1996): 367–379. Mortada, W.L., M.A. Sobh, M.M. El-Defrawy, et al. “Mercury in Dental Restoration: Is There a Risk of Nephrotoxicity?” J Nephrol 15:2 (2002): 171–176.

  40. Cheng, Y., W.C. Willett, J. Schwartz, et al. “Relation of Nutrition to Bone Lead and Blood Lead Levels in Middle-aged to Elderly Men, The Normative Aging Study.” Am J Epidemiol 147:12 (1998): 1162–1174.

  41. Simon, J.A., and E.S. Hudes. “Relationship of Ascorbic Acid to Blood Lead Levels.” JAMA 281:24 (1999): 2289–2293.

  42. Dawson, E.B., D.R. Evans, W.A. Harris, et al. “The Effect of Ascorbic Acid Supplementation on the Blood Lead Levels of Smokers.” J Am Coll Nutr 18:2 (1999): 166–170.

  43. Jacques, P.F. “The Potential Preventive Effects of Vitamins for Cataract and Age-related Macular Degeneration.” Intl J Vitamin Nutr Res 69:3 (1999): 198–205.

  44. Simon, J.A., and E.S. Hudes. “Serum Ascorbic Acid and Other Correlates of Self-reported Cataract among Older Americans.” J Clin Epidemiol 52:12 (1999): 1207–1211.

  45. Jacques, P.F., L.T. Chylack, S.E. Hankinson, et al. “Long-term Nutrient Intake and Early Age-related Nuclear Lens Opacities.” Arch Ophthalmol 119:7 (2001): 1009–1019.

  46. Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group. “A Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Clinical Trial of High-dose Supplementation with Vitamins C and E and Beta Carotene for Age-related Cataract and Vision Loss: AREDS Report No. 9.” Arch Ophthalmol 119:10 (2001): 1439–1452.

  Chapter 2: The Pioneers of Vitamin C Research

  1. Cott, A. “Irwin Stone: A Tribute.” Orthomolecular Psych 14 (2nd Quarter 1985): 150.

  2. Stone, I. “On the Genetic Etiology of Scurvy.” Acta Genet Med Gemellol 15 (1966): 345–350.

  3. Stone, I. “The Genetic Disease, Hypoascorbemia: A Fresh Approach to an Ancient Disease and Some of Its Medical Implications.” Acta Genet Med Gemellol 16:1 (1967): 52–62. Stone, I. “Humans, the Mammalian Mutants.” Am Lab 6:4 (1974): 32–39.

  4. Stone, I. “Eight Decades of Scurvy: The Case History of a Misleading Dietary Hypothesis.” Orthomolecular Psych 8:2 (1979): 58–62.

  5. Stone, I. “Sudden Death. A Look Back from Ascorbate’s 50th Anniversary.” Australas Nurses J 8:9 (1979): 9–13, 39.

  6. Kalokerinos, A. Every Second Child. Melbourne, Australia: Thomas Nelson (Australia) Ltd., 1974.

  7. Stone, I. “Hypoascorbemia, Our Most Widespread Disease.” Natl Health Fed Bull 18:10 (1972): 6–9.

  8. Stone, I. “The Natural History of Ascorbic Acid in the Evolution of the Mammals and Primates and Its Significance for Present Day Man.” J Orthomolecular Psych 1:2–3 (1972): 82–89.

  9. Stone, I. “Megadoses of Vitamin C.” Nutr Today 10:3 (1975): 35.

  10. Rimland, B. “In Memoriam: Irwin Stone 1907–1984.” J Orthomolecular Psych 13:4 (1984): 285.

  11. Hoffer, A. “The Vitamin Paradigm Wars.” Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients 155 (1996): 56–60. Available online at: http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_paradigm.html.

  12. Stone, I. “Hypoascorbemia: The Genetic Disease Causing the Human Requirement for Exogenous Ascorbic Acid.” Perspect Biol Med 10 (1966): 133–134

  13. Nathens, A.B., M.J. Neff, G.J. Jurkovich, et al. “Randomized, Prospective Trial of Antioxidant Supplementation in Critically Ill Surgical Patients.” Ann Surg 236:6 (2002): 814–822.

  14. Stone, I. “Fifty Years of Research on Ascorbate and the Genetics of Scurvy.” Orthomolecular Psych 13:4 (1984): 280.

  15. Related to Andrew Saul. Doctor Yourself Newsletter 4:23 (November 2004).

  16. Stone, I. “Letter to Albert Szent-Gyorgyi.” National Foundation for Cancer Research, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, August 30, 1982.

  17. Stone, I. “Cancer Therapy in the Light of the Natural History of Ascorbic Acid.” J Intl Acad Metabol 3:1 (1974): 56–61. Stone, I. “The Genetics of Scurvy and the Cancer Problem.” J Orthomolecular Psych 5:3 (1976): 183–190. Stone, I. “The Possible Role of Mega-ascorbate in the Endogenous Synthesis of Interferon.” Med Hypotheses 6:3 (March 1980): 309–314. Stone, I. “Inexpensive Interferon Therapy of Cancer and the Viral Diseases Now.” Australas Nurses J 10:3 (March 1981): 25–28.

