Landmark Publication on Vitamin C for
COVID-19
(
Dr.
Andrew Saul
,
editor-in-chief of the
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
, with Dr. Joseph Mercola, etc.)
Some
Hospitals
and Doctors
have found that eliminating deficiencies like Vit D, A, B
vitamins, etc. plus High Dose Vitamin C (High-dose Vit C IV
for serious cases
) is effective
at reducing adverse effects, and deaths in serious Coronavirus cases.
The fact that these treatment protocols which have
long
been used and proven effective
by thousands of doctors and
numerous
studies worldwide
for
hundreds
of chronic conditions
, including many chronic conditions related to exposure
to
toxic metals, pesticides, or other toxics
,
has been suppressed by health authorities tied to Pharmaceutical and Vaccine
interests. Conditions successfully treated in the past by such protocols
include most of the factors causing CV deaths such as respiratory infections,
Pneumonia,
Sepsis
,
etc.
·
According to the authors
cited here
, Vitamin C’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and
immunomodulating effects make it
useful
, both for
the prevention and amelioration of COVID-19 infection, and as an
adjunctive
therapy
in the critical care of COVID-19
· High dose vitamin C has been shown to be anti-viral, and Oral vitamin C at doses of 2 to 8 grams a day have been shown to reduce the incidence and duration of respiratory infections
· Intravenous vitamin C at 6 to 24 grams a day has been shown to reduce mortality, ICU admission rates, hospital stays and time on mechanical ventilation in patients with severe respiratory infections
·
An
international vitamin C campaign has been launched in response to the landmark
review
, and High-dose vit C has been widely
used successfully in several countries including the U.S.
·
COVID-19
Coronavirus can
have risk and
effects successfully reduced
by Vitamin D
many are starting to realize the truth,
which is that both
vitamin
C
(ascorbic acid) and
vitamin D
have an enormous amount of research showing they provide important immune
function enhancements, and that your immune function is your frontline defense
against all illness, including COVID-19.
As reported in
many
paper
s such as
Optimal
Nutritional Status for a Well-Functioning Immune System Is an Important Factor
to Protect Against Viral Infections, published April 23, 2020:
1
The role nutrition plays in supporting the immune system
is well-established. A wealth of mechanistic and clinical data show that
vitamins, including vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and folate; trace elements,
including zinc, iron, selenium, magnesium, and copper; and the omega-3 fatty
acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid play important and
complementary roles in supporting the immune system.
Inadequate intake and status of these nutrients are
widespread, leading to a decrease in resistance to infections and as a
consequence an increase in disease burden.
High-Dose Vitamin C Acts as an Antiviral Drug
His Tokyo presentation,
"Orthomolecular Medicine and Coronavirus Disease: Historical Basis for
Nutritional Treatment," highlights the fact that when used as a treatment,
high doses of vitamin C — often 1,000 times more than the U.S. Recommended
Dietary Allowance (RDA) — are needed.
It's a cornerstone of
medical science that dose affects treatment outcome, but this premise isn't
accepted when it comes to vitamin therapy the way it is with drug therapy. Most
vitamin C research has used inadequate, low doses, which don't lead to clinical
results.
"The medical
literature
and establishment
has ignored over
80 years of laboratory and clinical studies on high-dose ascorbate
therapy," Saul notes, adding that while it's widely accepted that vitamin
C is beneficial in fighting illness, controversy exists over to what extent.
"Moderate quantities provide effective prevention," he says, while
"large quantities are therapeutic."
Landmark Paper Puts Vitamin C on the COVID-19 Treatment Map
While health
authorities and mainstream media have ignored, if not outright opposed, the use
of vitamin C and other supplements in the treatment of COVID-19, citing lack of
clinical evidence, we now have a landmark review
2
recommending
the use of
vitamin C
as an adjunctive therapy for
respiratory infections, sepsis and COVID-19.
The review,
3
published December 7, 2020, in the
journal Nutrients, was co-written by Dr. Paul Marik who, in 2017, developed a
groundbreaking
vitamin C-based treatment for sepsis
.
Marik is now heading up the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance,
4
which has developed a highly
successful treatment for COVID-19.
The COVID-19 protocol
was initially dubbed
MATH+
(an
acronym based on the key components of the treatment), but after several tweaks
and updates, the prophylaxis and early outpatient treatment protocol is now
known as I-MASK+
5
while the hospital treatment has been
renamed I-MATH+,
6
due to the addition of the drug Ivermectin.
Vitamin C remains a central component of this treatment, though.
