the clinical use of vitamin C

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lots of good info here, I am going to cut and paste it in.

http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/198x/smith-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm

[Large Sarge]

Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C
The Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D.,
abbreviated, sumarized and annotated by
Lendon H. Smith, M.D.
2233 SW Market Street, Portland, Oregon 97201

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Preface
After Frederick Klenner died in 1984, his friend (and mine), Arthur Rybeck, a nutritionally-oriented dentist practicing in Wheeling, West Virginia, asked if I would be interested in going over the 27 papers Klenner had written from the early 1940’s to the early 1970’s. The whole idea would be to let the world know how thoughtful and careful a researcher he was, and to encourage others to continue his work. If a compendium of Vitamin C (and other nutritional) therapy could be compiled from the published work of Dr. Klenner, maybe we could get more traditional medicine-oriented doctors to use his methods for the relief of sickness and suffering.

Standard doctors tend to believe studies and reports if published, but tend to disbelieve hearsay stories about treatments that patients have read in a “health” newsletter.

I have used Dr. Klenner’s methods on hundreds of patients. He is right. It helps almost every condition and situation, and my failures were due to inadequate amounts.

The timing of such a paper might be most appropriate. Doctors are suffering from low public esteem because they are perceived to be money-grubbing and mistake-laden. This would be a scientifically documented - from the medical literature - therapy for a variety of conditions: cardiovascular, allergies, infections, malabsorption, (see index), and even AIDS, for which prescription drugs may be hazardous. Now the doctors can say, “We have a safe, reasonably natural way of treating your condition that is fairly cheap. We might just keep you out of the hospital.”

That last part might make the insurance carriers perk up their ears. The patients might dash back to the doctors’ offices because the word is getting out that doctors are helping people without side effects. Notice also, the dates on these articles and references - these things were known decades ago.

Take this booklet to your M.D. and suggest that he read about these documented studies. Take Dr. E. Cheraskin’s “Vitamin C Connection” along for further documentation. If your doctor doesn’t know, how can he help you?


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Foreword
by Linus Pauling, Ph.D.
The early papers by Dr. Fred R. Klenner provide much information about the use of large doses of Vitamin C in preventing and treating many diseases. These papers are still important. Dr. Lendon Smith has done a valuable service in making the work of Dr. Klenner available to the public.


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Introduction
I have before me the published words of Frederick Robert Klenner, B.S., M.S., M.D., F.C.C.P., F.A.A.F.P. He graduated from Duke University, School of Medicine back in 1936. After three years of hospital training he entered the private practice of medicine in Reidsville, North Carolina. His main subspecialty was diseases of the chest, but he became interested in the use of massive doses of Vitamin C in the treatment of virus diseases and other illnesses as well. He inspired Linus Pauling and Irwin Stone to expand the research on the great benefits of Vitamin C. Dr. Klenner died in 1984.

What follows is a review, and abbreviation, a summary and a critique of the 27 scientific papers he wrote. In the light of the recent developments and research in the use of Vitamin C, it is essential that the roots of its usage be reviewed. Briefly, Vitamin C does attenuate most virus infections by aiding the production of interferon, controls many cancers, relieves some depression, modifies much pain and changes the course of many diseases, like multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spider bites, the bites of poisonous insects and reptiles. The watchword is, “If in doubt, give Vitamin C.”


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Dedication
If Dr. Klenner had lived he would have wanted this book to be dedicated to the following:

Anne Klenner for her patience and understanding.
Fritz for the lively discussions in chemistry.
Mary Anne and Gertrude for being ‘guinea pigs’.


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General Remarks
He believed in the healing power of nature, but believed that natural remedies could enhance that power and were safer and usual1y more effective than drugs. Hippocrates said, “Of several remedies the physician should choose the least sensational”. Vitamin C fills that criterion.

In 1948, he published his first paper on the use of large doses of Vitamin C in the treatment of virus diseases. In 1960, he realized, “Every head cold must be considered as a probable source of brain pathology.” Hold on to this thought; it is significant for the understanding of diseases like multiple sclerosis. He also felt—as do Archie Kalikarinos and Glen Dettman of Australia—that the dreaded Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was basically a Vitamin C deficiency. His maxim: the patient should “get large doses of Vitamin C in all pathological conditions while the physician ponders the diagnosis.”

We have misled ourselves with the mistaken notion that all C was supposed to do was keep us from scurvy. If, however, we base our needs on the amounts other mammals manufacture with their intact enzyme it comes to 2-4 grams daily in the unstressed condition. Under stress 70 kg of rats make 15 grams of C. [Burns; Salomon; Conney]

We are willing to accept the premise that some of us are born with genetic defects that lead to problems that can be somewhat controlled with diet and supplements (i.e. phenylketonuria, galactosemia, and alkaptonuria and pernicious anemia). Can’t we accept the fact that we all have a genetic deficiency of the enzyme, l-gulonolactone oxidase and have to take Vitamin C for health, even for life? [Burns, 1959]

Irwin Stone calls this human genetic lack, this inability, hypoascorbemia. The point that Dr. Klenner is making: “The physiological requirements in man are no different from other mammals capable of carrying out this syntheses.” If one is anemic due to poor iron intake, is it cheating to swallow iron tablets for a while? If you are hypoascorbemic because you cannot manufacture Vitamin C from sugar, extra glucose in your diet will not help, you need to take Vitamin C.

He reports that one of the Pilgrim Fathers wrote to a friend in England in 1621: “Bring juice of lemon, and take it fasting. It is of good use.”

Folklore has revealed to us what natural remedies have been helpful and even curative. We have been lured into the trap of modern medicine which prescribed a drug for every condition. But consider acerola: Puerto Rican legend has it that if the tree bearing this fruit is in one’s backyard, colds will not enter the front door. This fruit bears 30 times the amount of C than oranges. Dr. Klenner credits Boneset with the health of the Klenner family during the great influenza pandemic of 1918. This plant was made into a tea, bitter but curative. He assayed the tea for Vitamin C; they were getting 10-30 grams at a time!

The small amount of Vitamin C, recommended by the RDA (75 mg then and 60 mg now) is enough to protect the person from gross disease, but not the amount to maintain good health. Dr. Klenner quotes Kline and Eheart, who in 1944 realized there are wide variations in the need for Vitamin C, in otherwise “normal” individuals. In 1945 Jolliffe suggested that the optimum requirements might be more than 10 times the small doses recommended.

