Vitamin C: An Antidote for COVID-19

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Source:  Orthomolecular Medicine News Service

Rationale for Vitamin C Treatment of COVID-19 and Other Viruses

Prevention of  Viral Infections

To prevent infection by viruses and bacteria, vitamin C (capsules of ascorbic acid, or crystals of ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate) dissolved in water or juice has been taken at low and high oral doses (200 mg/d to 10,000 mg/d). The upper limit for an oral dose is defined by the “bowel tolerance” above which the dose is not absorbed in the gut and causes a laxative effect. This dose is set by the body’s need to absorb vitamin C from the gut into the bloodstream. Since the level of vitamin C in the body varies according to the level of oxidative stress, the amount of vitamin C absorbed by the gut also varies. [27-30]

Typically many individuals can tolerate 1000-3000 mg/day in divided oral doses, which can then maintain a relatively constant level of vitamin C in the bloodstream. Some organs (e.g. liver, brain, eyes, etc) actively transport vitamin C to maintain a higher level than provided by the blood. This state of a relatively high maintained level of vitamin C throughout the body is thought to lower the risk of viral infection by assisting the immune system in detecting and destroying foreign microbes such as viruses that attack the nasopharynx and lungs. In addition, oral doses of vitamin C can directly denature viruses. [29]

Conclusion

Supplemental vitamin C, both oral and IV is an excellent and relatively simple and inexpensive treatment for both uninfected individuals at home, and critically-ill individuals in the hospital. It has been proven to be effective in treating many different viral infections, including SARS pneumonia. With early and high dosing at regular intervals, vitamin C can effectively fight against sepsis, hyper-inflammation, and high virus titer to allow ICU patients to recover quickly.

References

1. The 10 deadliest epidemics throughout history. Health24. https://www.health24.com/medical/infectious-diseases/news/the-10-deadliest-epidemics-throughout-history-20170928.

2. The Most Dangerous Epidemics in U.S. History. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/worst-disease-outbreaks-history.

3. List of Epidemics. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics.

4. Fauci NEJM article about COVID-19: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387.

5. Fauci (2020) Dr. Fauci: You don’t make the timeline, the virus does. (Endorses use of vit C, D) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkyO1DTqoWQ&feature=youtu.be.

Vitamin C and COVID-19

6. Gage J (2020) New York hospitals giving patients 16 times the daily recommended dose of vitamin C to fight coronavirus. Washington Examiner, March 24, 2020 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/new-york-hospitals-giving-patients-16-times-the-daily-recommended-dose-of-vitamin-c-to-fight-coronavirus.

7. Frieden T (2020) Former CDC Chief Dr. Tom Frieden: Coronavirus infection risk may be reduced by Vitamin D. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/former-cdc-chief-tom-frieden-coronavirus-risk-may-be-reduced-with-vitamin-d.

8. Cheng R. (2020) Can early and large dose vitamin C be used in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19? Medicine Drug Discov. In Press, Journal Pre-proof. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590098620300154.

9. Mongelli L, Golding B (2020) New York hospitals treating coronavirus patients with vitamin C. NY Post March 24, 2020 https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/new-york-hospitals-treating-coronavirus-patients-with-vitamin-c.

10. Cheng R (2020) NY Hospitals’ use of Vit C is applaudable, but the dosage is too small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBbbncTR-3k.

11. Cheng R (2020) Shanghai Expert Consensus on COVID-19 Treatment, March 21, 2020. Shanghai Expert Group on Clinical Treatment of New Coronavirus Disease. Chinese Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2020, 38: Pre-published online. DOI: 10.3760 / cma.j.issn.1000-6680.2020.0016 http://www.drwlc.com/blog/2020/03/21/shanghai-expert-consensus-on-covid-19-treatment.

12. Cheng R (2020) Hospital treatment of serious and critical COVID-19 infection with high-dose Vitamin C. Posted on March 18, 2020 by Dr. Cheng. http://www.drwlc.com/blog/2020/03/18/hospital-treatment-of-serious-and-critical-covid-19-infection-with-high-dose-vitamin-c.

13. Lichtenstein K (2020) Can Vitamin C Prevent and Treat Coronavirus? MedicineNet on 03/09/2020. https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=228745.

