Two times Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling (1901-1994), biochemist, peace activist, advocate of nuclear disarmament, champion of vitamin C as a remedy for colds and cancer. He coined the term “orthomolecular” to mean “the right molecules in the right amounts”.

If you are not familiarized with vitamin C’s miraculous record, now it is a good time to discover this treasure! First brought to my attention as a recommendation to a friend of mine who was critically ill, I was astounded to find out about the numerous testimonials around the world and its historical track record. Needless to say, vitamin C had a miraculous effect on my friend’s health and who knows what would have happened without vitamin C’s intervention.

For our own misfortune, medical regulations and drug protocols have buried vitamin C’s healing effects to the back stage. In a system ruled by Big Pharma and corporate greed, our rulers are hoping we will never find out nor reclaim our right to use vitamin C. Despite this, it continues to help many around the world and it is starting to regain popularity in conditions where no drug has made such a difference as vitamin C does.

I compiled this record of the early pioneers in an effort to learn from their experiences and to get an idea of how much they used, when and how. Nowadays there are options that can substitute the IV Vitamin C therapy in megadoses in the form of liposomal vitamin C which can be taken orally and made at home. If you are interested in getting the benefits of IV vitamin C in megadoses from the comfort of your home, check out this post where you’ll find the relevant information on liposomal vitamin C and how to make it. You’ll find there a basic background on vitamin C as well.

Without much ado, here is vitamin C’s miraculous record from some of the early pioneers who reported their clinical experience when it was easier to do so! Let’s reclaim this historical heritage.

The experience of Fred R. Klenner, MD.

You can read the full paper here. It was published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition Vol. 23, No’s 3 & 4, Winter 1971.

-150 grams reversed pathology in a given case and was the amount given over a period of 24 hours. The I.V. was continuous and it was given in three bottles of 5 Dextrose water, removing only the water in c.c. to be replaced by the ‘C’ ampoules.

-It is a powerful oxidizer and when given in massive amounts of 50 grams to 150 grams, intravenously, for certain pathological conditions, and “run in” as fast as 20 Gauge needle will allow, it acts as a “Flash Oxidizer,”often correcting the pathology within minutes. Ascorbic acid is also a powerful reducing agent. Its neutralizing action on certain toxins, exotoxins, virus infections, endotoxins and histamine is in direct proportion to the amount of the lethal factor involved and the amount of ascorbic acid given. At times it is necessary to use ascorbic acid intramuscularly. It should always be used orally, when possible, along with the needle.

-To determine the degree of the body’s saturation of vitamin C, the capillary fragility test which is similar to the tourniquet test can be used as a guide. It can be used to estimate the quantity of vitamin C necessary to maintain capillary integrity.

-In 1953, a case history was presented of a patient with viral pneumonia, unconscious, with a fever of 106.8°F when admitted to the hospital. 140 grams ascorbic acid was given intravenously over a period of 72 hours at which time she was awake, sitting up in bed and taking fluids freely by mouth. The temperature was normal.

-The permeability of the blood-brain barrier can be compromised by toxic agents in the blood circulation. The integrity of the capillary wall in regulating permeability of the blood vessels of the central nervous system is crucial. Ascorbic acid will repair and maintain the integrity of the capillary wall.

-After severe burns there is considerable alteration in the metabolism of ascorbic acid. There is an increase demand for ascorbic acid in burns especially when epithelization and formation of granulation tissue are taking place. Limited amounts of ascorbic acid to a dose range of 300 mg to 2000 mg daily, in divided doses, have been capable of hastening the healing of wounds by producing healthy granulation tissue and also by reducing local edema. It also made antibiotic therapy rarely necessary. A 3% ascorbic acid solution as a spray over the entire area of the burn can be used every 2 to 4 hours for a period of roughly five days. Dr. Klenner suggested IV vitamin C at the dose of 500 mg per Kg. body weight diluted to at least 18 c.c. per gram vitamin C using 5% dextrose in water, saline in water or Ringers solution and for the initial injection, run in as fast as a 20 gauge needle or catheter will carry the flow. Cut-downs are frequently necessary and the foot-ankle area is recommended. Vitamin C solution is repeated every 8 hours for the first several days, then at 12 hour intervals. Ascorbic acid, by mouth, is given to tolerance. Loose stools is accepted as this index. Using large doses of ascorbic acid I.V. will necessitate the administration of at least one gram calcium gluconate, daily, to replace free calcium ions removed in the breakdown chemical action as ascorbic acid goes to dehydroascorbic acid, then to ketogulonic acid and later to oxalic acid as the calcium salt.

–Pseudomonas will not be a problem, since ascorbic acid destroys the exotoxin systemically and locally. Even if the burn is seen late when pseudomonas is a major problem the gram negative bacilli will be destroyed in a few days leaving a clean healthy surface. Dr. Klenner reported having seen eschars 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick, severely infected so that stench had to be controlled with deodorizing sprays, melt away when employing the method outlined. Ascorbic acid also eliminates pain so that opiates or their equivalent are not required.

