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Abstract Sepsis is a devastating disease that carries an enormous toll in terms of human suffering and lives lost. Over 100 novel pharmacologic agents that targeted specific molecules or pathways have failed to improve the outcome of sepsis. Preliminary data suggests that the combination of Hydrocortisone, Ascorbic Acid and Thiamine (HAT therapy) may reduce organ failure and mortality in patients with sepsis and septic shock. HAT therapy is based on the concept that a combination of readily available, safe and cheap agents, which target multiple components of the host’s response to an infectious agent, will synergistically restore the dysregulated immune...

Primates and guinea pigs are unable to synthesize vitamin C. In contrast, almost all other mammals produce vitamin C in their livers with production increasing during stress. Furthermore, largely to metabolic consumption, a high percentage of critically ill patients are deficient in vitamin C. In an observational study, Carr et al. found that 75% of critically ill patients had plasma levels of vitamin C that were abnormally low [1]. The degree and incidence of deficiency were most pronounced in those patients with sepsis. Several trials have shown that administration of vitamin C to patients with sepsis is associated with better...

It seems too good to be true. A simple and inexpensive treatment for one of the most dreadful conditions around: sepsis. Also known as blood poisoning, sepsis strikes one million Americans every year, killing one-fourth of them. Dr. Paul Marik, chief of pulmonary and critical care at Eastern Virginia Medical School, came up with the idea on little more than a whim. His patient, 48-year-old Valerie Hobbs, was succumbing to sepsis and he had run out of options to save her. It was a desperation shot in the dark: Vitamin C. It worked. Beautifully. Again and again. Valerie spent a...

I recently went on a low cholesterol and low sugar diet. Carbs were ok but I wanted to lose weight and tone muscle. It was short term (6 to 8 months?) but I started eating egg whites. Couple dozen a week. Whole wheat bread. Couple loaves a week. Tuna. Up to 2 cans a day. And my snack was a large bowl of cheerios or corn flakes. I had some blood work done for my new PCP and they discovered my iron level is/was 3 times normal. Now I discover the foods I was eating are rich in iron, with...

CARDIFF, Wales, April 23 (UPI) -- Researchers in Wales and England have developed a highly effective asthma drug, and in the process may have uncovered the disorder's root cause. In a recent study, scientists explored the breathing disorder via both mouse and human airway models, using tissue from asthmatic and non-asthmatic people. Their work highlighted the body's calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) as the main culprit in triggering asthma symptoms -- airway narrowing, airway twitchiness and inflammation. Much as the immune system of allergy patients overreacts to pollen or other particulates, the research models showed CaSR went into overdrive when asthmatic...

In a game of cat and mouse with health and safety officials, Americans profit off panic with modern versions of snake oil treatments, like vitamins branded ‘Ebola-C’ First of all, Steve Barwick wants you to know that Ebola is a government conspiracy. “This current ‘Ebola crisis’ is … a massive psy-ops campaign,” he wrote in an (undated) blogpost on his website, The Silver Edge. “In other words, the threat is largely being manufactured and planted into the minds of the American public, through the federal government/news media axis.” Barwick, to his credit, points out correctly that the likelihood of coming...

It is clear that this is no longer an outbreak of Ebola, it's a breakout of Ebola. We are now living in a post-containment world. Fortunately, this virus has vulnerabilities, and we can quickly improve our immune defense. When the protective suits and procedures fail to keep Ebola at arm's length, it becomes a fight between the organism and the defense. As there is no vaccine and there are no Ebola-specific drugs, it's time to help Americans understand what can be done. We have two types of immune defense: adaptive defense, which allows us to utilize preformed antibodies and anti-viral...

-snip- In reality, Smeerenburg was usually abandoned at the end of each season, though by the 1630s, years of vicious competition led Dutch whalers to try something novel: leave a crew of volunteers to overwinter at Smeerenburg, both to be on hand to protect more expensive equipment that could be left behind, and in order to get the whaling station up and running as soon as possible the following spring. And so in 1632 seven men were left in Smeerenburg to wait out the winter. It did not go well. The Dutch volunteers quickly succumbed to the “polar night disease,”...

Vitamin supplements are popular items these days. Vitamin C is particularly popular in the winter, when people pop tablets at the first sign of a cold. However, data indicates that vitamin C doesn't actually prevent colds, but long-term use may slightly reduce the severity or duration of a cold when you do catch one. So, should we all start popping vitamin C tablets every day? Probably not. A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that men who took 1,000-mg tablets of vitamin C were twice as likely to develop kidney stones as men who did not take vitamin C...