(The two protocols
7
,
8
are available for download on the
FLCCC Alliance website in multiple languages. The clinical and scientific
rationale for the I-MATH+ hospital protocol has also been peer-reviewed and was
published in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine
9
in
mid-December 2020.) As explained in the Nutrients review abstract:
10
"
There are limited proven therapies for COVID-19
.
Vitamin C's antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating effects make it
a potential therapeutic candidate, both for the prevention and amelioration of
COVID-19 infection, and as an adjunctive therapy in the critical care of
COVID-19.
This literature review focuses on vitamin C deficiency
in respiratory infections, including COVID-19, and the mechanisms of action in
infectious disease, including support of the stress response, its role in
preventing and treating colds and pneumonia, and its role in treating sepsis
and COVID-19.
The evidence to date indicates
that oral vitamin C (2-8 g/day)
can
reduce the incidence and duration of respiratory
infections
and intravenous vitamin C
(6-24 g/day) has been shown to reduce mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) and
hospital stays, and time on mechanical ventilation for severe respiratory
infections
,
including CV
Given the favorable safety profile and low cost of
vitamin C, and the frequency of vitamin C deficiency in respiratory infections,
it may be worthwhile testing patients' vitamin C status and treating them accordingly
with intravenous administration within ICUs and oral administration in
hospitalized persons with COVID-19."
International
Vitamin C Campaign Launched
In a December 16, 2020,
action alert,
11
Rob Verkerk, Ph.D., founder and
scientific director of the Alliance for Natural Health, announced the launch of
an international vitamin C campaign
12
in
response to the landmark review, which "puts all the arguments and science
in one, neat place."
As noted by Verkerk, there
are several reasons to take supplemental vitamin C. First, your body cannot
make it. Second, most people do not get sufficient amounts from their diet and,
third, your body’s requirement for vitamin C can increase 10-fold whenever your
immune system is challenged by an infection,
toxic exposures
,
disease
,
or physical
trauma.
In fact, the Nutrients
review
13
points out that it's common for
hospitalized patients to have overt vitamin C deficiency, defined as a blood
level at or below 11 µmol/L. This is particularly true for older patients and
those hospitalized for respiratory infections.
According to the
authors, "Vitamin C concentrations are three to 10 times higher in the
adrenal glands than in any other organ. It is released from the adrenal cortex
under conditions of physiological stress (ACTH stimulation), including viral
exposure, raising plasma levels fivefold." In his action alert, Verkerk
notes:
14
"Taking vitamin C as a preventative and then,
upping your intake if you're infected, is a no brainer. So is using vitamin C
intravenously for those with acute respiratory infections, or sepsis, in
critical care.
So much so, that we argue — given the now available
evidence — that doctors and other health professionals who avoid
recommendations on vitamin C in relation to COVID disease prevention and
treatment, should be considered medically negligent …
There is
ample evidence
to show that supplements
like zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin D can help prevent and treat COVID-19, but
we're prevented from learning about these benefits by the federal government.
Because supplements are not, and can never become,
FDA-approved, they
are not allowed to
claim to have an impact on disease, even when
they are clinically
documented to do so
. This
nonsense
by government agencies controlled by special interests
has to stop."
How Vitamin C Works
As mentioned, the
Nutrients review
15
and
other
studies
detail vitamin C's mechanisms
of action and how it helps in cases of infectious disease, including the common
cold, pneumonia, sepsis and COVID-19. For starters, vitamin C has the following
basic properties:
·
Anti-inflammatory
·
Immunomodulatory
·
Antioxidant
·
Antithrombotic
·
Antiviral
Beneficial antiviral
effects apply to both the innate and adaptive immune systems. When you have an
infection, vitamin C improves your immune function in part by promoting the development
and maturation of T-lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that is an
essential part of your immune system.
