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VITAMIN C: ANTIVIRAL & ANTITOXIN |
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Antiviral-Antitoxic C |
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Archives of ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C) AS A
CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENT William J. McCormick,
M.D. ("Chemotherapeutic"
in this article does not refer to treating cancer, but rather to vitamin C's
effectiveness against bacterial and viral infections, and as an antitoxic
agent.) Until recently ascorbic
acid has been used primarily and solely for its vitamin action as an
antiscorbutic agent. In such use the daily requirement of the infant and
young child has been placed at 25 to 50 mg. and that of the adult at 75 to
150 mg. The vitamin C properties, Which are mainly prophylactic, are related
primarily to its role in maintaining stability and tensile strength of
connective tissues generally, including the subcutaneous tissues, the
musculature of the vascular and alimentary systems, and the osseous tissues.
This property favors the healing of Wounds, the prevention of hemorrhage and
rupture of connective tissues, and the building of a protective barrier
against infectious invasion. Vitamin C is also 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. Aside from these vitamin
properties there is a very potent therapeutic action of ascorbic acid when
given in massive repeated doses, 500 to 1,000 mg., q.q.h., (every four hours)
preferably intravenously or intramuscularly. When thus administered the
effect in acute infectious processes is favorably comparable to that of the
sulfonamide or the mycelial antibiotics, but with the great advantage of
freedom from toxic or allergic reactions. The advantage of parenteral
(injected) administration is obvious when one considers that vitamin, being
water-soluble and having no kidney threshold, is eliminated by this route
almost as rapidly as absorbed from the alimentary system. By intensive
parenteral therapy the blood level can be maintained at a much higher degree
of saturation with resultant increase in antitoxic action. The writer (1) has
previously reported spectacular results by this method in the treatment of
tuberculosis, scarlet fever, pelvic infection, septicemia, etc. Concurrently,
by this same method, Klenner (2) has reported dramatic results in the
treatment of virus diseases, including poliomyelitis, encephalitis, measles,
herpes zoster, virus pneumonia, etc. This chemotherapeutic effect of ascorbic
acid results from its chemical action as a reducing or oxidizing agent. In
fact, the decolorization of the test reagent, dichlorphenol-indophenol, is
dependent upon this property. By this means the viral or bacterial toxins are
rapidly neutralized and the febrile process, with its high metabolic rate, is
abated, usually within a few hours of the beginning of treatment. Complete
recovery occurs usually in a matter of days. By this method the writer has
been able to reduce marked leukocytosis in purulent infections to normal
within two or three days. Likewise, Klenner (3) reports the reduction of
pleocytosis of spinal fluid in poliomyelitis to normal within 48 hours, under
intensive ascorbic-acid therapy. This reduction of leukocyte content of blood
and spinal fluid is the best evidence of therapeutic efficacy. Such effects
have never been obtained by the use of sulfonamides or mycelial antibiotics. A point to be noted in
this intensive method of therapy is that the urinary elimination of ascorbic
acid, being necessarily heavy, is likely to cause confusion in case of
urinary tests for sugar, since ascorbic acid is an even more potent reducer
of Fehling’s or Benedict’s solution. Thus a positive test under these
conditions does not necessarily indicate sugar. This fact in itself is
further evidence of the efficacy of ascorbic acid as an oxidation-reduction
agent. Not only endogenous, but
exogenous toxins are neutralized by this chemotherapeutic action of ascorbic
acid. By this means Klenner has effected rapid recovery from rattlesnake bite
in dogs, and the author has obtained rapid recovery in a case of scorpion
sting by a single intravenous injection of 1,000 mg. Likewise, ascorbic acid
has been effectively employed in the treatment of lead poisoning (4) in
painters, and in suppressing toxic reactions in sulfonamide (5), hormone,
salicylate and arsenical therapy (6). 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 hose becomes necessary. In determining the
anti-infectious protective dosage of vitamin C there is another factor which
is not generally considered. When the vitamin is employed to neutralize
toxins of endogenous or exogenous origin, the action is reciprocal in that
the vitamin is also neutralized proportionately, leaving less available for
physiological needs. To illustrate the writer has determined by laboratory
and clinical tests that the smoking of one cigarette neutralizes in the body
approximately 25 mg. of ascorbic acid, or the amount in one medium-sized
orange. It will thus be seen how
difficult it is to meet the bodily requirement of the pack-a-day smoker for
even the protective level of vitamin C from dietary sources. It is thus
obvious that the steady smoker, who is usually short on his dietary intake as
well, requires much heavier therapeutic dosage of this vitamin than the
non-smoker. This may explain why, according to Mayo-Clinic reports, the
incidence of post-operative pneumonia is four times greater in habitual
smokers than in non-smokers. To prevent post-operative pneumonia, Slotkin and
Fletcher (7) have instituted the use of large doses of vitamin C both pre-
and postoperatively, with 100 per cent success. Prior to this innovation,
their post-operative pneumonia mortality rate was 20 per cent. Pediatric
surgeons might do well to follow this example. Klenner (3) reports that
pneumonia never develops as a complication in measles when intensive vitamin
C therapy is employed early in the disease. During the past century
there has been a steady decline in the incidence and mortality of most all infectious
diseases. Epidemiologists generally (8, 9, 10) admit that the control
measures employed "are not adequate in themselves to explain the
recorded decline." "While the control measures which have been
applied have probably accentuated the decline in young adult life... it seems
reasonable to attribute the general decline to other factors more general in
character and of which but little is really known." From increasing evidence
of the antitoxic and anti-infectious action of vitamin C, and from personal
clinical experience in the prophylactic and therapeutic application of this
vitamin, the author is firmly convinced that the major factor in bringing
about this gradually changing picture in infectious-disease incidence has
been the steady and phenomenal increase in the consumption of vitamin-C-rich
fruits, notably citrus fruits and tomatoes, during the period in question.
