Flu,Viruses & Vitamin C

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, November 17, 2009

Flu, Viruses, and Vitamin C Megadoses: A Personal Statement

By Robert G. Smith, PhD

(OMNS, November 17, 2009) Like most Americans, throughout most of my life

I have occasionally been down with a virus. But for a long time, a simple

cold for me started as a headache, sore throat and congestion in my nasal

passages, and typically progressed to prolonged infection in my lungs, and a

terrible cough. The whole experience took up to two weeks for recovery from

the virus, and several more weeks for my lungs to recover.

In his book Vitamin C and the Common Cold (1), Linus Pauling explained

that vitamin C, taken at the proper dose, can prevent a virus from taking hold

in the body. This pioneering book, written back in 1970, was ignored by

many doctors but was well-received by the public. One chemistry professor

told me that he had heard of Pauling's book and the vitamin C therapy but

didn't think taking a big dose of an acid, even a mild one like ascorbic acid,

would be good for the body. As for me, I imagined Pauling was probably

correct about the details he had researched, because he was a renowned

scientist and knew much more than most about biochemistry. Perhaps, I thought,

he

had simply gotten some of the medical details wrong or had missed some of

the important studies about the effects of vitamins. But I started taking

1,000 mg of vitamin C every day and kept this up for several decades.

Two years ago, I decided to look further for myself. I looked online and

found a recent book by Hickey and Roberts (2) that summarized 60 years of

vitamin C research and revisited the issue of Dr. Pauling's rejection by the

medical establishment. Pauling and a few brave physicians had continued

research into the use of vitamin C to prevent illness and had gained a lot of

new knowledge and intuition about its use. The book explained that all of

the studies showing little effect of vitamin C had serious flaws. It also

carefully debunked the myths about hazards of vitamin C use. I also read

Pauling's newer book on vitamin therapy, How to Live Longer and Feel Better

(3), and was amazed at his clear explanation of individual differences in the

need for essential nutrients. Pauling had been right all along, and now

there was a lot of new knowledge about how to use vitamin C for best benefit.

Next, I found a book by Thomas Levy on the use of vitamin C to cure

infectious disease. (4) All of these books contained numerous references to the

scientific literature.

So I started taking 2,000-3,000 milligrams of vitamin C every few hours,

and more when I went to bed at night. This caused no discomfort and only

occasionally produced a minor laxative effect from vitamin C that was

unabsorbed. Then, if I ever got an infection, I followed Dr. Robert Cathcart's

instructions about going to " bowel tolerance " of vitamin C. (5) Usually when I

get a cold or the flu there is an initial period of several hours when I

feel tired, with a slight headache, sometimes with a slight sore throat or

sniffle. As the books described, I could stop the symptoms of the oncoming

infection within an hour or two by taking a higher dose of vitamin C at

shorter intervals (3,000-5,000 milligrams every 20 minutes). Did it work? Well,

that first year I didn't get any colds or flu, though in previous years I

usually had 2-3 colds.

Continuing to read about vitamin C and its effects, I read the new Hickey

and Saul (6) book. The authors presented a very clear rationale for

ingesting vitamin C at a high level to bowel tolerance. Normally, the body does

not take up vitamin C from the gut very efficiently at high doses. However,

when the body is stressed with bacteria, viruses, or toxins, the need for

vitamin C goes up tremendously, and the gut absorbs proportionately more.

Now, after two years of taking high doses of vitamin C whenever I feel

symptoms of a cold or flu, I haven't had any colds or flu. I have found,

exactly as Hickey and Saul report, that it is possible to feel the symptoms wax

and wane in one's body in inverse proportion to the dose that one takes

throughout the day. This is a helpful scientific observation that anyone can

verify whenever one treats a cold or influenza with vitamin C. Although in

previous years I typically got a secondary bacterial infection in my lungs,

requiring antibiotics and another two weeks for recovery beyond the

duration of the cold, now with my vitamin C therapy I simply don't get a cough

at

all, much less a prolonged bacterial infection. From this experience, it is

obvious to me that vitamin C helps to strengthen the immune response.