Scurvy develops slowly. Crandon (in 1940) found that the Vitamin C level of the blood plasma fell to zero for 90 days before there was obvious clinical evidence and that this was as long as 132 days before the first signs appeared.


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How it Works
How does it work: as an oxidizing agent massive amounts, i.e., 5-150 grams, intravenously, for certain pathological conditions, if allowed to run in rapidly (20 gauge needle), acts as a “Flash Oxidizer” and may correct the condition in minutes. It can be a reducing agent. It neutralized toxins, viruses and histamine. The more serious the condition, the more C is required.

It appears that Vitamin C acts as a reducing agent, an oxidizing agent, an anti-clotting agent, an antihistamine, and as an anti-infective agent.

He summarized the function of C in poliomyelitis:

Virus destruction.
Dehydrates the brain and the spinal cord safely.
Supports and normalized the stressed adrenal glands.
It preserves the lining of the central canal and maintains more regular spacing and less crowding of ependymal cells (surface cells of the spinal cord).
Ascorbic acid enters all cells. It “proceeds to take up the protein coats being manufactured by the virus nucleic acid, thus preventing the assembly of new virus units.” Cells expand, rupture and die, but there is no virus particles available to enter and infect new cells. If a virus has invaded a cell, the Vitamin C contributes to its breakdown to adenosine deaminase, which converts adenosine to inosine. Purines are formed which are catabolized (broken down) and cannot be used to make more virus nucleic acid.

Viral nucleic acid has a protein coat which protects this parasite as it rides the blood or lymph highway to gain specific cell entry. [Larson] it is possible that if the ascorbic acid can remove that protective protein coat in the blood stream or in the cells, the white cell phagocytes and immune globulin could then neutralize these vulnerable virus particles.

I like this from Dr. Klenner: “Ascorbic acid also joins with the available virus protein, making a new macromolecule which acts as the repressor factor.” (interferon?) Multiplication of new virus bodies is inhibited.

He summarizes the study of Lojkin, (1937), who discovered the inactivation of one virus was due to a specific intermediate product formed in the course of the oxidation of C but needed the stimulation of copper ions. It is a peroxide and is decomposed as rapidly as it is formed. This study indicates why Vitamin C works better in the body and not the test tube. Every function of the body requires enzymes, some vitamins and some minerals to act as coenzymes. If enough Vitamin C is supplied, the enzyme system that breaks down invading viruses and bacteria, will be able to do its job properly. Quote: “Unless the white blood cells are saturated with ascorbic acid, they are like soldiers without bullets.”

Vitamin C in vitro at body temperature inactivates certain toxins at an unbelievable rate. Back in 1938 some researchers [Klegler] placed Vitamin C in test tubes with toxins. After incubation for 48 hours the toxins were not lethal to mice when injected. The more toxin in the tube, the faster the C disappears. “The rate of disappearance of the C in toxin and ordinary broth was more striking the greater the concentration of Vitamin C.” Dr. Klenner concluded: “The degree of neutralization in a virus infection will be in proportion to the concentration of the vitamin and the length of time which it is employed.”

This has been Dr. Klenner’s main complaint: failure to benefit from Vitamin C use is usually due to inadequate amounts being used for too short a period of time.

Vitamin C combines directly with the toxin/virus. This new compound is oxidized by Vitamin C; the toxin/virus and the Vitamin C are destroyed. This must be why C has to be continued after the apparent cure.

It acts as a respiratory catalyst, aiding cellular respiration by acting as a hydrogen transport. The liver has a better chance of detoxifying the blood stream of poisons, toxins, viruses and bacteria if the plasma is saturated with Vitamin C. Fever, toxins and bacteria reduce the level of C. Therefore, Dr. Klenner theorizes, if a high level of C is maintained, all tissues return to normal despite the fever and the bacteria; and because of its action “as a respiratory catalyst, it enables the body to build up adequate resistance to the invader.”

The anaerobic condition in the tissue is relieved. Acidity is decreased and large amounts of Adrenaline disappear. The constriction of the blood vessels ceases and the liver and pancreas can receive the proper nutrients to function. Properly calculated doses of C on a continuing basis will restore the normal physiology of the body.

The adrenals and Vitamin C are interrelated. During an infection Vitamin C is absent from the urine and is decreased or absent in blood, even when moderate amounts are being given intravenously. Vitamin C in the adrenal glands was greatly reduced in animals succumbing to polio. (Dr. Klenner cites the literature of 1934-35 to document this.) Hans Selye knew how the adrenals would show damage with stress. He found that all patients ill with a virus would show petechial hemorrhages (small leaks of blood into the skin) when a tourniquet was applied to increase venous backpressure. Capillary weakness is a sign of low levels of Vitamin C. Sugar in the urine, associated with the petechiæ, disappeared when adequate serum levels of Vitamin C were obtained.

It is known the C regulates the intercellular substance of the capillary wall. The collagen of all fibrous tissue structures is dependent on an adequate level of Vitamin C. Increased capillary fragility is observed in individuals when the blood level of C drops to 1 mg per liter. These weak capillary walls may allow a simple virus to invade the brain (see “Insidious Virus”).

In addition, Vitamin C acts as catalyst in the assimilation of iron.

(Ascorbic acid is a necessary coenzyme in the metabolic oxidation of tyrosine. The latter is necessary to break down protein to a usable amino acid.)

Dr. Klenner states, “The importance of Vitamin C as an antibiotic and as the precursor of antibody formation lack scientific appreciation because of its simplicity.” The reluctance of the medical profession to employ it in massive doses like antibiotics has allowed the appearance of allergies as a major problem.

Vitamin C is known to be essential for life. He quotes the studies that show that when Vitamin C is given intravenously to patients with a deficiency, fibroblasts begin to form connective tissue and capillary buds invade blood clots within just a few hours. In a similar time frame when used as an antibiotic, fever falls and the white count climbs.

Dr. Klenner points out that the standard treatment of colds was based on the alkalinizing effect of forcing juices down the patient’s throat. Highly alkaline urine has less Vitamin C. The Vitamin C would be thus retained in the tissues helping to guard against the viruses and bacteria. When Vitamin C levels drop, glycogen in the liver is converted to glucose: a response to stress.

Dr. Klenner is convinced that C will work in any problem but the negative results reported are only because an insufficient amount was used. A tragic error in judgment has been made by the National Academy of Science and the National Research Council: the minimum daily requirement for C. All of us need more; some need a lot more.