VITAMIN C, TITRATING TO BOWEL TOLERANCE, ANASCORBEMIA, AND ACUTE INDUCED SCURVY Robert F. Cathcart, III, M.D. Allergy, Environmental, and Orthomolecular Medicine 127 Second Street, Los Altos, California 94022, USA Telephone 650-949-2822

Low levels of vitamin C were associated with higher levels of high sensitivity C-Reactive protein (hsCRP) and shorter intervals without major cardiac issues or death for heart failure patients, in research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011. Compared to those with high vitamin C intake from food, heart failure patients in the study who had low vitamin C intake were 2.4 times more likely to have higher levels of hsCRP, a marker for inflammation and a risk factor for heart disease. The study is the first to demonstrate that low vitamin C intake is associated with worse...

Researchers at Lund University have discovered a new function for vitamin C. Treatment with vitamin C can dissolve the toxic protein aggregates that build up in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. The research findings are now being presented in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The brains of people with Alzheimer's disease contain lumps of so-called amyloid plaques which consist of misfolded protein aggregates. They cause nerve cell death in the brain and the first nerves to be attacked are the ones in the brain's memory centre. "When we treated brain tissue from mice suffering from Alzheimer's disease with vitamin C,...

Simple treatment may counteract widespread problem of subnormal vitamin levels in acute-care patientsTreatment with vitamin C rapidly improves the emotional state of acutely hospitalized patients, according to a study carried out by researchers at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH) and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI). In a double-blind clinical trial, patients admitted to the JGH were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin C or vitamin D supplements for seven to ten days. Patients administered vitamin C had a rapid and statistically and clinically significant improvement in mood state, but no significant change in mood occurred with...

New research in the FASEB Journal reports vitamin C reverses abnormalities caused by Werner syndrome gene, including cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart failure and high cholesterolA new research discovery published in the January 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) suggests that treatments for disorders that cause accelerated aging, particularly Werner's syndrome, might come straight from the family medicine chest. In the research report, a team of Canadian scientists show that vitamin C stops and even reverses accelerated aging in a mouse model of Werner's syndrome, but the discovery may also be applicable to other progeroid syndromes. People with Werner's...

Famous for its antioxidant properties and role in tissue repair, vitamin C is touted as beneficial for illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer and perhaps even for slowing the aging process. Now, a study published online on December 24th by Cell Press in the journal Cell Stem Cell uncovers an unexpected new role for this natural compound: facilitating the generation of embryonic-like stem cells from adult cells. Over the past few years, we have learned that adult cells can be reprogrammed into cells with characteristics similar to embryonic stem cells by turning on a select set of genes....

WASHINGTON: Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center researchers have found a link between taking vitamin C with insulin and stopping blood vessel damage caused by type 1 diabetes. While neither therapy produced desired results when used alone, the combination of insulin to control blood sugar together with the use of Vitamin C, stopped blood vessel damage caused by the disease in patients with poor glucose control, said researchers. The findings appear this week in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. "We had tested this theory on research models, but this is the first time anyone has shown the therapy's effectiveness...

A friend I know via the internet told me yesterday that he, and now his little daughter, have a strain of MRSA that is resistant to "almost everything". His seems to be improving somewhat, but hers is not. Although I have never met him, he is almost like a brother because of the wonderful conversations we have had about God, truth and the meaning of life. If anyone would like to pray for their wellbeing, I would greatly appreciate it, as other than prayer, I can do nothing to help them, and ultimately, the Supreme Lord is our only refuge.

Study Shows Vitamin C From Food or Supplements May Reduce the Risk of Gout Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD Boosting vitamin C intake may be a simple way to help prevent one of the most common forms of arthritis. A new study shows the vitamin better known for fighting colds may also prevent gout. Researchers found men who had the highest vitamin C intake from supplements and food were up to 45% less likely to develop the painful condition than those who had the lowest. Vitamin C is found naturally in citrus fruit, broccoli, and other fruits and vegetables; it...

The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy Stephen Barrett, M.D. Linus Pauling, Ph.D. (1901-1994), was the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel prizes. He received these awards for chemistry in 1954 and for peace in 1962. He contributed greatly to the development of chemical theories. His impact on the health marketplace, however, was anything but laudable. Pauling is largely responsible for the widespread misbelief that high doses of vitamin C are effective against colds and other illnesses. In 1968, he postulated that people's needs for vitamins and other nutrients vary markedly and that to maintain good health, many...

Vitamin C can impede the growth of some types of tumors although not in the way some scientists had suspected, researchers reported on Monday. The new research, published in the journal Cancer Cell, supported the general notion that vitamin C and other so-called antioxidants can slow tumor growth, but pointed to a mechanism different from the one many experts had suspected. The researchers generated encouraging results when giving vitamin C to mice that had been implanted with human cancer cells -- either the blood cancer lymphoma or prostate cancer. Another antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine, also limited tumor growth in the mice, the...