  18. Cathcart, R.F. “Vitamin C, Titration to Bowel Tolerance, Anascorbemia, and Acute Induced Scurvy.” Med Hypothesis 7 (1981): 1359–1376. Available online at: http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html.

  19. Levine, M., C. Conry-Cantilena, Y. Wang, et al. “Vitamin C Pharmacokinetics in Healthy Volunteers: Evidence for a Recommended Dietary Allowance.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93 (1996): 3704–3709. Levine, M., Y. Wang, S.J. Padayatty, et al. (2001) “A New Recommended Dietary Allowance of Vitamin C for Healthy Young Women.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:17 (2001): 9842–9846.

  20. Hickey, S., and H. Roberts. Ridiculous Dietary Allowance. Lulu Press, 2004.

  21. Smith, L. Vitamin C as a Fundamental Medicine. (Re-titled Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C: The Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner M.D.) Tacoma, WA: Life Sciences Press, 1991.

  22. Levy, T.E. Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins: Curing the Incurable. Xlibris, 2002.

  23. Miller, F. “Dr. Klenner Urges Taking Vitamins in Huge Doses.” Greensboro Daily News (December 13, 1977): A8–A10.

  24. Kalokerinos, A. Every Second Child. Melbourne, Australia: Thomas Nelson, 1974.

  25. Pauling, L. In Stone, I. Vitamin C as a Fundamental Medicine: Abstracts of Dr. Frederick R. Klenner, M.D.’s Published and Unpublished Work. (Re-titled Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C: The Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner M.D.) Tacoma, WA: Life Sciences Press, 1991.

  26. Smith, L. Feed Yourself Right. New York, NY: Dell, 1983.

  27. Smith, Lendon H., and Joseph G. Hattersley. “Victory Over Crib Death.” (June 2000.) Mercola.com. Available online at: http://www.mercola.com/2000/nov/5/victory_over_sids.htm.

  28. Lendon Smith’s former website: www.Smithsez.com.

  29. “Vaccine-derived Polioviruses—Update.” Wkly Epidemiol Record 81:42 (2006): 398–404. Tebbens, R.J., M.A. Pallansch, O.M. Kew, et al. “Risks of Paralytic Disease Due to Wild or Vaccine-derived Poliovirus after Eradication.” Risk Anal 26:6 (2006): 1471–1505. Jenkins, P.C., and J.F. Modlin. “Decision Analysis in Planning for a Polio Outbreak in the United States.” Pediatrics 118:2 (2006): 611–618. Friedrich, F. “Molecular Evolution of Oral Poliovirus Vaccine Strains during Multiplication in Humans and Possible Implications for Global Eradication of Poliovirus.” Acta Virol 44:2 (2000): 109–117.

  30. Miller, N.Z.. “Vaccines and Natural Health.” Mothering (Spring 1994): 44–54.

  31. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. “Notice to Readers: Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule—United States.” MMWR Weekly Rep 49:2 (January 2000): 35–38.

  32. Jungeblut, C.W.
“Inactivation of Poliomyelitis Virus by Crystalline Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid).” J Exp Med 62 (1935): 317–321.

  33. Jungeblut, C.W., and R.L. Zwemer. “Inactivation of Diphtheria Toxin in Vivo and in Vitro by Crystalline Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid).” Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 32 (1935): 1229–1234. Jungeblut, C.W. “Inactivation of Tetanus Toxin by Crystalline Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid).” J Immunol 33 (1937): 203–214.

  34. Ely, J.T.A. “A Unity of Science, Especially among Physicists, is Urgently Needed to End Medicine’s Lethal Misdirection.” ArXiv.org, Cornell University Library (March 2004). Available online at: http://arxive.org/abs/physics/0403023.

  35. “Polio Clues.” Time Magazine (September 18, 1939).

  36. Klenner, F.R. “The Use of Vitamin C as an Antibiotic.” J Appl Nutr 6 (1953): 274–278.

  37. Hickey, S., and H. Roberts. Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C. Lulu Press, 2004.

  38. Stone, I. “Viral Infection.” The Healing Factor, Chapter 13. New York, NY: Grosset and Dunlap, 1972.

  39. Landwehr, R. “The Origin of the 42-Year Stonewall of Vitamin C.” J Orthomolecular Med 6:2 (1991): 99–103.

  40. Klenner, F.R. “The Treatment of Poliomyelitis and Other Virus Diseases with Vitamin C.” Southern Med Surg (July 1949): 209.

  41. Chan, D., S.R. Lamande, W.G. Cole, et al. “Regulation of Procollagen Synthesis and Processing during Ascorbate-induced Extracellular Matrix Accumulation in Vitro.” Biochem J 269:1 (1990): 175–181. Franceschi, R.T., B.S. Iyer, Y. Cui. “Effects of Ascorbic Acid on Collagen Matrix Formation and Osteoblast Differentiation in Murine MC3T3-E1 Cells.” J Bone Miner Res 9:6 (1994): 843–854.

  42. McCormick, W.J. “The Striae of Pregnancy: A New Etiological Concept.” Med Record (August 1948).

  43. Stone, I. “The Genetic Disease, Hypoascorbemia: A Fresh Approach to an Ancient Disease and Some of Its Medical Implications.” Acta Genet Med Gemellol 16:1 (1967): 52–60.