Factors that determine need:

age
habits, alcohol, drugs, tobacco
sleep, especially if drugged
trauma of infection, of physical injury, of work, of emotions, of surgery
Kidney threshold
environment
physiological stress
climate changes
loss of C in stools
absorption
binders in tablets
individual difference in body chemistry
drugs, pesticides, carbon monoxide exposure
weight
poor storage.
Klenner quotes the Food and Life Year Book, 1939, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (surely as conservative and orthodox a group as one could ever find): “Even when there is not a single outward symptom of trouble, a person may be in a state of Vitamin C deficiency more dangerous than scurvy itself. When such a condition is not detected, and continues uncorrected, the teeth and bones will be damaged, and what may be even more serious, the blood stream is weakened to the point where it can no longer resist or fight infections not so easily cured as scurvy. Five grains of aspirin will not relieve kidney colic; don’t expect control of a virus with 100 to 400 mg of C.”

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Dosage
The amount of C depends upon the severity of the disease but also upon the efficiency of the victim’s immune system. The usual dose of 65 mg per kilogram of body weight may be expected to take care of the usual virus infection when given every 2-4 hours by needle. The more severe condition would respond to larger single injections.

However “if the activity of the pathogen is completely stopped, the development of active immunity will be interrupted.” Therefore, modification of childhood diseases is the aim of Vitamin C treatment, not the complete overnight suppression that would prevent the body from making immune memory. To accomplish modification, 250 mg per kilogram should be given intramuscularly. If necessary, half of this amount would be given in eight hours. Procaine 1.5-2% can be given with a separate syringe with the same needle just prior to the C.

The itch, the irritability, the pain, the vomiting of chicken pox measles and mumps was assuaged in one hour with this last dose. Crusting of chicken pox was present in 5 hours instead of 7-9 days. 250 mg per kilogram eliminated the disease in contrast to the 65 mg which just suppressed it. 350 mg per kilogram may be employed along with antibiotics in treating stubborn bacterial infections. Because a virus infection will deplete the Vitamin C reserve, bleeding from the nose or chest would indicate an emergency situation; Vitamin C, using the above noted dosage schedule, should be pumped in immediately.

He cites experimental work by others indicating that in monkeys smaller doses of C could stop the disease from appearing during the incubation period compared to the relatively large doses needed to suppress the disease once the disease was diagnosed. It all suggests that most of us will not get any serious virus disease if we would all take sufficient Vitamin C daily. We need, however, to get a little sick so we will develop some immunity, but if we get very sick a lot there is something missing, usually Vitamin C. He is suggesting that the more serious the disease, the more Vitamin C should be used to treat it. (We titrate the sickness, as Dr. Cathcart says: “Well, you’ve got a 200 gram flu or a 50 gram cold.)

In Dr. Klenner’s review of his over 3000 cases about 15% required more Vitamin C than the average. This ties in with the idea that we are all different. It also explains why some dogs, who make their own Vitamin C would die of distemper. “I have cured many dogs suffering with distemper by giving several grams of ascorbic acid, by needle, every two hours.” 15% of 300 obstetrical cases required 15 grams of C daily to remain within normal limits. The other 85% needed only 10 grams per day. He felt some spillage into the urine indicated the body was saturated. “White blood cells are useless unless they are full of ascorbic acid.”

Dr. Klenner argues that the recommended daily allowances are only to prevent scurvy. “Acute scurvy and chronic hypovitaminosis are metabolically different conditions.” We all are much more vulnerable to stress, infections, and pollution.

A shortage is produced from a poor diet but also poor hygiene, overcrowding, dampness, cold and physical work (or play). There is a narrow margin between health and pathological changes.

For a very severe illness, the dose he used was large and the most effective route was intravenous, but the intramuscular route was satisfactory. He gave at least 350 mg per kilogram of body weight. (A 70 kg man is 150 pounds; thus 70 x 350= 24,500 mg. He would use a 25 gram dose for a 25 gram illness.) This amount was put in 500 cc of sterile water, usually with dextrose, saline or Ringer’s solution. It was diluted so that there was at least 18 cc of diluent to each gram of C. In small children, 2 or 3 grams can be given intramuscularly once every two hours. An ice cap to the buttocks will prevent soreness and induration. As much as 12 grams can be given in this manner into 2 or 3 different muscle sites with a 50 cc syringe; larger amounts must be diluted with dextrose or saline and run in by I.V. drip. If big concentrated doses are given by push (25 grams in a 100 cc syringe), the brain may become dehydrated causing convulsive movements of the legs. Intramuscular injections are always 500 mg to 1 cc solution. At least one gram of calcium gluconate must be added to the fluids each day. Massive doses of C pull calcium ions from platelets; and the clotting mechanism is weakened. Nosebleeds may occur. One gram of calcium gluconate is added to control acidity and to replace the calcium ion loss

Sodium ascorbate is less painful. Some of us will put procaine, 2%, with the Vitamin C when injected into the muscle. Vitamin C can also be taken orally once the patient is recovering.

This dose is repeated every hour for 6 to 12 times and then every 2-4 hours until recovery.

If using under 400 mg per kg body weight, it can be given with the sodium salt. Doses over 400 mg per kg of body weight must be diluted to at least one gram to 18 cc of solution.

He suggests the following for each bottle: 60 grams of C, 500 mg thiamin HCl, 300 mg pyridoxine, 400 mg calcium pantothenate, 100 mg riboflavin, 300 mg niacinamide. It is to be given once or twice daily.

He used a 23 gauge needle intravenously and a 22 gauge needle for intramuscular use—one inch long for children and one and a half inch for adults.

The idea of these big doses is to saturate the tissues; the white blood cells will be able to destroy pathogens. “I have seen diphtheria, hemolytic streptococcus infections clear within hours following an injection of ascorbic acid in a dose ranging from 500-700 mg per kilogram of body weight given intravenously as fast as the patient’s cardiovascular system will allow.”

He got to know the vulnerability of viruses so well, he played games with them. “When proper amounts are used it will destroy all virus organisms.” He could give one gram of ascorbic acid every four hours and modify the disease symptoms, but if he gave one gram every two hours by mouth for four days, he had stopped the disease, apparently by killing the virus. If he gave this dose for only two days, the symptoms returned. (He kept measles simmering in his own children for a month by giving this dose for two days, then off for two then on, etc.)