-During pregnancy, requirements were roughly 4 grams first trimester, 6 grams second trimester and 10 grams third trimester. Hemoglobin levels were much easier to maintain. Leg cramps were less frequent. Striae gravidarum was seldom encountered. Labor was shorter and less painful. There were no postpartum hemorrhages. The perineum was found to be remarkably elastic and episiotomy was performed electively. Healing was always by first intention and even after 15 and 20 years following the last child the firmness of the perineum is found to be similar to that of a primigravida in those who have continued their daily supplemental vitamin C.

Regarding they myth that ascorbic acid enhances kidney stone formation…

-Chief factors in the formation of renal calculi are perversions of metabolic processes, infection and stasis in the urinary tract. Stasis and a concentrated urine appear to be the chief physiological factors. The only way that oxalic acid can be produced from ascorbic acid is through splitting of the lactone ring. This happens above pH5. The reaction of urine when 10 grams of vitamin C is taken daily is usually pH6. Oxalic acid precipitates out of solution only from a neutral or alkaline solution-pH7 to pH10. Ingestion of 9 grams ascorbic acid daily resulted in oxalate spills as high as 68 mg for 24 hours and in the controls without extra vitamin C the high was 64 mg for a 24 hour period.

-The amount of oxalic acid found in the diabetic patient approximates that found in the urine of a normal person taking 10 grams vitamin C each day. Give this individual 10 grams ascorbic acid daily, by mouth, and the urinary oxalate excretion remains relatively unchanged. Diabetics are known for their diuresis. The individual who takes 10 or more grams of vitamin C each day will find that this organic compound is an excellent diuretic. No urinary stasis; no urine concentration.

-The clinical value of ascorbic acid in combating shock is explained by the inhibition of deaminizing enzymes from the damaged cells by vitamin C. Conditions of shock and stress cause depletion of the ascorbic acid content of the plasma. As with the virus bodies, ascorbic acid also joins with the protein factor of these toxins effecting quick destruction. Large amounts of ascorbic acid 350 mg to 700 mg per Kg. body weight are given intravenously. In small patients, where veins are at a premium, ascorbic acid can easily be given intramuscularly in amounts up to two grams at one site. Several areas can be used with each dose given. Ice held to the gluteal muscles until red, almost eliminates the pain. The ice is reapplied for a few minutes after the injection. Ascorbic acid is also given, by mouth, as follow-up treatment.

-Every diabetic not taking supplemental vitamin C could be classified as having sub-clinical scurvy. For this reason they find it difficult to heal wounds. The diabetic patient will use the supplemental vitamin C for better utilization of his insulin. It will assist the liver in the metabolism of carbohydrates and to reinstate his body to heal wounds like normal individuals. 60% of all diabetics could be controlled with diet and 10 grams ascorbic acid daily. The other 40% will need much less needle insulin and less oral medication.

-Samples of blood taken six hours after surgery showed vitamin C drops of approximately 1/4 the starting amount and at 12 hours the levels were down to one-half. Optimal primary wound healing is dependent to a large extent upon the vitamin C content of the tissues. In a hopeless surgical situation, two grams of ascorbic acid was given by syringe every two hours for 48 hours and then 4 times each day. In 36 hours the patient was walking the halls and in seven days was discharged with normal elimination and no pain. She has outlived her surgeon by many years. All patients should take 10 grams ascorbic acid each day. Where this is not done and the surgery is elective, then 10 grams by mouth should be given for several weeks prior to surgery. At least 30 grams should be given, daily, in solutions, post-operatively, until oral medication is allowed and tolerated.

-Large doses of intravenous “C” has a striking influence on the course of mononucleosis. In one patient who was given the last rites of her church, the girls mother took things into her own hands when the attending physician refused to give ascorbic acid. In each bottle of intravenous fluids she would quickly “tap in” 20 to 30 grams vitamin C. The patient made an uneventful recovery.

-In the presence of ascorbic acid, carcinogenic metabolites of bladder cancer will not develop in the urine. Ascorbic acid will control myelocytic leukemia provided 25 to 30 grams are taken orally each day. At least one research team has demonstrated that in cancer all available “C” is mobilized at the site of the malignancy. “How long must we wait for someone to start continuous ascorbic acid drip for 2 to 3 months, giving 100 to 300 grams each day, for various malignant conditions?” asks Dr. Klenner.

How long indeed! Almost a century later, we still wonder.

-Vitamin C is a regulator of the rate at which cholesterol is formed in the body; deficiency of the vitamin speeding the formation of this substance. In experimental work, guinea pigs fed a diet free of ascorbic acid showed a 600 percent acceleration in cholesterol formation in the adrenal glands.

-Back then, massive intravenous ascorbic acid therapy were given to patients with infectious hepatitis and patients were well and back to work in from 3 to 7 days. In these cases the vitamin was also employed by mouth as follow-up therapy. 10 grams daily, intravenously, proved the best treatment available.

