Vitamin C and Polio

Fifty-one years ago a simple effective cure
for many diseases was found. Was it 'buried'
because it was too inexpensive and effective?

found at:
http://www.orthomed.com/polio.htm (Dr. Robert F. Cathcart MD)

July, 1949         SOUTHERN MEDICINE & SURGERY      #209

       The Treatment of Poliomyelitis and Other Virus
                  Diseases with Vitamin C

       Fred R. Klenner, M.D., Reidsville, North Carolina

[big snip of complicated but interesting stuff]

In the poliomyelitis epidemic in North Carolina in 1948, 60 cases of
this disease came under our care. These patients presented all or
almost all of these signs and symptoms: Fever of 101 to 104.6°,
headache, pain at the back of the eyes, conjunctivitis, scarlet throat;
pain between the shoulders, the back of the neck, one or more
extremity, the lumbar back; nausea, vomiting and constipation.

In I5 of these cases the diagnosis was confirmed by lumbar puncture;
the cell count ranging from 33 to 125. Eight had been in contact with a
proven case; two of this group received spinal taps. Examination of the
spinal fluid was not carried out in others for the reasons: (1) Flexner
and Amoss had warned that "simple lumbar puncture attended with even
very slight hemorrhage opens the way for the passage of the virus from
the blood into the central nervous system and thus promotes infection."
(2) A patient presenting all or almost all of the above signs and
symptoms during an epidemic of poliomyelitis must be considered
infected with this virus. (3) Routine lumbar puncture would have made
it obligatory to report each case as diagnosed to the health
authorities. This would have deprived myself of valuable clinical
material and the patients of most valuable therapy, since they would
have been removed to a receiving center in a nearby town.

The treatment employed was vitamin C in massive doses. It was given
like any other antibiotic every two to four hours. The initial dose was
1000 to 2000 mg., depending on age. Children up to four years received
the injections intramuscularly.

Since laboratory facilitates for whole blood and urine determinations
of the concentration of vitamin C were not available, the temperature
curve was adopted as the guide for additional medication. The rectal
temperature was recorded every two hours. No temperature response after
the second hour was taken to indicate the second 1000 or 2000 mg. If
there was a drop in fever after two hours, two more hours was allowed
before the second dose. This schedule was followed for 24 hours. After
this time the fever was consistently down, so the drug was given 1000
to 2000 mg. every six hours for the next 48 hours. All patients were
clinically well after 72 hours. After three patients had a relapse the
drug was continued for at least 48 hours longer-1000 to 2000 mg. every
eight to 12 hours. Where spinal taps were performed, it was the rule to
find a reversion of the fluid to normal after the second day of
treatment.

For patients treated in the home the dose schedule was 2000 mg. by
needle every six hours, supplemented by 1000 to 2000 mg. every two
hours by mouth. The tablet was crushed and dissolved in fruit juice.
All of the natural "C" in fruit juice is taken up by the body; this
made us expect catalytic action from this medium. Rutin, 20 mg., was
used with vitamin C by mouth in a few cases, instead of the fruit
juice. Hawley and others have shown that vitamin C taken by mouth will
show its peak of excretion in the urine in from four to six hours.
Intravenous administration produces this peak in from one to three
hours. By this route however, the concentration in the blood is raised
so suddenly that a transitory overflow into the urine results before
the tissues are saturated. Some authorities suggest that the
subcutaneous method is the most conservative in terms of vitamin C loss
but this factor is overwhelmingly neutralized by the factor of pain
inflicted.

Two patients in this series of 60 regurgitated fluid through the nose.
This was interpreted as representing the dangerous bulbar type. For a
patient in this category postural drainage, oxygen administration, in
some cases tracheotomy, needs to be instituted, until the vitamin C has
had sufficient time to work-in our experience 36 hours. Failure to
recognize this factor might sacrifice the chance of recovery. With
these precautions taken, every patient of this series recovered
uneventfully within three to five days.

In the treatment of other types of virus infections the same "fluid"
dose schedule was adopted. In herpes zoster 2000 to 3000 mg. of vitamin
C was given every 12 hours, this supplemented by 3 000 mg. in fruit
juice by mouth every two hours. Eight cases were treated in this
series, all of adults. Seven experienced cessation of pain within two
hours of the first injection and remained so without the use of any
other analgesic medication. Seven of these cases showed drying of the
vesicles within 24 hours and were clear of lesions within 72 hours.

