Vitamin C megadosage
[1] There is no strong scientific evidence that vitamin C megadosage helps to cure or prevent cancer, the common cold, or some other medical conditions.
These adaptations, he argued, ultimately shortened lifespan but could be reversed or mitigated by supplementing humans with the hypothetical amount of vitamin C that would have been produced in the body if the enzyme were working.
There is a strong advocacy movement for very high doses of vitamin C, yet there is an absence of large-scale, formal trials in the 10 to 200+ grams per day range.
[1] However, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reviewed the safety question in 2006 and reached the conclusion that there was not sufficient evidence to set a UL for vitamin C.[17] The Japan National Institute of Health and Nutrition reviewed the same question in 2010 and also reached the conclusion that there was not sufficient evidence to set a UL.
[19] Although sometimes considered free of toxicity, there are known side effects from vitamin C intake, and it has been suggested that intravenous injections should require "a medical environment and trained professionals.
"[20] For example, a genetic condition that results in inadequate levels of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) can cause affected people to develop hemolytic anemia after using intravenous vitamin C treatment.
The probable mechanism of vitamin C reduction, intragastric pH elevated into alkalinity, would apply to all other PPI drugs, though not necessarily to doses of PPIs low enough to keep the stomach slightly acidic.
[26] Aspirin may also inhibit the absorption of vitamin C.[27][28] Regulations in most countries limit the claims regarding treatment of disease that can be placed on food and dietary-supplement product labels.
For example, claims of therapeutic effect with respect to the treatment of any medical condition or disease are prohibited by the United States Food and Drug Administration even if the substance in question has gone through well-conducted clinical trials with positive outcomes.
[2][31] Preliminary clinical trials in humans have shown that it is unlikely to be a "miracle pill" for cancer and more research is necessary before any definitive conclusions about efficacy can be reached.
[44] Endothelial function refers to how well the endothelium (the thin layer of cells lining the inside of blood vessels) works.
[50][51] Systematic reviews and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials of intravenous administration of high doses of vitamin C (such as 12 g, every 12 hours for 7 days) in mild, moderate, severe, and critically ill COVID-19 patients concluded that vitamin C administration did not influence disease severity or mortality in comparison with a control group who took placebo.
[81][74][76] Pauling's views were challenged by many mainstream medical experts, who argued that there was no convincing evidence to support his claims and that his methodology was flawed and biased.
[85][86] Rath proposed that vitamin C and other micronutrients could prevent and cure cardiovascular diseases, AIDS, and cancer, by strengthening the immune system and inhibiting the spread of infections and tumors.
[88] Rath has been criticized by the medical community and the media for making unsubstantiated and misleading claims, for exploiting the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, and for opposing the use of antiretroviral drugs.
[89] Relative deficiency hypothesis is based on assumption that humans and other species, that cannot synthesize their own vitamin C, carry a mutated and ineffective form of the enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase, the fourth and last step in the ascorbate-producing machinery.
In the 1960s, Linus Pauling, after contact with Irwin Stone,[91] began actively promoting vitamin C as a means to greatly improve human health and resistance to disease.
The Pauling's book How to Live Longer and Feel Better,[92] first published in 1986,[93] was a bestseller and advocated taking more than 10 grams per day orally, thus approaching the amounts released by the liver directly into the circulation in other mammals: an adult goat, a typical example of a vitamin C–producing animal, will manufacture more than 13000 mg of vitamin C per day in normal health and much more when stressed.
[citation needed] Matthias Rath, a German physician, who worked with and published two articles discussing the possible relationship between lipoprotein and vitamin C with Pauling.
[98] For example, the actor Steve McQueen, who was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma in 1979, sought treatment from William Donald Kelley, a dentist and alternative medicine practitioner, who prescribed him a regimen of vitamin C injections, coffee enemas, and dietary supplements.
The media has often portrayed vitamin C megadosage as a controversial, but potentially effective and harmless, alternative to conventional medicine, especially for the treatment of the common cold and cancer.
The media has also reported on the personal stories and opinions of the advocates and critics of vitamin C megadosage, as well as the legal and ethical issues involved in the practice.
