VITAMIN C:
It can defeat cancer, after all
Thirty years after he put forward the theory, Linus Pauling's claim that high-dose vitamin C can kill cancer cells has finally been proven.
Researchers have established that very high doses of the vitamin can selectively kill cancer cells while leaving alone healthy ones.
Three cancer patients who have been given large intravenous doses have seen their life-threatening tumours shrink. A 49-year-old man who had been diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer in 1996 is still alive and well, thanks to regular infusions of vitamin C. He had declined the standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.
In a similar case, a 66-year-old woman with an aggressive lymphoma who had a "dismal prognosis" in 1995 is also alive and well thanks to vitamin C therapy. And, in a third case, a 51-year-old woman with kidney cancer that spread to her lungs in 1995 had a normal chest x-ray two years later.
Pathologists have confirmed the findings, and they say the cases prove a clinical plausibility for Pauling's claims. Sadly, it's all come too late for Pauling himself, who never had his theory independently verified. Because researchers were unable to duplicate Pauling's results in independent studies, his therapy was rapidly consigned to the mass of unproven alternative treatments.
So why has it taken so long? Apparently every research team before had given high-dose vitamin C orally to patients. However, vitamin C in tablet form is rapidly excreted by the body while intravenous doses not only stay longer in the system, they also achieve blood levels that are 25 times greater than by supplement. It's only at these very high levels, when retained by the body, that vitamin C can selectively kill cancer cells.
Finally, the findings have triggered more research that will test the therapy using intravenous use of vitamin C, including a major study at McGill University. It seems extraordinary that it has taken the medical establishment so long to even set the correct parameters for fair trials when we are talking about a therapy that could save the lives of thousands. It's looking more and more likely that Pauling discovered an effective, and safe, treatment for cancer that doesn't kill as many patients as it 'cures'.
(Source: Canadian Association Medical Journal, 2006; 174: 937-42).
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It can defeat cancer, after all
Thirty years after he put forward the theory, Linus Pauling's claim that high-dose vitamin C can kill cancer cells has finally been proven.
Researchers have established that very high doses of the vitamin can selectively kill cancer cells while leaving alone healthy ones.
Three cancer patients who have been given large intravenous doses have seen their life-threatening tumours shrink. A 49-year-old man who had been diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer in 1996 is still alive and well, thanks to regular infusions of vitamin C. He had declined the standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.
In a similar case, a 66-year-old woman with an aggressive lymphoma who had a "dismal prognosis" in 1995 is also alive and well thanks to vitamin C therapy. And, in a third case, a 51-year-old woman with kidney cancer that spread to her lungs in 1995 had a normal chest x-ray two years later.
Pathologists have confirmed the findings, and they say the cases prove a clinical plausibility for Pauling's claims. Sadly, it's all come too late for Pauling himself, who never had his theory independently verified. Because researchers were unable to duplicate Pauling's results in independent studies, his therapy was rapidly consigned to the mass of unproven alternative treatments.
So why has it taken so long? Apparently every research team before had given high-dose vitamin C orally to patients. However, vitamin C in tablet form is rapidly excreted by the body while intravenous doses not only stay longer in the system, they also achieve blood levels that are 25 times greater than by supplement. It's only at these very high levels, when retained by the body, that vitamin C can selectively kill cancer cells.
Finally, the findings have triggered more research that will test the therapy using intravenous use of vitamin C, including a major study at McGill University. It seems extraordinary that it has taken the medical establishment so long to even set the correct parameters for fair trials when we are talking about a therapy that could save the lives of thousands. It's looking more and more likely that Pauling discovered an effective, and safe, treatment for cancer that doesn't kill as many patients as it 'cures'.
(Source: Canadian Association Medical Journal, 2006; 174: 937-42).
Back to A to Z