They received from five to seven injections. One patient; a diabetic,
stated that she was always conscious of an uncomfortable feeling, but
that it was not an actual pain. Although nine-tenths of the vesicles
cleared in the usual 72-hour period, she was given 14 injections, the
last seven of only 1000 mg. This extra therapy was given because of a
small ulceration, an inch in diameter, secondarily infected by rupture
of the vesicles by a corset stave prior to the first visit. Vitamin C
apparently had no effect on this lesion, which was healed in two weeks
under compound tincture of benzoin locally and penicillin and
sulfadiazine by mouth. (The patient objected to taking penicillin by
needle.)

One of the patients, a man of 65, came to the office doubled up with
abdominal pain and with a history of having taken opiates for the
preceding 36 hours. He gave the impression of having an acute surgical
condition. A massive array of vesicles extended from the dorsal nerve
roots to the umbilicus, a hand's breadth wide. He was given 3000 mg. of
vitamin C intravenously and directed to return to the office in four to
five hours. It was difficult to convince him that his abdominal pain
was the result of his having "shingles." He returned in four hours
completely free of pain. He was given an additional 2000 mg. of vitamin
C, and following the schedule given above he recovered completely in
three days.

In herpes simplex it is important to continue the treatment for at
least 72 hours. We have seen "fever blisters" that appeared healed
after two injections recur when therapy was discontinued after 24
hours. Vitamin C in a strength of 1000 mg. per 10 c.c. of buffered
solution gave no response when applied locally. This was true no matter
how often the applications were made. In several cases 10 mg. of
riboflavin by mouth t.i.d. in conjunction with the vitamin C injections
appeared to cause faster healing.

Chickenpox gave equally good response, the vesicles responding in the
same manner as did those of herpes. These vesicles were crusted after
the first 24 hours, and the patient well in three to four cays. We
interpreted this similarity of response in these three diseases to
suggest that the viruses responsible were closely related to one
another.

Many cases of influenza were treated with vitamin C. The size of the
dose and the number of Injections required were in direct proportion to
the fever curve and to the duration of the illness. Forcing of fruit
juice was always recommended, because of the frequency and ease of
reinfection during certain periods of the year.

The response of virus encephalitis to ascorbic acid therapy was
dramatic. Six cases of virus encephalitis were treated and cured with
vitamin C injections. Two cases were associated with virus pneumonia;
one followed chickenpox, one mumps, one measles and one a combination
of measles and mumps. In the case that followed the measles-mumps
complex, definite evidence was found to confirm the belief that
massive, frequent injections are necessary in treating virus infections
with vitamin C. This lad of eight years was first seen with a
temperature of 104°. He was lethargic, very irritable when molested.
His mother said he had gradually developed his present clinical picture
over the preceding four or five days. His first symptom was anorexia
which became complete 36 hours before his first examination. He next
complained of a generalized headache, later be became stuporous.
Although very athletic and active, he voluntarily took to his bed. He
was given 2000 mg. of vitamin C intravenously and allowed to return
home because there were no available hospital accommodations. His
mother was asked to make an hourly memorandum of his conduct until his
visit set for the following day. Seen 18 hours after the initial
injection of vitamin C, the memorandum revealed a quick response to the
antibiotic-after two hours he asked for food and ate a hearty supper,
then played about the house as usual and then, for .several hours, he
appeared to have completely recovered. Six hours following the initial
injection, he began to revert to the condition of his first visit. When
seen the second time temperature was 101.6°, he was sleepy but he would
respond to questions. The rude irritability shown prior to the first
injection was strikingly absent. A second injection of 2000 mg. vitamin
C was given intravenously and 1000 mg. of "C" prescribed every two
hours by mouth. The next day he was fever and symptom-free. As a
precautionary measure a third 2000 mg. was given with direction to
continue the drug by mouth for at least 48 hours. He has remained well
since. A lad of 12 years had generalized headache a week after having
mumps, this followed by malaise, and in 12 hours a lethargic state and
a fever of 105°. Admitted to hospital he was given 2000 mg. of vitamin
C then, and 1000 mg. every two hours. Following the third injection he
was sitting up in bed, laughing, talking, begging for food and
completely without pain. He was discharged 24 hours following admission
clinically well. Since relapses do occur if the drug is discontinued
too soon, he was given 2000 mg. of vitamin C every 12 hours for two
additional days.

The use of vitamin C in measles proved to be a medical curiosity. During an epidemic vitamin C
was used prophylactically and all those who received as much as 1000 mg. every six hours, by
vein or muscle, were protected from the virus. Given by mouth, 1000 mg. in fruit juice every two
hours was not protective unless it was given around the clock. It was further found that 1000 mg.
by mouth, four to six times each day, would modify the attack; with the appearance of Koplik's
spots and fever, if the administration was increased to 12 doses each 24 hours, all signs and
symptoms would disappear in 48 hours. If the drug was discontinued or reduced to three or four
doses each 24 hours following the disappearance of Koplik's spots, within another 48-hour period
the fever, the conjunctivitis and Koplik's spots would be back.