-One single injection of ascorbic acid calculated at 500 mg per Kg. body weight will reverse heat stroke.

-One to three injections of the vitamin in a dose range of 400 mg Kg. body weight will effect a dramatic cure in Virus Pancarditis.

-One gram taken every one to two hours during exposure will prevent sunburn.

-Intravenous injections will quickly relieve the pain and erythema, even the second degree burns when precautions are not taken.

-One to three injections of 400 mg per Kg. given every eight hours will “dry up” chicken-pox in 24 hours.

-Injections are usually given with a syringe in a dilution of one gram to 5 c.c fluid. This concentration will produce immediate thirst. This is prevented by having the patient drink before giving the injection.

-40 grams ascorbic acid by vein and 1000 mg to 2000 mg vitamin B1 intramuscularly will neutralize the person intoxicated by alcohol.

-5 per cent ointment using a water soluble base will cure acute fever blisters if applied 10 or more times a day and several small basal cell epithelioma cancer has been removed with a 30 percent ointment.

-Very promising results were reported in glaucoma with a dose schedule of 100 mg per Kg. body weight taken after meals and bed hour.

-In arthritis at least 10 grams daily and those taking 15 to 25 grams daily will experience commensurate benefit. Supportive treatment must also be given. Repair of collagenous tissue is dependent of adequate ascorbic acid.

-Complications of smallpox vaccination are usually handled by adequate oral ascorbic acid. Sometimes “C” intravenously was needed.

-In massive “shingles” ascorbic acid should also be given by vein. Always as much by mouth as can be tolerated. Heavy metal intoxication is also resolved with adequate vitamin C therapy.

-General all around benefits of one to ten grams ascorbic acid per day. It has been suggested that ascorbic acid metabolism may be an index of total metabolism and thus serve as a general diagnostic guide. Adults taking at least 10 grams of ascorbic acid daily, and children under ten at least one gram for each year of life will find that the brain will be clearer, the mind more active, the body less wearied and the memory more retentive.

-Ascorbic acid destroys virus bodies by taking up the protein coat so that new units cannot be made, by contributing to the break-down of virus nucleic acid with the result of controlled purine metabolism.

-The clinical use of vitamin C in pneumonia has a very sound foundation. The larger the dose of ascorbic acid the better were the results. A schedule of one gram each hour for 48 hours and then 10 grams each day by mouth. Those under ten at least one gram for each year of life.

-In Virus Encephalitis a dose schedule of from 350 mg to 700 mg per Kg. body weight diluted to at least 18 c.c. of 5D water to each gram of “C” is recommended. In small children, 2 and 3 grams can be given intramuscularly, every 2 hours. An ice cap to the buttock will prevent soreness and induration. Ascorbic acid in amounts under 400 mg per Kg. body weight can be administered intravenously with a syringe in dilutions of 5 c.c. to each one gram provided the ampoule is buffered with sodium bicarbonate with sodium Bisulfite added. As much as 12 grams can be given in this manner with a 50 c.c. syringe. Larger amounts must be diluted with “bottle” dextrose or “saline” solutions and run in by needle drip. This is true because amounts like 20 to 25 grams which can be given with a 100 c.c. syringe can suddenly dehydrate the cerebral cortex so as to produce convulsive movements of the legs. This represents a peculiar syndrome, symptomatic epilepsy, in which the patient is mentally clear and experiences no discomfiture except that the lower extremities are in mild convulsion. This epileptiform type seizure will continue for 20 plus minutes and then abruptly stop. Mild pressure on the knees will stop the seizure so long as pressure is maintained. If still within the time limit of the seizure the spasm will reappear by simply withdrawing the hand pressure. Dr. Klenner saw this in two patients receiving 26 grams intravenously with a 100 c.c. syringe on the second injection. One patient had poliomyelitis, the other malignant measles. Both were adults. He duplicated this on himself to prove no after effects. Intramuscular injections are always 500 mg to 1 c.c. solution. With continuous intravenous injections of large amounts of ascorbic acid, at least one gram of calcium gluconate must be added to the fluids each day. This is done because we have found that massive doses of ascorbic acid pulls free calcium ions from the vicinity of the platelets or from the calcium-prothrombin complex as the lactone ring of dehydroascorbic acid is opened. The first sign of calcium ion loss is “nose bleeding”. This differs from the nosebleed found, at times, in cases of chicken pox or measles. Here it represents frank scurvy from vitamin C deficiency. The pathology being “Capillary fragility”.