Phagocytes, immune
cells that kill pathogenic microbes, are also able to take in oxidized vitamin
C and regenerate it to ascorbic acid. With regard to COVID-19 specifically,
vitamin C:
16
|
Helps
downregulate inflammatory cytokines, thereby reducing the risk of a cytokine
storm. It also reduces inflammation through the activation of NF-κB and by
increasing superoxide dismutase, catalase and
glutathione. Epigenetically, vitamin C regulates
genes involved in the upregulation of antioxidant proteins and downregulation
of proinflammatory cytokines
|
|
Protects your endothelium from oxidant
injury
|
|
Helps repair damaged tissues
|
|
Upregulates expression of Type-1
interferons, your primary antiviral defense mechanism, which SARS-CoV-2
downregulates
|
|
Eliminates ACE2 upregulation induced by
IL-7. This is particularly noteworthy, as the ACE2 receptor is the entry
point for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus' spike protein binds to ACE2)
|
|
Appears to be a powerful inhibitor of
Mpro, a key protease (enzyme) in SARS-CoV-2 that activates viral
nonstructural proteins
|
|
Regulates neutrophil extracellular trap
formation (NETosis), a maladaptive response that results in tissue damage and
organ failure
|
|
Enhances lung epithelial barrier
function in an animal model of sepsis by promoting epigenetic and
transcriptional expression of protein-channels at the alveolar capillary
membrane that regulate alveolar fluid clearance
|
|
Mediates the adrenocortical stress
response, particularly in sepsis
|
The graph below, from the Nutrients review, illustrates the key
ways in which vitamin C ameliorates the pathology seen in COVID-19.
Nebulized
Peroxide May Be Even Better
The beautiful graphic
above makes it really clear that one of the primary ways that vitamin C works
is through the generation of reactive oxygen species. Guess what the primary
one is? If you guessed hydrogen peroxide give yourself a high five!
It is highly likely
that the peroxide forms a very powerful signaling function that stimulates the
immune system to defeat whatever viral threat it is exposed to. This is one of
the reasons why nebulized peroxide is my absolute favorite intervention for
acute viral illnesses. It is highly effective, inexpensive and has no side
effects when used at the very low doses recommended (0.1%, which is 30 times
less concentrated than regular drugstore 3% peroxide).
My
video
discusses the details of how
you can use this therapy.
See also:
An
At-Home Treatment That Can Cure Any Virus, Including Coronavirus
Dr. Thomas Levy (cardiologist) & Dr. Frank
Shallenberger.
(Hydrogen peroxide
nebulized)
The key is to have your nebulizer already
purchased and ready to go so that it is locked and loaded and you don't have to
go out and purchase anything if you or a loved one gets sick. You can still use
vitamin C with the peroxide, as they likely have a powerful synergy and use
different complimentary mechanisms.
The Nutrients review
17
also includes clinical evidence for
the role of vitamin C in COVID-19, noting that early oral supplementation might
help prevent a mild case from developing into something more serious. In
patients with critical symptoms, intravenous administration of vitamin C has
been shown to speed up recovery, reducing both ICU stays and mortality.
Interestingly, vitamin
C deficiency and COVID-19 share many of the same risk factors, including male
gender, darker skin, older age and comorbidities such as diabetes, high blood
pressure and COPD. All of these subgroups are at increased risk for severe
COVID-19 and, according to the authors, all “have also been shown to have lower
serum vitamin C levels.”
Commenting on the
clinical evidence supporting the use of vitamin C in the treatment of COVID-19,
the authors write:
18
"There are currently 45 trials registered on
Clinicaltrials.gov investigating vitamin C with or without other treatments for
COVID-19. In the first RCT to test the value of vitamin C in critically ill
COVID-19 patients, 54 ventilated patients in Wuhan, China, were treated with a
placebo (sterile water) or intravenous vitamin C at a dose of 24 g/day for 7 days
…
The more severely ill patients with SOFA [sequential
organ failure assessment] scores ≥ 3 in the vitamin C group exhibited a
reduction in 28-day mortality: 18% versus 50% in univariate survival analysis
(Figure 2). No study-related adverse events were reported."
Figure 2 below, from
version 1 of the study,
19
"High-Dose Vitamin C Infusion for
the Treatment of Critically Ill COVID-19," posted on the preprint server Research
Square August 10, 2020 (updated September 23, at which point it was renamed
20
), shows the 28-day
mortality rates between critically ill COVID-19 patients given high-dose IV
vitamin C (HDIVC) compared to those given a placebo.
"In the UK, the Chelsea and Westminster hospital ICU,
where adult ICU patients were administered 1 g of intravenous vitamin C every
12 h together with anticoagulants, has reported 29% mortality, compared to the
average 41% reported by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre
(ICNARC) for all UK ICUs …
The Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Expert Group
(FLCCC), a group of emergency medicine experts, have reported that, with the
combined use of 6 g/day intravenous vitamin C (1.5 g every 6 h), plus steroids
and anticoagulants, mortality was 5% in two ICUs in the US (United Memorial
Hospital in Houston, Texas, and Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia),
the lowest mortality rates in their respective counties.
A case report of 17 COVID-19 patients who were given 1
g of intravenous vitamin C every 8 h for 3 days reported a mortality rate of
12% with 18% rates of intubation and mechanical ventilation and a significant
decrease in inflammatory markers, including ferritin and D-dimer, and a trend
towards decreasing FiO
2
requirements.