It was our privilege to observe this picture over and over in two
little volunteer girls for 30 days. These "research helpers" were my
own little daughters. The measles virus was eventually destroyed in
this instance by continuing 12,000 mg. by mouth each 24 hours for four
days. We interpreted this result to indicate that on withdrawing the
drug with the cessation of signs and symptoms, a small quantity of the
virus remained, which after another incubation period produced anew the
first stage of measles; when the drug was continued beyond the clearing
stage the virus was destroyed in toto. No case of post-measles
bronchopneumonia was seen. The "measles-cough" of measles bronchitis
was over with after three or four 1000 mg. injections of "C" at 6-hour
intervals. This was true even when other medications well above the
calculated dose range for cough had had no effect. Whenever a patient
presented a mixed-virus infection, such as receding mumps and
developing measles, it was found that double the calculated dose of
vitamin C was necessary to obtain the usual results.

Of mumps, 33 cases were treated with ascorbic acid. When vitamin C was
given at the peak of the infection the fever was gone within 24 hours,
the pain within 36 hours, the swelling in 48 to 72 hours. Two cases
were complicated with orchitis. A young man of 23 years developed
bilateral orchitis one Friday morning, by seven o'clock that night he
was in severe pain, had a fever of 105" and was nursing testicles the
size of tennis balls. Vitamin C was started at this time-1000 mg. every
two hours, intravenously. The pain began to subside following the first
injection and ceased in 12 hours. There was no fever after 36 hours.
The patient was out of bed feeling his old self after 60 hours. He had
received 25,000 mg. of "C" in this 60-hour period. An experiment
involving three cousins: One, a boy of seven, had the old routine of
bed rest, aspirin, and warm camphor oil applications and iodex to the
swollen glands. This child had a rough time for a week. A second boy,
aged 11, was allowed to develop mumps to the point of maximum swelling
without any therapy, then given vitamin C, 1000 mg. intramuscularly,
every two to four hours. This lad was entirely well in 48 hours. To the
third patient, a girl of 9, vitamin C was given on the up curve when
the swellings were 60 per cent of the expected, and the temperature
recorded at 102.3°. The dose was 1000 mg. of vitamin C given
intravenously every four hours. This child was well and remained so
from the third day of treatment.

Further studies on virus pneumonia showed that the clinical response
was better when vitamin C was given to these patients according to the
dose schedule outlined for poliomyelitis. Where pneumonitis was
demonstrated, the clearing of the chest film was parallel with the
clinical recovery. In cases of consolidation of entire lobes the x-ray
clearing lagged days behind the clinical response. In these cases 1000
mg. of "C" should be given every 12 hours for at least a week after the
patient is apparently well. There was no change in the results as given
in a previous paper; the patients were well in the third day of
treatment.

In using vitamin C as an antibiotic no factor of toxicity need be
considered. To confirm this observation 200 consecutive hospital
patients were given ascorbic acid, 500 to 1000 mg. every four to six
hours, for five to ten days. One volunteer received 100,000 mg. in a
12-day period. It must be remembered that 90 per cent of these patients
did not have a virus infection to assist in destroying the vitamin. In
no instance did examination of the blood or urine indicate any toxic
reaction, and at no time were there any clinical manifestations of a
reaction to the drug. When vitamin C was given by mouth one per cent of
these patients vomited shortly after taking the drug. In half of these
cases the vomiting was controlled by increasing the carbohydrate
content of the mixture. This reaction was not interpreted as
representing a toxic manifestation; rather it was thought to be due to
a hypersensitive gastric mucosa. The dose was reduced from 1000 to 100
mg. in young children showing this complex; vomiting occurred as
before. However, in these same patients administration of massive,
frequent doses of vitamin C by needle affected a cure of the infection
without causing vomiting.

>From a review of the literature one can safely state that in all
instances of experimental work with ascorbic acid on the virus organism
the amount of virus used was beyond the range of the administered dose
of this vitamin. No one would expect to relieve kidney colic with a
five-grain aspirin tablet; by the same logic we cannot hope to destroy
the virus organism with doses of vitamin C of 10 to 400 mg. The results
which we have reported in virus diseases using vitamin C as the
antibiotic may seem fantastic. These results, however, are no different
from the results we see when administering the sulfa, or the
mold-derived drugs against many other kinds of infections. In these
latter instances we expect and usually get 48- to 72-hour cures; it is
laying no claim to miracle-working then, when we say that many virus
infections can be cleared within a similar time limit.

Jeff --  <http://www.wellnow.com <http://www.wellnow.com>>

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