With 350 mg per kilogram of body weight every two hours, he could stop measles and dry up chicken pox. If he could get in the vein, 400 mg per kilogram two to three times in 24 hours was all that was required (he published this way back in 1951, in the Southern Medical Surgical Journal).

He used protamide and it seemed to shorten the course of the course of the disease (it is a colloidal solution of denatured proteolytic enzyme). It was especially valuable in herpes simplex and herpes zoster. Dr. Klenner felt that Vitamin C is related to this enzyme, as it possesses the same anti-neuritic properties. If used together, the results are more dramatic than either one used alone (the C was used as usual and the protamide was limited to one ampoule per day). Influenza and poliomyelitis also responded rapidly to this dual approach. He found calcium made a big difference as it duplicated the results of the C. He used 10 cc of calcium gluconate (one gram of calcium) along with the C daily. It can also be injected deep into the gluteus muscle.


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Tests for C
He noted a monitoring method: “In all virus infections the Benedict urine reaction for sugar will run from two to four plus. After Vitamin C, this reaction will clear in 18 to 36 hours.” We all know that Vitamin C is related to glucose and Vitamin C in the urine will show a reducing reaction, just as glucose does. If a healthy individual is given one or two grams of C by injection, the urine will show a positive Benedict sugar reaction for hours.” This paradox, Dr. Klenner explains, indicates that Vitamin C and the virus bodies do form a new compound, and not a reducing chemical, otherwise with all this Vitamin C injected, there would be an increase in the response to the Benedict test.

When the urine starts to show a positive test to Benedict’s test, it is a sign that the virus is under control and the person is close to normal again. The Benedict’s urine test is a guide to treatment with C.

More than 30 years ago, Dr. Klenner developed the silver nitrate urine test. When treating severe pathological conditions, the test done every four hours will reveal the level of Vitamin C saturation. If the urine test is positive for Vitamin C, it means the tissues are saturated and the patient is on the right dose. It is not a waste; some spillage indicates saturation.


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Insidious Virus
In June, 1957, he wrote in the Tri-State Medical Journal, on the ‘Insidious’ virus. He recalled a 19 month-old baby, who had a minor cold for two weeks. Then suddenly, instead of getting well, he developed a high fever and seizures of his right arm and leg. He was stiff, undernourished, cold to the touch and semi-comatose. Two grams of C were injected on admission to the hospital and another gram within the hour. Then it was one gram orally every four hours. Mustard plasters and croup tent were provided. A cup of orange juice was drunk from a bottle two hours after the first shot. The baby began to respond to pain. Temperature was still high, 103.8°. The arm and leg were completely paralyzed, but in eight hours, he began moving the right leg and could hold the juice bottle with both hands. Penicillin “was given on the second and third days to discourage secondary invaders”. He was home on the 5th day.

Dr. Klenner recalls six additional similar cases, all under four years of age. Four of the children were seen by a physician who noted no fever and was “not impressed with the illness of the child.” All of these children died within 30 minutes to two hours after that physician’s examination. No treatment was begun because there was no diagnosis. A virus infection was found at the autopsy. “An insidious virus involvement of the brain.”

He takes us through the examination and treatment of a near miss. An eighteen month-old girl had a cold for a week; then choked on supper. Her temperature was normal, but she was very restless and whining. On a hunch, Dr. Klenner sent her to the hospital. She was comatose on arrival, responding only to pain. Temperature still normal, but pulse was 152 and respirations 32 per minute. He felt she had the “Insidious Virus” and started Vitamin C. Two and one half grams initially intramuscularly; in 30 minutes she got another two grams. Then every two hours for five doses and then every four hours. After 36 hours, it was injected every six hours. (30 grams altogether). Croup tent and penicillin were used.

Shortly after admission, some water by mouth was tried and she immediately choked, and the water came out of her nose—like bulbar polio. The normal temperature at admission slowly rose to 102.4°. Six hours after admission, she was able to swallow. By the 11th hour the temperature was normal and she was alert and swallowing. In 24 hours from the first dose of C she was drinking freely from a bottle. She went home on the fifth day.

Dr. Klenner feels if she had been put to bed after supper that night, she would have died in her sleep, like a case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He calls it brain pathology caused by an insidious virus.

Dr. Klenner was reminded of the case of a 15-year old girl who had had a lingering cold for several weeks. She complained of extreme fatigue at a dance party, but other than that and her cold symptoms, she went to bed apparently well. The next morning she was found dead. The autopsy was virus pneumonia. Dr Klenner believed that the lung pathology was not enough to kill her, it was the insidious virus that invaded her brain. He feels that the motor nuclei have the shortest nerves, therefore the virus would reach them first. It could lead to spasm of the diaphragm muscle and cessation of breathing.

He felt that ascorbic acid could not reverse the virus once the pathology had progressed to a certain unknown point. He feels this maxim should guide all treating doctors: large doses of Vitamin C should be given in all pathological states, “It should be given by all physicians while they await the diagnosis.”

These large doses should be reduced once the temperature approaches normal; false temperature rise may result. If the C is taken from the ampoules and swallowed in some juice, it will have about the same results as if it had been injected.

In another similar paper published the next year, 1958, in the Tri-State Medical Journal, he outlines two important stages:

Stage (A): 1) a history of having had the flu for two or three days complicated by physical or mental stress, or 2) a mild cold with a runny nose for several weeks. Then the sudden onset of Stage (B) with either 1) convulsions, 2) extreme excitability or dancing eyeballs, 3) severe chill, 4) strangling during normal swallowing, 5) Collapse or stupor.

Stage (B) is usually associated with the following:

rapid pulse,
normal or moderately elevated temperature,
respirations twice the normal rate and sometimes an air hunger (which is reminiscent of that seen in acidosis or aspirin poisoning),
dilated, unequal pupils,
normal urinalysis,
elevated white blood count (which elevation is usually associated with a bacterial infection),
normal bowel action,
loss of bladder control when convulsions or coma occurred.
He felt that the rapid spread of the virus to the brain tissue was similar to the speed of the onset of the symptoms after a severe head injury: “... a margin of safety is so narrow that life and death are separated only by minutes.” There is no time to wait for the laboratory results.

Case I: A 64-year old woman had a slight cold for a week, but no other symptoms. She suddenly developed 104° (axillary) and slipped into a coma (pulse 120). In the hospital she received achromycin and ascorbic acid. Dr. Klenner put 26 grams of C into 375 cc of 5% dextrose in water, and let it drip intravenously, 75 drops per minute. An oxygen mask was applied. The white blood count was 18,000.

