A new study* validates the powerful effect of intravenous vitamin C in recovery from infection.
Dr. Fowler described his study in the October 2015 issue of the Townsend Letter, the major alternative medicine journal. Twenty-four patients, all critically ill with severe sepsis, were treated in the intensive care unit. Sepsis is a disseminated infection that travels through the blood stream, causing damage to heart, kidneys, liver, lung and brain, often resulting in death or permanent organ impairment.
Sixteen patients were given medium or high dose intravenous vitamin C, and 8 patients were given placebo. There was rapid correction of organ failure in the vitamin C-treated patients, more impressive in those who received higher doses. No correction occurred in patients who were given placebo.
Biomarkers of inflammation were also measured, including C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, and these declined significantly, only in the vitamin C-treated patients. Another marker, thrombomodulin, is released into the blood as an indicator of severe vascular injury. It rose in the patients on placebo, but not at all in patients on intravenous vitamin C.
Mortality was 62% in the patients on placebo, and 38% in vitamin C-treated patients.
Both human and animal studies have demonstrated benefits of vitamin C in treating infection. High levels of vitamin C in the blood cannot be achieved with oral doses alone, because there is a limit on how much can be absorbed from the GI tract. Intravenous vitamin C is safe, easy to administer, and can be given in high doses.
We have used IV vitamin C in our practice for years, usually in combination with other vitamins and minerals, with excellent results. Patients recover faster from many types of infections, including upper and lower respiratory infection, urinary infections, dental and wound infections, gastrointestinal infections, and viral infections such as shingles, flu, and herpes simplex.
Our Immune Drip, a combination of vitamin C with glutathione, B vitamins, magnesium and trace minerals, also helps with recovery from surgery, accidents and injuries, and other stress situations, both physical and emotional. It has helped in chronic fatigue, poor nutrition, detoxification, and recovery from drugs and alcohol. Some patients come in for a routine infusion periodically, to maintain a healthy immune status.
Allan Sosin, MD
*Fowler, AA et al. Phase 1 safety trial of intravenous ascorbic acid in patients with severe sepsis, J Transl Med, 2014; 12:32