-Multiple uses for ascorbic acid include Cardiovascular Diseases, Hypermenorrhea, Peptic and Duodenal Ulcers, Post-operative and Radiation Sickness, Rheumatic Fever, Scarlet Fever, Poliomyelitis, Acute and Chronic Pancreatitis, Tularemia, Whooping Cough and Tuberculosis. In one case of scarlet fever in which Penicillin and the Sulfa drugs were showing no improvement, fifty grams ascorbic acid given intravenously resulted in a dramatic drop in the fever curve to normal. Here the action of ascorbic acid was not only direct but also as a synergist. A similar situation was observed in a case of lobar pneumonia. In another case of puerperal sepsis following a criminal abortion the initial dose of ascorbic acid was 1200 mg per Kg body weight and two subsequent injections were at the 600 mg level. Along with Penicillin and Sulfadiazine an admission temperature of 105.4°F. was normal in nine hours. The patient made an uneventful recovery. In one spectacular case of Black Widow spider bite in a 3 1/2 year old child, in coma, one gram calcium gluconate and 4 grams of ascorbic acid was administered intravenously when first seen in the office. Four grams ascorbic acid was then given every six hours using a 20 c.c. syringe. She was awake and well in 24 hours. Physical examination showed a comatose child with a rigid abdomen. The area about the umbilicus was red and indurated, suggesting a strangulated hernia. With a 4 power lens, fang marks were in evidence. Thirty hours after starting the vitamin C therapy the child expelled a large amount of dark clotted blood. There was no other residual. A review of the literature confirmed that this individual has been the only one to survive with such findings; the others were reported at autopsy. Ten grams vitamin C and 200 mg to 400 mg vitamin B-6, by mouth, daily will “shield” one from mosquito bites.

-Ascorbic acid must be given by needle to bring about quick reversal of various “insults” to the human body. Doses must range from 350 mg to 1200 mg per Kg body weight. Under 400 mg per Kg of body weight the injection can be made with a syringe provided the vitamin is buffered with sodium bicarbonate with Sodium Bisulfite added. Above 400 mg doses per Kg body weight, the vitamin must be diluted to at least 18 c.c. of 5 per cent dextrose in water, saline in water or Ringer’s solution. In debilitated individuals or when the pathology is serious, cortisone therapy was also used.

–Pesticide Poisoning. A 12 year old boy was given 10 grams of ascorbic acid with a 50 c.c. syringe every 8 hours. The concentration was one gram for each 5 c.c. diluent. He was returned home on the second hospital day.

–Nasal Diphtheria. A little girl was given 10 grams ascorbic acid, intravenously, with a 50 c.c. syringe every 8 hours for the first 24 hours and then every 12 hours for two times. She was then put on one gram ascorbic acid every two hours by mouth.

–Poliomyelitis. Two brothers were sick with poliomyelitis. These two boys were given 10 and 12 grams of ascorbic acid, according to weight, intravenously with a 50 c.c. syringe, every eight hours for 4 times and then every 12 hours for 4 times. They also were given one gram every two hours by mouth around the clock. They made complete recovery.

–Virus infection. Adequate ascorbic acid therapy must be continued long enough to destroy all virus bodies, otherwise the infection will recur.

–Snake bite. Child of 4 years was struck on the lower leg by a large highland moccasin at 7:00 P.M., while at play in the yard of her country home. Four grams of ascorbic acid was given intravenously at 7:35 P.M. with a 20 c.c. syringe. The following 25 minutes were taken to follow a skin test on anti-venom. At this time and before the anti-venom was administered the child had stopped vomiting, she had stopped crying and was sitting on the emergency room table, laughing and drinking a glass of orange juice. Seen in the office at 10:00 A.M. the following morning she still demonstrated the small amount of swelling of her leg and had 1/2 degree fever. She was given a second dose of 4 grams of ascorbic acid intravenously. Seen at 5 P.M. she had no fever but the swelling remained constant. There was no pain. The following day, 38 hours after being bitten, she was completely normal. An additional 4 grams of ascorbic acid was given on this visit. No other antibiotics were given and none was required.

–Monoxide Poisoning. 12 grams ascorbic acid with a 50 c.c. syringe using a 20 gauge needle. (We employ a 20 G. needle when using a 50 c.c. syringe; 21 G needle for a 30 c.c. syringe; 22 G needle for a 20 c.c. syringe and a 23 G needle for a 10 c.c. syringe. This assists in controlling the rate of flow which is important, especially, in young children). Within 10 minutes the patient was awake, sitting up on the edge of the examining table, rubbing his eyes and saving: “Doc, what in the world am I doing up here in your office.” He returned to his place of employment within 45 minutes.

–Acute Virus pancarditis. A five year old boy was admitted to the local hospital with history of having a “relapse” after recovery from measles. The physical findings showed a thready and feeble pulse. A distinct rub was in evidence by auscultation. The EKG showed RS-T deviations. The temperature was 105°F.. Ascorbic acid calculated at 400 mg per Kg body weight was given intravenously with a syringe. Within two hours the picture had almost reverted to normal. Injection of Vitamin C was repeated in 6 hours and again at 12 hours. A fourth injection was given after 24 hours although the patient was clinically well. The child returned home on the 4th hospital day.