She became conscious an hour after this was begun but could not swallow and was incontinent. The fever dropped to 102°, but by the ninth hour it was again at 104°. Another I.V. was given (the same as above) with the antibiotic, and the 26 grams of C was begun—R=36 per minute.

In another hour (24 hours after admission) her temperature was 100°, pulse 84, and respiration 28. By noon the next day (36 hours) she was suddenly able to swallow again. She continued the achromycin daily and four grams of Vitamin C orally every four hours.

Case II: A five-year old boy with no special symptoms suddenly developed a convulsion and 104° (rectally), pulse 130 and respiration 18. He was extremely restless. His throat was red and white count 9,000. He had another convulsion in Dr. Klenner’s office. Dr. Klenner gave him four grams of C intravenously and sent him into the hospital where he got three grams of C intramuscularly. His dose was then four grams of C in orange juice every four hours, plus an antibiotic (chloromycetin, rarely used now). Temperature was normal in 12 hours. He continued treatment at home for three days.

Case III: A 16 month old boy who had had a mild cold for two weeks suddenly collapsed into unconsciousness. The pulse was over 200, and respiration 40 per minute and temperature 100° rectally. Oxygen was started and two grams of C was given intramuscularly. He roused in ten minutes. Two grams of C was given every two hours for five times, then every four hours for twelve more doses. The examination and white blood count (10,000) indicated bilateral pneumonitis so achromycin was added (50 mg every four hours). The temperature was normal by the third day. And he was home in a week.

Case IV: A two-and-a-half-year old boy had a lingering cold for ten days. Temperature was 101° with red swollen tonsils. Ears and chest clear, but the pulse was 130 and respirations were rapid and labored. He was sent home to have some prescriptions filled but had a convulsion at the pharmacy and was brought back. Temperature then was 103°. He received three grams of C intramuscularly plus oxygen. At the hospital he was given another two grams of C. It was repeated in one hour and then every two hours x 4. Penicillin was administered along with terramycin. His temperature was normal in eight hours after admission and remained so; he was taking and retaining fluids. He was home on the second hospital day.

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Case V: Demonstrates the usual quick response to therapy, but also the recurrence rate if the C is discontinued prematurely. The patient, a 73 year-old male, was admitted three times in 24 days with the same disease. He had a slight cold for a few days. Then abruptly, a severe headache was followed by a chill and coma. T=103, p=138, resp.=36, BP=150/90, white blood count was 10,000. Moisture was detected in his lungs. Muscle jerks appeared. Nasal oxygen begun. Intravenous achromycin and Vitamin C were begun; 20 grams of C was added to 378 cc of 5% dextrose in water. It was repeated in eight hours. He became conscious in 18 hours. He went home on the third day but returned in two weeks with the same findings and received the same treatment and sent home. In seven days he was back with the same symptoms. He was given 24 grams of C and sent home on achromycin and ten grams of C daily indefinitely.

As these cases show Dr. Klenner was confident that the C would handle the virus, but he needed the antibiotics to control the bacterial secondary invaders.

The initial dose administered by needle is no less than 250 mg per kilogram of body weight. For children the dose would be two to three grams intramuscularly using a concentration of 500 mg per cc. Ice on the muscle after injection will usually control pain. “Massive use of C is compatible with any other drug and in most instances it will enhance the value of these other remedies.”

He felt that the virus (or their toxins) act on the brain and can culminate in diaphragmatic spasm with resultant dyspnea and even asphyxia.

He believed that the lingering “cold” had depleted the stores of Vitamin C. The capillary beds in lungs and brain are damaged and the virus can invade these tissues. The microscopic pathology in the brain shows thrombosis of vessels, hemorrhages and proliferation of leucocytes. These are signs of ascorbic acid deficiency. If the patients are not given massive doses of C at this critical time, they will experience permanent nerve injury or may succumb. Pregnant women are thus more susceptible to polio because of their relatively low stores of C. “With the use of massive doses of Vitamin C, I have yet to see a patient not fully recovered.” It will also shorten the illness by at least one-half the usual sickness days, and the patients can be easily handled at home. Indeed, he treated many of these patients with two and three visits a day in the office for the Vitamin C shots. He did not exclude the use of antibiotics.

In 1960 he reemphasized the need for families and physicians to be vigilant for the potentially fatal viral encephalitis. As published in The Tri-State Medical Journal, February, 1960, he warned that “every cold must be considered as a probable source of brain pathology.” Most doctors are not impressed with the seriousness of the runny nose, the sore windpipe and the dry cough until this smoldering virus bursts through the defenses and attacks the brain.

The point he is emphasizing is that the smoldering virus is depleting the circulating Vitamin C, and when it gets low enough, the intercellular cement is weakened; the virus can easily burst through to the susceptible brain. It is like a metastasis of the pulmonary pathology to the brain (just like cancer cells seeding into the brain).

The brain is the logical target of any virus floating about in the blood, as the vascular system supplying the brain is the most extensive of all the capillary beds in the body. Interference with the blood supply of the nervous system can be disastrous, since the brain cannot accumulate an oxygen debt.

Biochemical techniques will some day indicate what is happening at the cellular level. The proof lies in the results. Dr. Klenner recites some classics way back in 1953. A patient with virus pneumonia and a fever of 106° received 140 grams of C over a period of 72 hours. On the third day she was alert, sitting in bed and swallowing fluids by mouth. Dr. Klenner believed that a similar respiratory virus in a baby with a truncated immune system might spread all over the body in minutes winding up in the brain as encephalitis, pneumonia and diaphragmatic spasm. (The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (S.I.D.S.) that takes 8,000 babies in the U.S. between ages two and ten months of age.)

It is not just the lung pathology that takes these people; it is the brain invasion. (It sounds a little like Reye’s syndrome—an innocent flu turns into a fatal encephalitis.) “It is necessary for everyone to take adequate supplemental Vitamin C to guard against such disasters.”

He had searched the literature and found studies reported in 1905 and 1907 that confirmed the virus lung-to-brain encephalitis pattern. All of Dr. Klenner’s patients recovered. How do we get doctors to inject massive doses of C into their collapsed patients while they are “pondering the diagnosis?”