Another case of unexpected recovery following
high-dose intravenous vitamin C has also been reported. While these case
reports are subject to confounding and are not prima facie evidence of effects,
they do illustrate the feasibility of using vitamin C for COVID-19 with no
adverse effects reported."
How
Much Vitamin C Do You Need?
As detailed in the
introduction of the Nutrients review,
22
primates
and humans are dependent on an adequate supply of vitamin C from fruits and
vegetables. Gorillas need 4.5 grams a day, while smaller primates weighing
around 7.5 kilos need about 600 mg per day. This gives us a clue as to what the
human requirement might be, and it's quite a bit higher than the daily
recommended intake. According to the authors:
23
"The EU Average Requirement of 90 mg/day for men
and 80 mg/day for women is to maintain a normal plasma level of 50 µmol/L,
which is the mean plasma level in UK adults. This is sufficient to prevent
scurvy but may be inadequate when a person is under viral exposure and
physiological stress.
An expert panel in cooperation with the Swiss Society
of Nutrition recommended that everyone supplement with 200 mg 'to fill the
nutrient gap for the general population and especially for the adults age 65
and older. This supplement is targeted to strengthen the immune system.' The
Linus Pauling Institute recommends 400 mg for older adults (>50 years old).
Pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers support
a 200-mg daily dose to produce a plasma level of circa 70 to 90 µmol/L.
Complete plasma saturation occurs between 1 g daily and 3 g every four hours,
being the highest tolerated oral dose, giving a predicted peak plasma
concentration of circa 220 µmol/L.
The same dose given intravenously raises plasma
vitamin C levels approximately tenfold. Higher intakes of vitamin C are likely
to be needed during viral infections with 2–3 g/day required to maintain normal
plasma levels between 60 and 80 µmol/L. Whether higher plasma levels have
additional benefit is yet to be determined, but would be consistent with the
results of the clinical trials discussed in this review."
While high-dose vitamin
C regimens typically call for intravenous administration, if treating a viral
infection at home (be it COVID-19 or something else), you could use oral
liposomal vitamin C, as this allows you to take far higher doses without
causing loose stools.
You can take up to 100
grams of liposomal vitamin C without problems and get really high blood levels,
equivalent to or higher than intravenous vitamin C. I view that as an acute
treatment, however. I discourage people from taking mega doses of vitamin C on
a regular basis if they're not actually sick, because it is essentially a drug
— or at least it works like one.
Saul, who has worked
with and recommended vitamin C for most of his professional life suggests
taking "enough vitamin C to be symptom-free," whatever dosage that
might be. When you're well, you typically don't need more than the 200 mg to
400 mg recommended in the quote above.
+
Sources and References
Optimal Nutritional Status for a Well-Functioning Immune System
Is an Important Factor to Protect against Viral Infections
,
Nutrients April
23, 2020; 12(4): 1181
, P C Calder et al,
2,
3,
10,
15,
17
Vitamin
C—An Adjunctive Therapy for Respiratory Infection, Sepsis and COVID-19
,
Nutrients December 7, 2020; 12(12): 3760
,P Holford et al
5, 7 FLCCC Alliance I-MASK+ Protocol
6,
8
FLCCC MATH+
Hospital Protocol
9
Clinical
and Scientific Rationale for the “MATH+” Hospital Treatment Protocol for
COVID-19
,
Journal of Intensive Care Medicine December 15, 2020 DOI:
10.1177/0885066620973585
11,
14
Campaign to Put the C
Into COVID
,
Alliance for
Natural Health December 16, 2020
12
VITAMIN C FOR COVID
,
VitaminC4Covid.com
13
Nutrients December
7, 2020; 12(12): 3760, 2. Vitamin C Deficiency in Pneumonia, Sepsis and
COVID-19
18,
21
Nutrients
December 7, 2020; 12(12): 3760, 7. Clinical Evidence for the Role of Vitamin C
in COVID-19
19
High-dose vitamin C infusion for the treatment of critically ill
COVID-19,
Research Square August 10, 2020 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-52778/v1 (version
1)
20
Pilot Trial
of High-dose Vitamin C in critically ill Covid-19 patients,
Research Square
September 23, 2020 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-52778/v2 (version 2)
22,
23
Vitamin C—An
Adjunctive Therapy for Respiratory Infection, Sepsis and COVID-19
,
Nutrients
December 7, 2020; 12(12): 3760, 1. Introduction