This hypothesis would not only account for the gradual decline in incidence,
but would also explain the shift in age incidence of tuberculosis,
diphtheria, poliomyelitis, etc., from the younger to the older age brackets,
due to the fact that in the nursery the full benefit of this nutritional
reform is obtained; whereas, during childhood and early youth perverse
dietary habits are gradually acquired through lack of parental guidance and
inadequacy of public-health education. The increased use of candy, carbonated
beverages, tea, coffee, tobacco and alcohol tends gradually to displace the
more wholesome nutritional habits of early childhood, and malnutrition with
increased susceptibility to disease is the price we pay for this diversion. In conclusion it may be
of interest to note that centuries ago observing physicians detected the
predisposing influence of scurvy on the incidence of infectious diseases. In
1689, Richard Morton, one of the earliest writers on tuberculosis (then known
as phthisis), states in his famous Phthisiologia that "scurvy is
wont to occasion a consumption of the lungs." Likewise, Boerhaave, a
Dutch physician of international repute in the early 18th century, held to
the view that "gangrenous gingivitis," then frequently concurrent
with diphtheria, was evidence of a scorbutic background. SUMMARY Clinical and laboratory
evidence is cited in support of the author’s advocacy of intensive vitamin C
administration as a chemotherapeutic agent in infectious diseases. The efficacy of this
therapy is dependent upon the potent oxidation-reduction action of ascorbic
acid and the use of massive doses with complete freedom from toxic or
allergic reactions. There is an unusually
broad spectrum of antibiotic action in this therapy, including practically
all bacterial and viral infections. It is also highly potent as an antitoxic
agent in exogenous poisoning, organic and inorganic. REFERENCES 1. McCormick, W. J.:
Vitamin C in the Prophylaxis and Therapy of Infectious Diseases. Arch.
Pediat., 68: 1-9, 1951. 2. Klenner, Fred R.:
Massive Doses of Vitamin C and the Virus Diseases. Paper presented at
convention of the Tri-State Medical Association of the Carolinas and 3. Klenner, Fred R.: The
Treatment of Poliomyelitis and Other Virus Diseases with Vitamin C. South.
Med. & Surg., Vol. III, No. 7, 1949. 4. Holmes, H. N.;
Campbell, K. and Amberg, E. J.: Effect of Vitamin C on Lead Poisoning. J.
Lab. & Clin. Med., 24: 1119, 1939. 5. McCormick, W. J.:
Sulfonamide Sensitivity and C-Avitaminosis. Canad. Med J., 52: 68-70, 1945. 6. Pelner, L: Use of
Ascorbic Acid in Reducing Toxicity of Stilboestrol and Arsenical Therapy.
J.A.M.A., 123: 112, 1943. 7. Slotkin, G. A. and
Fletcher, R. S.: Ascorbic Acid in Pulmonary Complications Following Surgery.
J. Urol., Nov. 6, 1944. 8. Ross, Mary A.:
Tuberculosis Mortality in 9. McKinnon, N. E.:
Mortality Reductions in 10. Davis, Paul V.:
Tuberculosis Epidemiology. Dist. of Chest, p. 21, Sept. 1939. Editing by AscorbateWeb http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/ and by DoctorYourself.com http://www.doctoryourself.com Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE
YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at
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) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
) For ordering information, Click Here .
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