He felt there were many pathways into the brain: nose, stomach, ears but the basic fault might be the breakdown of the intercellular cement of the capillary wall in regulating the permeability of the blood vessels of the C.N.S. Vitamin C is essential to the integrity of those capillary walls. It makes sense to believe that the chronicity of the virus infection—mild though it may have been—could have finally depleted the body of an optimum supply of C for maintenance of tissue repair. Capillaries break down, blood and viruses are free to attack the brain. The theory and practice seem to fit. Vitamin C helps control virus infections, and if there is a failure, usually it is because not enough C was being used.

In another case, a seven year-old boy was treated for influenza off and on for six weeks. He got sulfa, a form of penicillin and five to ten grams of C orally. When he had the fourth recurrence, the antibiotics and C had no effect. On the third day he suddenly became lethargic and then dropped into a stupor. Temperature was 102.6°. Dr. Klenner quickly injected him with six grams of ascorbic acid intravenously. In five minutes he was awake, asking, “what happened?” Another six grams in four hours and two more at six hour intervals. Recovery complete in 24 hours without a trace of recurrence. The patient was administered five grams of C in juice every eight hours for a week. The patient was Dr. Klenner’s son.

Viral encephalitis can be associated with cold sores; one third of patients die and 85% of survivors have brain damage. All of us are infected by the age of five years but only 1% experience symptoms. The virus is harbored in a dormant form until a physical or emotional hurt provokes the virus to reproduce and manifest itself with the canker sore.


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Virus Pneumonia
He wrote an article about virus pneumonia (Southern Medicine and Surgery, Feb. 1948), a persistent debilitating illness that responds poorly to antibiotics. In his series of 42 cases he achieved excellent results with, surprisingly, Vitamin C. Some doctors were using X-rays as therapy!

His routine: 1000 mg of Vitamin C intravenously every six to twelve hours for a mild case. In children, 500 mg of C intramuscularly every six to twelve hours was about right. Three to seven injections were all that was required for complete clinical and X-ray resolution. Most patients felt better in just one hour and definite improvement after two hours. Nausea and headache disappeared after the first shot. Fever fell at least two degrees Fahrenheit in several hours after the first injection.

He gave alkaline drinks as this impedes the excretion of the C through the kidneys. Mustard plasters were used to relieve chest pain and constricted breathing. In some patients cyanosis (blueness due to lack of oxygen in tissues) was immediately relieved by an additional injection of 500 mg of C.

He then reports the case of virus pneumonia which he treated in the early 1940’s. The man became blue but refused to be hospitalized; Dr. Klenner wanted to test the catalytic action of Vitamin C to serve as a gas transport (O2) aiding cellular respiration. He gave him two grams of Vitamin C intramuscularly and the cyanosis began to clear up in 30 minutes. Six hours later that patient was sitting up eating dinner; his fever had fallen three degrees. Dr. Klenner suspected that the C had done more than act as a respiratory catalyst. He was given a gram every six hours for three days. He was well by this time. Here is “evidence to prove unequivocally that Vitamin C is the antibiotic of choice in the handling of all types of virus diseases. Furthermore, it is a major adjuvant in the treatment of all other infectious diseases.”

Virus Pneumonia: female, 28 years, temperature = 106°, chest and head cold two weeks, severe headache, stuporous, dehydration. Antibiotics were of no help.

Treatment: 1000 cc of 5% dextrose in a saline solution and four grams of C. Temperature to 100° in eleven hours. Then every two to three hours—two to four grams of C was given intravenously. At 72 hours the patient was alert, sitting up and swallowing fluids. Vitamin C treatment was maintained for another two weeks: two grams every twelve hours. Thiamin was given for deafness (due to previous antibiotics and encephalitis); hearing normal in ten days. X-ray did not clear up for another two to three months.

In a 58 year-old man with a severe viral pneumonia only one-half the recommended dose was used (two grams every four hours). He slowly improved (three grams in six hours). His dose should have been four grams every four hours or two grams in two hours. “The course emphasized the necessity of administering massive doses of C at frequent regular intervals so as to maintain the proper level of this ‘antibiotic’ in the tissues.”

Dr. Klenner points out, as all doctors know, a secondary infection frequently gets in “on top” of the original virus infection. Virus pneumonia very commonly allows a germ to produce a bronchitis, requiring an antibiotic.


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Poliomyelitis
In polio, Vitamin C destroys the virus, acts as a diuretic removing the edema of the brain and prevents crowding of the cells lining the nervous system (see p. 2). The swollen, infected tissue creates a pressure in the unyielding bony vault and cuts off the blood supply to the motor cells, thus paralysis follows.

Dr. Klenner reports the findings of a Dr. McCormick who attended 50 cases of polio in Toronto, Canada (1949). The polio victims who were white bread eaters developed paralysis, but the brown bread eaters were protected from paralysis. B vitamins seem to give anti-paralysis protection. The Vitamin C relieves the pressure on the vessels so the nutrient—including B1—can nourish the cells properly.

He reports the case of a five year-old girl with paralysis of both legs accompanied by knee and back pain. Massage was given along with Vitamin C by injection. Within four days she was able to move both legs. She was sent home to continue the Vitamin C orally at 1000 mg every two hours. She walked by the eleventh day; the vitamin was stopped and B1 begun, only ten milligrams four times each day. She was completely well by the 19th day after treatment had been started.

Another polio case with 104.4° temperature (measured in the armpit) severe headache, red eyes, vomiting and tightness in the hamstrings. Two grams of Vitamin C was given intravenously immediately and again in two hours; then every four hours for 48 hours. In six hours after the first intravenous dose, his temperature had fallen to 100°, his eyes cleared up, he was jovial, sitting and drinking fluids. He would have them on 1500 mg of C by mouth every two hours for a week. The C was discontinued, and he took 25 mg of B1 four times a day. Dr. Klenner felt B1 should be continued for a period of at least three months because nerve tissue is slow to recover.

In another article about viruses in 1949 (Southern Medicine and Surgery, vol. 111, #7, July) he states his frustration at the lack of ability of standard researchers to recognize their failure in treating viral diseases; they did not give big enough doses frequently enough. He found an unbelievable record of these failed studies in the ten years before he wrote this article.