–Acute pancreatitis. Adult Male seen in the emergency room of local hospital complaining of severe, agonizing pain in the epigastrium which radiated to the back. Nausea and vomiting were present. Serum amylase studies showed a concentration of 345. This was the 4th such attack experienced by this patient. Sixty grams ascorbic acid in 700 c.c. Dextrose in water was given intravenously. 20 mg Pantapon was given in the emergency room. No additional opiates were required. The patient made an uneventful recovery. He was placed on 10 grams ascorbic acid by mouth and has not had a recurrence in almost 5 years. He has, however, developed mild diabetes mellitus which is now controlled with diet and vitamin C.

-“A scientific idea must live dangerously or die of inanition. Science thrives on daring generalizations. There is nothing particularly scientific about excessive caution. Cautious explorers do not cross the Atlantic of truth.”-Lancelot Hogben

The Experience of Robert F. Cathcart, M.D.- Oral Vitamin C, Titrating to Tolerance

You can read the entire article here. It was published on Medical Hypotheses, 7:1359-1376, 1981

-The amount of oral ascorbic acid tolerated by a patient without producing diarrhea increases somewhat proportionately to the stress or toxicity of his disease. Bowel tolerance doses of ascorbic acid ameliorate the acute symptoms of many diseases. Lesser doses often have little effect on acute symptoms but assist the body in handling the stress of disease and may reduce the morbidity of the disease.

-The amount of ascorbic acid which can be taken orally without causing diarrhea when a person is ill sometimes is over ten times the amount he would tolerate if well.

-Much of the original work with large amounts of vitamin C was done by Fred R. Klenner, M.D. of Reidsville, North Carolina. Klenner found that viral diseases could be cured by intravenous sodium ascorbate in amounts up to 200 grams per 24 hours. Irwin Stone pointed out the potential of vitamin C in the treatment of many diseases, the inability of humans to synthesize ascorbate, and the resultant condition hypoascorbemia. Linus Pauling reviewed the literature on vitamin C and has led the crusade to make known its medical uses to the public and the medical profession. Ewan Cameron in association with Pauling has shown the usefulness of ascorbate in the treatment of cancer.

-At least 80% of adult patients will tolerate 10 to 15 grams of ascorbic acid fine crystals in 1/2 cup water divided into 4 doses per 24 hours without having diarrhea. The astonishing finding was that all patients, tolerant of ascorbic acid, can take greater amounts of the substance orally without having diarrhea when ill or under stress.

-Tolerances of sometimes over 200 grams per 24 hours were totally unexpected. Representative doses taken by tolerant patients titrating their ascorbic acid intake between the relief of most symptoms and the production of diarrhea were as follows:

   TABLE I - USUAL BOWEL TOLERANCE DOSES 

                               GRAMS ASCORBIC ACID      NUMBER OF DOSES      
CONDITION                  PER 24 HOURS           PER 24 HOURS 
normal                       4 -  15              4 -  6 
mild cold                   30 -  60              6 - 10 
severe cold                 60 - 100+             8 - 15 
influenza                  100 - 150              8 - 20 
ECHO, coxsackievirus       100 - 150              8 - 20 
mononucleosis              150 - 200+            12 - 25 
viral pneumonia            100 - 200+            12 - 25 
hay fever, asthma           15 -  50              4 -  8 
environmental and                                        
 food allergy              0.5 -  50              4 -  8 
burn, injury, surgery       25 - 150+             6 - 20 
anxiety, exercise and                                    
 other mild stresses        15 -  25              4 -  6 
cancer                      15 - 100              4 - 15 
ankylosing spondylitis      15 - 100              4 - 15 
Reiter's syndrome           15 -  60              4 - 10 
acute anterior uveitis      30 - 100              4 - 15 
rheumatoid arthritis        15 - 100              4 - 15 
bacterial infections        30 - 200+            10 - 25 
infectious hepatitis        30 - 100              6 - 15 
candidiasis                 15 - 200+             6 - 25

–Disease symptom curves indicate very little effect on acute symptoms until doses of 80-90% of bowel tolerance are reached. Perhaps it is only near tolerance doses that the ascorbate is pushed into the primary sites of the disease. 2) Suppression of symptoms in some instances may not be total; but usually it is very significant and often the amelioration is complete and rapid. 3) Hepatitis may require 30 to 100 grams.

-The optimally effective dose will often change from dose to dose.

-Titrate between that amount which begins to make him feel better and that amount which almost but not quite causes diarrhea.

-While a hypertonic solution of sodium ascorbate is being administered intravenously, the amount of ascorbic acid tolerated orally actually increases.

-A cold severe enough to permit a person to take 100 grams of ascorbic acid per 24 hours during the peak of the disease, I call a 100 gram cold.

-At least 80% of my patients tolerated ascorbic acid well.

-Infants, small children, and teenagers tolerate ascorbic acid well and can take, proportionate to their body weight, larger amounts than adults

-Patients with multiple food intolerances may have more difficulties but should attempt taking ascorbate because of benefits often obtained.

-The small number of persons, especially elderly persons, intolerant to oral doses are in my experience able to take intravenous ascorbate without difficulties.

