Bioterrorism: Beyond
Vaccinations and Antibiotics
By
Thomas Levy, MD
Treatment Alternatives
Vitamin C, typically as ascorbic acid or sodium
ascorbate, should prove to be highly effective against both of these
conditions. I say "should" only because their rareness has prevented any
single vitamin C researcher from encountering enough cases to conduct a
meaningful study and publish it.
However, the likelihood that both of these
conditions could be completely cured, even in their advanced stages, is
compelling. Consider the following information:
The medical literature has clear documentation
that high enough doses of injectable
vitamin C are almost always effective in curing any of a number of viral
infections still considered today to be incurable. Klenner
(1949) completely cured 60 out of 60
cases of infantile polio in North Carolina in the middle of a
polio epidemic.
Several infants already had neurological
involvement, but nevertheless recovered completely.
Klenner (1951) was also able to bring about a complete recovery by
administering Vitamin C. Vitamin C has also been documented to rapidly
resolve a number of non-viral infectious diseases that do not readily
resolve in the absence of vitamin C therapy.
Diptheria (Klenner, 1949 and 1971), whooping cough
(Otani, 1936 and 1939; Ormerod et al., 1937), and tetanus (Klenner,
1954) all have responded very well to vitamin C. Of great interest as
well is that all three of these infections are associated with very
significant microbe-generated toxins, much like anthrax.
Jungeblut and Zwemer (1935) fou Klenner
never encountered a virus he could not
cure, although he used doses of vitamin C that are considered
outrageously high today, even though such doses are nevertheless
decidedly non-toxic. His initial dosing of vitamin C would go as high as
700 mg/kg body weight, which could exceed 70 grams for a large man.
Furthermore, he would repeat this high dosing in
only a few hours if no drop in fever or clear clinical improvement
resulted. He never reported any toxicity from vitamin C dosed in this
fashion. My own clinical experiences with intravenous vitamin C
infusions allow me to completely believe all of the data that Klenner
and others have accumulated.
Many feel vitamin C did not deliver as promised
when Linus Pauling's recommendations of a few grams of vitamin C a day
did not end up curing or completely preventing the common cold. To be
sure, it did make those infected feel better, and it shortened the
durations of their symptoms.
It did also
lessen the likelihood of getting a cold. After determining
your best daily dose of vitamin C by following the bowel tolerance
method outlined by Cathcart (1981) and after taking that daily dose
regularly, the likelihood of contracting any infectious disease, anthrax
and smallpox included, is remote.
For many people,
this will translate to a total daily dose
of vitamin C of 8 to 15 grams taken in divided doses,
although some people will require more. The recommended form of vitamin
C would be sodium ascorbate, although ascorbic acid would be If you are
exposed to a very high dose of infectious organisms, the maintenance
doses of vitamin C noted above can be overwhelmed and clinical infection
can still result.
The simple answer then is to start vitamin C
infusions at up to 700 mg/kg at a time as often as is necessary to
obtain a positive clinical response. Lesser amounts and less frequent
dosing can be used if the clinical picture is not severe. Obviously, the
administration would have to be very vigorous in an inhalation anthrax
patient.
Regardless of any skepticism that the reader may
have toward such high-dose vitamin C therapy, it is absolutely
unthinkable not to try it or add it to whatever protocol is being
administered to the patient. At the very least, all acute infectious
diseases rapidly metabolize vitamin C, and all acutely ill patients are
consequently deficient in vitamin C.
The administration of
vitamin C should always be undertaken when acute vitamin C deficiency is
a certainty, even if one does not believe that enough.
Hydration is also extremely important, both in
health and disease. Furthermore, vigorous hydration (2 to 4 quarts of
water daily) will augment the effectiveness of the vitamin C therapy.
Just about the only time high doses of vitamin C can cause problems is
if the patient is not kept very well hydrated.
Remember that patients with high fever loss body
water rapidly. Most other medicines have more side effects in the face
of dehydration as well. There are a host of other supplements and
nutrients that can augment the anti-microbial effects and
immune-bolstering effects of vitamin C, which is beyond the scope of
this issue of the newsletter. Just don't neglect the most important one:
vitamin C. |