14. Hemilä H, Chalker E (2020) Vitamin C may reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients: a meta-regression analysis. J Intensive Care 8:15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32047636.

15. Kashiouris MG, L’Heureux M, Cable CA, Fisher BJ, Leichtle SW, Fowler AA. (2020) The Emerging Role of Vitamin C as a Treatment for Sepsis. Nutrients. 12(2). pii: E292. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31978969.

16. ZhiYong Peng, Zhongnan Hospital (2020) Vitamin C Infusion for the Treatment of Severe 2019-nCoV Infected Pneumonia. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04264533.

17. Li J. (2018) Evidence is stronger than you think: a meta-analysis of vitamin C use in patients with sepsis. Crit Care. 22:258. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30305111.

18. Hemilä H, Louhiala P (2007) Vitamin C may affect lung infections. J Roy Soc Med. 100:495-498. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2099400.

19. Cheng R (2020) Successful High-Dose Vitamin C Treatment of Patients with Serious and Critical COVID-19 Infection Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n18.shtml.

20. Erol A. (2020) High-dose Intravenous Vitamin C Treatment for COVID-19. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n19.shtml.

21. Player G, Saul AW, Downing D, Schuitemaker G. (2020) Published Research and Articles on Vitamin C as a Consideration for Pneumonia, Lung Infections, and the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n20.shtml.

Vitamin C, on dosage

22. Gropper SS, Smith JL (2013) Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, 6th Ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN-13 9781133104056.

23. Cameron E, Pauling L. (1976) Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: Prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 73(10):3685-3689. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1068480.

24. Cameron E, Pauling L. (1978) Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: reevaluation of prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 75:4538-4542. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/279931.

25. Carr AC, Cook J. (2018) Intravenous Vitamin C for Cancer Therapy – Identifying the Current Gaps in Our Knowledge. Front. Physiol. 9:1182. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30190680.

26. Ried K, Travica N, Sali A (2016) The acute effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C and other nutrients on blood pressure: a cohort study. Blood Press Monit. 21:160-167. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26910646.

27. Hickey S, Roberts HJ, Cathcart RF, (2005) Dynamic Flow: A New Model for Ascorbate. J Orthomol Med. 20:237-244. http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2005/pdf/2005-v20n04-p237.pdf.

28. Cathcart RF (1981) The Method of Determining Proper Doses ofVitamin C for the Treatment of Disease byTitrating to Bowel Tolerance J Orthomol Psychiat, 10:125-132. http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1981/pdf/1981-v10n02-p125.pdf

29. Levy TE (2011) Primal Panacea. Medfox Pub. ISBN-13: 978-0983772804.

30. Berger MM. (2009) Vitamin C Requirements in Parenteral Nutrition. Gastroenterology 137:S70-78. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19874953.

31. Jalalzadeh M, Shekari E, Mirzamohammadi F, Ghadiani MH. (2012) Effect of short-term intravenous ascorbic acid on reducing ferritin in hemodialysis patients Indian J Nephrol. 22:168-173. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23087549.

References

1. The 10 deadliest epidemics throughout history. Health24. https://www.health24.com/medical/infectious-diseases/news/the-10-deadliest-epidemics-throughout-history-20170928.

2. The Most Dangerous Epidemics in U.S. History. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/worst-disease-outbreaks-history.

3. List of Epidemics. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics.

4. Fauci NEJM article about COVID-19: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387.

5. Fauci (2020) Dr. Fauci: You don’t make the timeline, the virus does. (Endorses use of vit C, D) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkyO1DTqoWQ&feature=youtu.be.

Vitamin C and COVID-19

6. Gage J (2020) New York hospitals giving patients 16 times the daily recommended dose of vitamin C to fight coronavirus. Washington Examiner, March 24, 2020 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/new-york-hospitals-giving-patients-16-times-the-daily-recommended-dose-of-vitamin-c-to-fight-coronavirus.

7. Frieden T (2020) Former CDC Chief Dr. Tom Frieden: Coronavirus infection risk may be reduced by Vitamin D. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/former-cdc-chief-tom-frieden-coronavirus-risk-may-be-reduced-with-vitamin-d.