-Symptoms of scurvy include lassitude, malaise, bleeding gums, loss of teeth, nosebleeds, bruising, hemorrhages in any part of the body, easy infections, poor healing of wounds, deterioration of joints, brittle and painful bones, and death, etc

-Well-nourished humans usually contain not much more than 5 grams of vitamin C in their bodies. Unfortunately, the majority of people have far less ascorbate than this amount in their bodies and are at risk for many problems related to failure of metabolic processes dependent upon ascorbate. This condition is called Chronic Sub-clinical Scurvy.

-If a disease is toxic enough to allow for the person’s potential consumption of 100 grams of vitamin C, imagine what that disease must be doing to that possible 5 grams of ascorbate stored in the body. A condition of Acute Induced Scurvy is rapidly induced.

-Some of this increased metabolic need for ascorbate undoubtedly occurs in areas of the body not primarily involved in the disease and can be accounted for by such functions as the adrenals producing more adrenaline and corticoids; the immune system producing more antibodies, interferon, and other substances to fight the infection; the macrophages utilizing more ascorbate with their increased activity; and the production and protection of c-AMP and c-GMP with the subsequent increased activity of other endocrine glands.

-The following problems should be expected with increased incidence with severe depletion of ascorbate: disorders of the immune system such as secondary infections, rheumatoid arthritis and other collagen diseases, allergic reactions to drugs, foods and other substances, chronic infections such as herpes, or sequelae of acute infections such as Guillain-Barre’ and Reye’s syndromes, rheumatic fever, or scarlet fever; disorders of the blood coagulation mechanisms such as hemorrhage, heart attacks, strokes, hemorrhoids, and other vascular thrombosis; failure to cope properly with stresses due to suppression of the adrenal functions such as phlebitis, other inflammatory disorders, asthma and other allergies; problems of disordered collagen formation such as impaired ability to heal, excessive scarring, bed sores, varicose veins, hernias, stretch marks, wrinkles, perhaps even wear of cartilage or degeneration of spinal discs; impaired function of the nervous system such as malaise, decreased pain tolerance, tendency to muscle spasms, even psychiatric disorders and senility; and cancer from the suppressed immune system and carcinogens not detoxified; etc. Note that I am not saying that ascorbate depletion is the only cause of these disorders, but I am pointing out that disorders of these systems would certainly predispose to these diseases and that these systems are known to be dependent upon ascorbate for their proper function.

-There is a genetic defect whereby the higher primates lost the ability to synthesize ascorbate. This defect is caused by a mutated defective gene for the liver enzyme, L-gulonolactone oxidase. The higher mammals (except for the higher primates) developed a feedback mechanism which increases ascorbate synthesis under the influence of external and internal stresses.  There are many well-established functions of vitamin C that help in the handling of stress. When stressed, the higher mammals can augment these functions by this feedback mechanism. For the higher primates, including humans, ascorbate can amount to the missing hormone.

–Mononucleosis. A woman with this condition required 2 heaping tablespoons every 2 hours, consuming a full pound of ascorbic acid in 2 days. She felt mostly well in 3 to 4 days, although she had to continue about 20 to 30 grams a day for about 2 months. Many cases do not require maintenance doses for more than 2 to 3 weeks.

–Hepatitis. Usually oral bowel tolerance doses will reverse hepatitis rapidly. Stools regularly return to normal color in 2 days. It generally takes about 6 days for the jaundice to clear, but the patient will feel almost well after 4 to 5 days. Because of the diarrhea caused by the disease, intravenous ascorbate may need to be used in very severe cases. Often large doses of ascorbic acid, taken orally despite diarrhea, will cause a paradoxical cessation of the diarrhea. It has demonstrated the effectiveness of ascorbate in preventing hepatitis from blood transfusions.

-There is often a feeling when titrating to bowel tolerance that symptoms are beginning to return just before taking the next dose.

-IV and IM ascorbate. Clinically large amounts of ascorbate used intravenously are virucidal. The sodium ascorbate used intravenously and intramuscularly must contain no preservatives. Usually there is only a small amount of EDTA in the preparation to chelate trace amounts of copper and iron which might destroy the ascorbate. Solutions containing sodium ascorbate 250 or 500 mgm per cc can be obtained. The 250 mgm solutions may be used in young children intramuscularly in doses usually 350 mgm/kg body weight up to every 2 hours. When the volume of the material becomes too great for intramuscular injections, then the intravenous route should be used. Inadequate doses will be ineffective. Cases are described  where certain death in infants already in shock has been averted by emergency intramuscular ascorbate.

-For intravenous solutions concentrations of 60 grams per liter are made with the 250 or 500 mgm/cc sodium ascorbate diluted with Ringer’s lactate, 1/2N saline, 1N saline, D5W, or distilled water for injection.