It is also now obvious to me that all the years I had been taking 1,000

mg/day and continued to get two or three colds, the amount was simply not

enough. I ride my bicycle in to work throughout the year, even when it is

freezing cold in the winter, and this puts a severe stress on my lungs. The

books I've read explain that any severe stress, for example, a low-grade

bacterial infection, or an injury, increases the body's need for an

anti-oxidant, and lowers the level of vitamin C in the blood. Although 1,000

milligrams

of vitamin C per day does some good, it simply is not enough to suffice

for the body's needs when an infection comes on.

Most animal species make in the neighborhood of 5,000-10,000 mg/day of

vitamin C in their own bodies; this is the norm for all mammals except

primates, some fruit eating bats, and guinea pigs. And it is known that during

times of stress or illness, the majority of animal species dramatically

increase their need and production of vitamin C. We humans can respond to this

increased need by taking mega-doses of vitamin C when we start to feel a

virus taking hold. When we do so, our bodies will be able to fight it off more

readily.

Every year there are a few reports ostensibly showing some problem with

mega-doses of vitamin C. But after close scrutiny none have held true, and

the Hickey and Saul book explains why very clearly. Every individual

2,000-3,000 milligram dose I take allows my body, according to Hickey's dynamic

flow model, to eliminate any excess after the vitamin performs its function.

No heartburn, sometimes a little gas, very little laxative effect, and this

is reduced by lower doses. For me, this is a small price to pay for not

having several prolonged three- to four-week periods per year during which I'm

essentially out of operation with congestion and a terrible cough. If

everyone could read the Pauling, Levy and Hickey and Saul books, I imagine we'd

have a lot less illness in our country. Does this mean that we could stop

the current flu epidemic with vitamin C? I suspect that if clinics around

the country could make the facts known about vitamin C and give some simple

instructions about its use, then yes, this could be accomplished. That is,

if we take large enough doses.

(Dr. Robert G. Smith is Research Associate Professor, Department of

Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania. His research interest is the function

of retinal circuitry. He is a member of the Institute for Neurological

Sciences and the author of several dozen scientific papers and reviews.)

References:

(1) Pauling L. Vitamin C and the Common Cold. W.H. Freeman and Company,

San Francisco, 1970. Also: Vitamin C, the Common Cold, and the Flu.

W.H.Freeman, San Francisco, 1976.

(2) Hickey S and Roberts H. Ascorbate: The science of vitamin C. 2004.

ISBN 1-4116-0724-4. Morrisville, NC: Lulu. An author interview is posted at

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/hickey.html_

(http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=32 & e=MTc1Njc= & l=-http--ww\

w.doctoryourself.com/hickey.htm

l)

(3) Pauling L. How to Live Longer and Feel Better. Corvallis, OR: Oregon

State University Press, 2006. Originally published 1986. Reviewed in J

Orthomolecular Med and posted at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/livelonger.html_

(http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=3

2 & e=MTc1Njc= & l=-http--www.doctoryourself.com/livelonger.html)

(4) Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins, by

Thomas E. Levy (paperback, 2002) ISBN-13: 9781401069636. Reviewed in J

Orthomolecular Med and posted at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/levy.html_

(http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=32 & e=MTc1Njc= & l=-http--ww\

w.d

octoryourself.com/levy.html)

(5) Robert F. Cathcart, MD: Why a sick body need so much vitamin C:

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/cathcart_thirdface.html_

(http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=32 & e=MTc1Njc= & l=-http--ww\

w.doctoryourself.com/cat

hcart_thirdface.html)

Robert F. Cathcart, MD: How to determine a therapeutic dose of vitamin C:

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html_

(http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=32 & e=MTc1Njc= & l=-http--ww\

w.doctoryourself.com/titra

tion.html)

(6) Hickey S, Saul AW. Vitamin C: The Real Story. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic

Health Publications, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-59120-223-3. Reviewed at

_http://www.townsendletter.com/June2009/bc_vitc0609.htm_

(http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=32 & e=MTc1Njc= & l=-http--ww\

w.townsendletter.com/June200

9/bc_vitc0609.htm)

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight

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Editorial Review Board:

Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.

Damien Downing, M.D.

Michael Gonzalez, D.Sc., Ph.D.

Steve Hickey, Ph.D.

James A. Jackson, PhD

Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D

Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D.

Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D.

Erik Paterson, M.D.

Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D.

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D., Editor and contact person. Email:

_omns_ (omns)

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