8. Cheng R. (2020) Can early and large dose vitamin C be used in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19? Medicine Drug Discov. In Press, Journal Pre-proof. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590098620300154.

9. Mongelli L, Golding B (2020) New York hospitals treating coronavirus patients with vitamin C. NY Post March 24, 2020 https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/new-york-hospitals-treating-coronavirus-patients-with-vitamin-c.

10. Cheng R (2020) NY Hospitals’ use of Vit C is applaudable, but the dosage is too small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBbbncTR-3k.

11. Cheng R (2020) Shanghai Expert Consensus on COVID-19 Treatment, March 21, 2020. Shanghai Expert Group on Clinical Treatment of New Coronavirus Disease. Chinese Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2020, 38: Pre-published online. DOI: 10.3760 / cma.j.issn.1000-6680.2020.0016 http://www.drwlc.com/blog/2020/03/21/shanghai-expert-consensus-on-covid-19-treatment.

12. Cheng R (2020) Hospital treatment of serious and critical COVID-19 infection with high-dose Vitamin C. Posted on March 18, 2020 by Dr. Cheng. http://www.drwlc.com/blog/2020/03/18/hospital-treatment-of-serious-and-critical-covid-19-infection-with-high-dose-vitamin-c.

13. Lichtenstein K (2020) Can Vitamin C Prevent and Treat Coronavirus? MedicineNet on 03/09/2020. https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=228745.

14. Hemilä H, Chalker E (2020) Vitamin C may reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients: a meta-regression analysis. J Intensive Care 8:15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32047636.

15. Kashiouris MG, L’Heureux M, Cable CA, Fisher BJ, Leichtle SW, Fowler AA. (2020) The Emerging Role of Vitamin C as a Treatment for Sepsis. Nutrients. 12(2). pii: E292. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31978969.

16. ZhiYong Peng, Zhongnan Hospital (2020) Vitamin C Infusion for the Treatment of Severe 2019-nCoV Infected Pneumonia. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04264533.

17. Li J. (2018) Evidence is stronger than you think: a meta-analysis of vitamin C use in patients with sepsis. Crit Care. 22:258. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30305111.

18. Hemilä H, Louhiala P (2007) Vitamin C may affect lung infections. J Roy Soc Med. 100:495-498. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2099400.

19. Cheng R (2020) Successful High-Dose Vitamin C Treatment of Patients with Serious and Critical COVID-19 Infection Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n18.shtml.

20. Erol A. (2020) High-dose Intravenous Vitamin C Treatment for COVID-19. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n19.shtml.

21. Player G, Saul AW, Downing D, Schuitemaker G. (2020) Published Research and Articles on Vitamin C as a Consideration for Pneumonia, Lung Infections, and the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n20.shtml.

Vitamin C, on dosage

22. Gropper SS, Smith JL (2013) Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, 6th Ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN-13 9781133104056.

23. Cameron E, Pauling L. (1976) Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: Prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 73(10):3685-3689. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1068480.

24. Cameron E, Pauling L. (1978) Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: reevaluation of prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 75:4538-4542. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/279931.

25. Carr AC, Cook J. (2018) Intravenous Vitamin C for Cancer Therapy – Identifying the Current Gaps in Our Knowledge. Front. Physiol. 9:1182. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30190680.

26. Ried K, Travica N, Sali A (2016) The acute effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C and other nutrients on blood pressure: a cohort study. Blood Press Monit. 21:160-167. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26910646.

27. Hickey S, Roberts HJ, Cathcart RF, (2005) Dynamic Flow: A New Model for Ascorbate. J Orthomol Med. 20:237-244. http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2005/pdf/2005-v20n04-p237.pdf.

28. Cathcart RF (1981) The Method of Determining Proper Doses ofVitamin C for the Treatment of Disease byTitrating to Bowel Tolerance J Orthomol Psychiat, 10:125-132. http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1981/pdf/1981-v10n02-p125.pdf

29. Levy TE (2011) Primal Panacea. Medfox Pub. ISBN-13: 978-0983772804.

30. Berger MM. (2009) Vitamin C Requirements in Parenteral Nutrition. Gastroenterology 137:S70-78. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19874953.