-Doses of 400 to 700 mgm/kg of body weight per 24 hours usually suffice. Rate of infusion and the total amount administered can be determined by making sure that symptoms are suppressed and that the patient not become dehydrated or receive sodium too rapidly. Local soreness in the vein caused by too rapid infusion is relieved by slowing the intravenous infusion. One gram of calcium gluconate should be added to the bottles each day to prevent tetany. Bowel tolerance is actually increased by concomitant use of intravenous ascorbate. Care and experience is necessary with concomitant use because tolerance drops precipitously when the intravenous infusion is discontinued.

–The effect of ascorbic acid is synergistic with antibiotics and would appear to broaden the spectrum of antibiotics considerably.

-In the case of a 45-year-old man who had developed osteomyelitis of the 5th metacarpal of the right hand following a cat bite, a partial amputation of the hand had been recommended and surgery scheduled. Consultants agreed. The patient delayed surgery and signed himself out of the hospital. He was given intravenous ascorbate 50 grams a day for 2 weeks. The infection resolved rapidly. While this patient had destruction of the distal end of the metacarpal, there has been no recurrence of the infection. This case illustrates the frequent problem of an indolent infection with an organism non-responsive to the most sophisticated antibiotic treatment which then may respond rapidly to treatment with intravenous ascorbate.

-Patients with mononucleosis, untreated with ascorbate, have a very high incidence of allergic reaction to penicillin. It is interesting that this same disease seems to cause some of the highest bowel tolerances of any disease.

–Hay fever is controlled in the majority of patients.

–Asthma is most often relieved by bowel tolerance doses of ascorbate.

-Many patients will develop allergic disorders or other diseases following combinations of stress, disease, and malnutrition. Immunologists should be particularly interested in the control of these allergic problems and particularly the dramatic responses of cases of ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter’s disease, and acute anterior uveitis. All three of these problems have a high association with the HLA-B27 antigen.

–Yeast infections occur less frequently in patients treated with antibiotics if bowel tolerance doses of ascorbic acid are simultaneously used.

-Ascorbate has little effect on the primary fungal infections. Systemic toxicity and complications can be reduced in incidence.

-Doses should be given a minimum of 6 times a day for trauma and surgery. The effect of ascorbate on anesthetics should be studied. Barbiturates and many narcotics are blocked, so their use as anesthetic agents will be limited when ascorbate is used during surgery. There was virtual elimination of confusion in elderly patients following major surgeries such as with hip fractures when ascorbate was given. The pain and post-operative recovery time were lessened considerably. The amount of inflammation and edema following injury and surgery were markedly reduced. The pain medications used were relatively minimal.

-In the past, vitamin C administered to patients in hospitals post-operatively has been in trivial amounts never exceeding several grams. I predict that reimplantations of major amputations, even transplant surgeries, and especially fine surgeries of the eyes, ears, or fingers will enjoy a phenomenal increase in success rate when ascorbate is utilized in doses of 100 grams or more per 24 hours.

–Cancer. It is discouraged to give cancer patients with widespread metastasis large amounts of ascorbate too rapidly at first. Sometimes extensive necrosis or hemorrhage in the cancer could kill a patient with widespread metastasis if the vitamin was started too rapidly.

-1 gram a day would reduce the incidence of necessary surgery on discs. At bowel tolerance levels, ascorbic acid reduces pain about 50% and lessens the difficulties with narcotics and muscle relaxants.

-Ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis do increase tolerance.

-Three cases with typical sandpaper-like rash, peeling skin, and diagnostic laboratory findings of scarlet fever have responded within an hour or overnight.

-Maintenance doses are established by the patient taking bowel tolerance doses 6 times a day for at least a week. Should any chronic problem be benefited, then the dose is decreased to the minimum amount producing the effect. Otherwise a dose such as 4 to 10 grams a day divided in 3 to 4 doses is recommended. In addition, the patient is told to increase the dose on stressful days. Most patients can easily sense their ascorbate needs.

-It is my experience that ascorbic acid probably prevents most kidney stones. I have had a few patients who had had kidney stones before starting bowel tolerance doses who have subsequently had no more difficulty with them. Acute and chronic urinary tract infections are often eliminated; this fact may remove one of the causes of kidney stones.

-Several patients had discoloration of the skin under jewelry of certain metals. A few patients complaining of small sores in the mouth with the taking of small doses of ascorbate had them clear with bowel tolerance doses. Patients with hidden peptic ulcers may have pain, but some are benefited. Mineral ascorbates can be used for maintenance doses in these cases. Two patients who had mild epigastric discomfort with maintenance doses of ascorbic acid who after being given ascorbate by vein for several days were then able to tolerate the acid orally.

-It is my experience that high maintenance doses reduce the incidence of gouty arthritis.

-If maintenance doses of ascorbic acid in solution are used over very long periods of time I would rinse the teeth after each dose. I would not brush my teeth with calcium ascorbate.

-If the substance is suddenly withdrawn, certain problems result such as a cold, return of allergy, fatigue, etc. Maintenance doses of 4 grams per day do not seem to create a noticeable dependency. The majority of patients who take over 10-15 grams of ascorbic acid per day probably have certain metabolic needs for ascorbate which exceed the universal human species need. Patients with chronic allergies often take large maintenance doses.

