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Vitamin C given intravenously was found to both enhance effectiveness of ovarian chemotherapy and also reduce chemotherapy toxicity.

Comment: Vitamin C has long been touted as an anti-cancer agent ever since Linus Pauling, the famous Nobel Laureate, promoted the use of vitamin C for all sorts of illnesses including the common cold, cancer, and mental health (http://goo.gl/7GTwtT). Linus Pauling had many distractors, however, and his theories regarding the health benefits of vitamin C did not always stand up to the test of rigorous scientific research methods. However, these authors note that the previous studies on vitamin C and cancer focused almost exclusively on oral intake of vitamin C, whereas this study looked at high levels of intravenously administered vitamin C. Although unconventional, this treatment is not unheard of. Recently I had a patient move to the Pacific Northwest from the East Coast of the U.S. and she told me how her allopathic doctor (MD) gave her intravenous vitamin C, and that for her at least, it worked well. One of the most thorough reviews of vitamin C has been compiled by Emanuel Cheraskin, MD,DDS (http://goo.gl/awbsTK). His work is quite compelling, and definitely worth reviewing. A more recent review in the medical literature has been compiled by Grosso et al (http://goo.gl/sBkrjZ 2013). Even the Cochrane Collaboration has examined vitamin C and the common cold, and found a positive benefit (http://goo.gl/qIqes4).



Sci Transl Med 5 February 2014: Vol. 6, Issue 222, p. 222ra18    (retrieved Feb, 2014). There are currently 1090 pearls in the database. While every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy, mistakes can and do occur. Use databank at your own risk. All pearls © 2024 by the Internet Medical Association. Click Here to view more medical pearls.