He concentrated on the response of poliomyelitis to Vitamin C in this article. He knew that the virus was floating about in the blood stream and that large doses of Vitamin C would destroy the virus before it got to the nervous system. Dr. Klenner reviewed the literature in 1948 because he was having consistent, positive responses with Vitamin C; he was encouraged when he read that some investigators had discovered low levels of C in the urine of humans and animals when infected with the polio virus. He felt there was a “relationship between the degree of Vitamin C saturation and the infectious and noninfectious state.” An Australian, Heaslip, showed a “correlation between the severity of the attack and the level of urinary excretion of the vitamin.” A “deficiency of Vitamin C in the diet predisposed to infection and to the severity of the attack.”

One report he cited was published by Jungeblut in 1937. If Vitamin C was given during the incubation stage in monkeys, the subsequent disease was much less severe. But if the disease was in its fifth day, much larger doses of C were required. Even when but 100 mg of C were given in 24 hours to these experimental monkeys, there were six times the number of non-paralytic survivors as in the control group.

Dr. Sabin attempted to discredit the use of Vitamin C in controlling polio in monkeys but did not give enough (100mg), and the monkeys had unmodified poliomyelitis. Scurvy is surely an invitation to infection, but the absence of scurvy does not assure an adequate immune system—especially when an infection invades. Malnutrition plays a definite role in susceptibility to virus infections. “Thousands of children owe their paralyzed limbs to this unfortunate blunder of Sabin.”

He arbitrarily adopted the following routine injection schedule: 1000 to 2000 mg initially depending upon age. The intramuscular route was used for children under age four years. If the fever dropped in two hours, two more hours was allowed before the second dose. After 24 hours, if the fever remained down, this same dose was given every six hours for the next 48 hours. All sixty cases were well in 72 hours. Three however, had a relapse, so the C was continued in all 60 cases for another two days every eight to twelve hours.

Home treatment was 2000 mg injected every six hours plus 1000 to 2000 mg orally every two hours.

Two of the 60 patients had throat muscle paralysis and needed oxygen and drainage but were recovering in 36 hours.

In a follow up article on “The Vitamin and Massage Treatment for Acute Poliomyelitis” (Southern Medicine and Surgery, vol. 114, #8, August, 1952) he summarized his years of treatment of this scourge that hit every summer. He felt much of the fear about the disease was due to reckless propaganda. It is a dramatic disease mainly affecting children. At that time the standard treatment was the splinting of the affected muscles for two to eight weeks to prevent any kind of motion. Surgery was then used to correct contractions and stabilize joints. At about that same time Sister Kenny was urging the use of hot moist packs and early passive motion to relieve spasm. Dr. Klenner used pillows to rest the affected muscles, immediate and continuous massage and passive motion, and, of course, Vitamin C to kill the virus, reduce the swelling in the brain, support the exhausted adrenals and rehabilitate damaged nerve tissue.

Reducing spinal fluid pressure is important to allow nutrients to reach the shocked nerve cells. The edema fluid “pressure in the central nervous system is the end result of the inflammatory reaction caused by the virus.” it is probably augmented by a deficiency of Vitamin B1. Early researchers tried to relieve this pressure by the use of hypertonic sugar (10% dextrose) solutions designed to pull the fluid from the brain, relieving the headache and allowing the circulation to open up sufficiently to permit nutriments into the dying cells. It is known that virus infections deplete the Vitamin C content of the adrenals. Chemical reactions follow resulting in high blood sugar; “apparently the adrenal medulla is released from its inhibiting mechanism allowing a concentration of free adrenaline in the blood high enough to cause vasoconstriction.” Glucose would only serve to aggravate this artificial diabetes (Maybe this is why some children develop diabetes after a virus infection, notably mumps).

Vitamin C works as a destroyer of the virus but also as a safe and potent dehydrator and diuretic. (Most patients complain of thirst after an I.V. of ascorbic acid.) “Given in massive doses it will relieve the edema pressure of the cord and brain, thus allowing normal amounts of B1 to reach chemically shocked nerve cells.” He occasionally used hypertonic sodium lactate as a dehydrator.

Vitamin C is proven to be low in the blood and tissues of virus victims. In a loading test, Heaslip found the urine of virus infected patients only revealed 20% of the ingested dose compared to healthy controls who excreted 44% of the swallowed C.

Jungeblut, a Vitamin C researcher, observed:

If a paralytic dose of polio virus were injected into the brains of monkeys, they all developed paralytic polio. If, however, Vitamin C was injected along with the virus, the animals remained free of the disease.
If monkeys were infected with a high dose of the virus, Vitamin C by injection failed to modify the disease course.
If less virus were given and the Vitamin C was kept at 100 mg per day, the results were variable. Dr. Klenner felt that the virus dose was not standard, and the Vitamin C was too small and too infrequently given.

[Large Sarge]

Dr. Klenner felt the best time to treat the virus was during the viremia stage; that is, when it was floating about in the blood stream and had not invaded the tissues. He repeats: “For optimum results the vitamin must be given in massive doses, every two to four hours, around the clock.” Intestinal absorption is inconsistent; it must be given by needle.

Dr. Klenner wondered if some of the manifestation of polio might be due to mild scurvy. Fever, vomiting, diarrhea, aches are all seen with scurvy and with polio. Certainly when Vitamin C is given all these symptoms and signs disappear. Was it scurvy or polio?

He

[Large Sarge]

pretty amazing article/results from this article, Klenner was a real genius/pioneer

[Serpo]

quote

Doctors are suffering from low public esteem because they are perceived to be money-grubbing and mistake-laden. ;D

[chad]

excess hydrogen peroxide is what gives you gray hair. just a random fact i though i would interject, as no one here hardly ever discusses hydrogen peroxide. ;)

[Large Sarge]

really is amazing (Black widow bites on kids, treated with Vit C)

Bites, Toxins, Allergies
In another Tri-State Medical Journal of December, 1957, he outlined the physiology and treatment of Black Widow Spider poisoning in a case history. Some of those bitten are not affected at all because the spider was out of poison, but some can be devastated and may die, partly because of poor resistance but also due to the quantity injected.

It can be confused with pancreatitis, renal colic, food poisoning, tetanus, angina, bowel obstruction, pneumonia, perforated ulcer. The abdominal wall muscles become rigid, the victims have cold sweat, their temperature and blood pressure shoot up, they vomit, have muscle twitches and spasms, cyanosis, chills, convulsions and delirium. The painful muscle spasms occur within minutes of the original bite. The cramps occur in all the large muscles of the body; the victims roll and toss and moan in agony.

Until someone used calcium gluconate, there were 90 ineffective treatments. An anti-venom is on the market, but severe reactions and even death have been attributed to its use.

The treatment Dr. Klenner suggests is his friend, Vitamin C, 350 mg per kg of body weight intravenously along with calcium gluconate.

His three and a half year old patient had been getting worse for 24 hours with abdominal cramps which the parents assumed were due to food poisoning. She became quieter, feverish, constipated and her abdomen was exquisitely tender. She was becoming stuporous.

Dr Klenner noted the red, swollen area around her naval, and two tiny spots about one eighth of an inch apart were noted in the middle: the fang marks of a Black Widow Spider. He gave one gram of calcium gluconate and 4 grams of Vitamin C intravenously. In 6 hours she was more responsive, and her temperature had dropped from 103 degrees to 101 degrees and she was given another four grams I.V.

In another six hours, her temperature was but 100 degrees, and she could swallow fluids. The next day she was active, and 50% of the discoloration had disappeared. She received another 4 grams of C intravenously and 3 grams intramuscularly. At home she swallowed one gram of C every three to four hours. An enema produced a bloody return. When she recovered, she remembered brushing “a big black bug off her stomach,” before she took ill.

Dr. Klenner had treated eight cases of Black Widow Spider bites. “It is criminal to give these patients an opiate to relieve their pain, for in so doing you might add to their distress and actually precipitate a fatality.”

“Some ascorbic acid behaves much like calcium in the body, and also acts synergistically with it, we elected to observe its action.” The child was destined to die. “Some physicians would stand by and see their patient die rather than use ascorbic acid because in their finite minds it exists only as a vitamin.”

Dr. Klenner was very confident about the benefits of intravenous Vitamin C to treat the poisonous effects of insects and reptiles,. He felt all emergency rooms should be adequately stocked. He used sodium ascorbate, 7.5 grams in 30 ml. The syringes are 5 to 60 cc. The needles are 20 gauge (big), one inch long to 31 gauge (I have trouble believing this) one inch long. I get “miracle like responses.”

Case 1: An eighteen-year-old female was treated just twenty minutes after a hornet bite. She was covered with hives and had shortness of breath and difficulty swallowing. In minutes after twelve grams of sodium ascorbate intravenously were pushed in with a 50 cc syringe her allergic symptoms were gone.

Dr. Klenner took ten grams of C dissolved in water orally and again in fifteen minutes to counteract the stings of fifteen yellow jackets. No symptoms.

Snakebite: He reported on a four-year-old girl bitten by a Highland Moccasin. She had severe pain in her leg and was vomiting within twenty minutes after the bite. Dr. Klenner gave four grams of C intravenously and within half an hour she had stopped crying and could now drink orangeade and began to laugh. “I’m all right now.” She slept well all night, but because of a slight fever and tenderness, Dr. Klenner gave her another four grams intravenously and again that late afternoon. No antibiotics and no anti-serum were necessary.

Dr. Klenner had worked the schedule out on dogs and published it in hunting and fishing magazines. He has had many testimonials from satisfied doctors.

“All the venom that will be encountered exists as you see the patient. It is important to give sufficient sodium ascorbate to neutralize the bite. The more you give; the faster will be the cure. We now routinely give 10 to 15 grams sodium ascorbate depending on the weight of the victim. Then as much of the drug as can be tolerated by mouth is given, usually 5 grams, every four hours.”

Usually without the use of Vitamin C patients are stuck in the hospital requiring hot packs, antibiotics, anti-serum and nursing care. Many end up with much scarring.

He recited the case of a man who was treated at another emergency room. The doctor tried to cut out the local bite area.

When Dr. Klenner saw him it was badly infected and the temperature was 104°. Fifteen grams of C intravenously twice daily, 5 grams of C orally every four hours. Penicillin injected for the infection. He was back to work in seven days.

“Sodium ascorbate will cure any type of snake bite.” The amounts and the speed of injection are critical. Forty to 60 grams intravenously as a starter. Klenner cites the 6500 deaths a year from snake bites, but many more from insects, bees, spider, plants and some caterpillars. They produce formic acid, histamine and specific toxin albumins. Some are neurotoxins; some cause capillary damage and hemorrhage. When cells are damaged proteins are deaminized, producing histamine and other toxic products; shock may occur. These deaminizing enzymes from the damaged cells are inhibited by Vitamin C. The pH of cells changes when cells are damaged; enzymes become destructive instead of constructive. C reverses this. Vitamin C is reduced in the serum of those in shock. 350-700 mg per kg body weight is the saving intravenous dose. In children up to two grams can be given in each of several areas (a twenty kg five year old could get two grams in each of four sites. Ice before and after the injection would control the pain).

He reports a case of a bite by a Puss caterpillar. The patient was going into shock with asphyxia and cyanosis. Dr Klenner whipped out his trusty syringe, filled it with 12 grams of C, squirted it into the man’s veins and before he was done, the patient was improved enough to exclaim, “Thank God.” And thank Dr. Klenner for figuring out what to do; the man would have died from shock if it had not been for the rapid infusion of C. Again, Dr. Klenner’s maxim adds weight: Give the C while pondering the diagnosis.

Mosquito bites: eleven grams of C per day and 200 to 400 mg of B complex daily, both by mouth.

Poison Oak or Ivy: oral Vitamin C plus a paste of C powder will control the contact allergy in 24 hours.

[keehah]

ExpressUK: VITAMIN C CURBS DEMENTIA (http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/265851/Vitamin-C-curbs-dementia)
August 19,2011

Scientists have found that vitamin C can help reverse the build-up of toxic proteins which form into harmful plaques in the brains of sufferers.

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden hope their discovery can be used to slow the progress of the disease in those who already have it.

Katrin Mani, reader in molecular medicine at the university, said: “When we treated brain tissue from mice that had Alzheimer’s disease with vitamin C, the toxic protein aggregates were dissolved. The notion that vitamin C can have a positive effect on Alzheimer’s disease is controversial but our results open up new opportunities for research and the possibilities offered by vitamin C.”

Ms Mani added that while vitamin C is in fresh fruit it can be absorbed in larger quantities from fruit juice.

She said: “Vitamin C is not a drug and having an extra daily glass of orange juice would do no harm.”

At least 750,000 people in the UK have Alzheimer’s, a number which is expected to double by 2050. There is no cure or effective treatment and the cost to the NHS is predicted to rise to £50billion in the next 30 years.