-Physicians should recognize the consequences of suddenly withdrawing ascorbate under these circumstances and be prepared to meet these increased metabolic needs for ascorbate in even an unconscious patient. Patients unable to take large oral doses should be given intravenous ascorbate.

–Studies of lesser amounts are almost useless. The oral method cannot by its very nature be investigated by double blind studies because no placebo will mimic this bowel tolerance phenomenon. The method produces such spectacular effects in all patients capable of tolerating these doses, especially in the cases of acute self-limiting viral diseases, as to be undeniable.

-In veterinary medicine , distemper and kennel fever in dogs has been treated with intravenous ascorbate. Although dogs produce their own ascorbate, they do not produce enough to neutralize the toxicity of these diseases. This effect in animals could hardly be a placebo.

-Part of the difficulty many have with understanding ascorbate is that claims for its benefits seem too many. Most of these clinical results merely indicate that large doses of ascorbate augment the healing abilities of the body already known to be dependent upon minimal doses of ascorbate.

Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C by Lendon H. Smith, M.D.

These are the Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., as abbreviated, sumarized and annotated by
Lendon H. Smith, M.D.. You can read the full article here.

-The patient should “get large doses of Vitamin C in all pathological conditions while the physician ponders the diagnosis.”

-If 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.

-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.

-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.

-As an oxidizing agent massive amounts, i.e., 5-150 grams, intravenously, for certain pathological conditions.

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

-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.”

-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.

-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.

-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.

-The collagen of all fibrous tissue structures is dependent on an adequate level of Vitamin C. These weak capillary walls may allow a simple virus to invade the brain

-Vitamin C acts as catalyst in the assimilation of iron.

A note of caution: Those with iron overload (ask your physician to test for ferritin, transferrin, TIBC and iron) should keep in mind that vitamin C increases the absorption of iron into the body, especially in the heart where it can cause heart failure, palpitations and others. Ferritin levels should be ideally less than 80 and transferrin saturation should be less than 40%. If you are above those levels, you might want to donate some blood or refer to the Iron Disorders Institute. A great book on the subject is The Elephant Iron by Roberta Crawford.

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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. I guess it was to help them develop immunity!)

-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).

-This case demonstrates the usual quick response to therapy, but also the recurrence rate if the vitamin 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. This case shows 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.”

-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.

-His routine for Virus Pneumonia was of 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.

-For poliomyelitis, 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.

-It is known that virus infections deplete the Vitamin C content of the adrenals.

-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.)

-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.

-In 1956 Dr. Klenner published, “Poliomyelitis—Case Histories” (Tri-State Medical Journal, Sept). He had a continuing supply of zingers he would throw at doctors who insisted on disregarding his logic. He quotes Ratner, “There are two ways of practicing the medical art: the first is to employ art; the second is to employ fancy.” If one has used speculation, preconceived opinions and prejudice, then he is proceeding by emotions, faith and dreams. We must proceed by REASON. Husky put it, “Science commits suicide when it adopts a creed.”

-For viral hepatitis, he said that vitamin C will cure it in two to four days. (500-700 mg/kg body weight taken orally; approximately 30 grams/24 hours). Dr. Klenner reports that Dr. Bauer at the University Clinic at Basel, Switzerland used just ten grams daily intravenously. It proved to be the best treatment available. He indicated that hepatitis (infectious and serum) can be reversed in a few days using intravenous Vitamin C.

–Case history of viral hepatitis: A 27 year old male with 103° temperature, nausea and jaundice of three days. 60 grams of sodium ascorbate in 600 cc of normal saline was given intravenously at 120 drops/minute. Five grams of Vitamin C was given orally every four hours around the clock. Fifteen grams of C was again given three hours after the first I.V. Another 60 grams of C was given intravenously twelve hours after the initial one (he used 5% glucose in water this time). That one took 75 minutes to accomplish. Then another fifteen grams of C intravenously after two more hours. For the 30 hours of treatment he received 270 grams intravenously and 45 grams orally—no diarrhea. Temperature was normal at this time and urine clear of bile. Discharged from the hospital, he was back to work. C sets in as a flash oxidizer and helps the body manufacture interferon, a natural antiviral agent.

–Case history of viral hepatitis: A 22 year old male with chills and fever and a diagnosis of viral hepatitis. His roommate had been admitted the day before. Fifteen grams of sodium ascorbate was given intravenously every twelve hours for three days, then once daily for six days. Sodium ascorbate was swallowed at five grams every four hours (135 grams intravenously, and 180 grams orally). No diarrhea appeared with these doses. He was sent home on the sixth day with no fever and no bile in the urine. Soon he was back to work. His roommate with just bed rest was in the hospital for 26 days!

-A 42-year-old male suffering from chronic hepatitis had been unsuccessfully treated with steroids for seven months. He was given B complex and Vitamin C: 45 grams of sodium ascorbate plus one gram of calcium gluconate in 500 cc of water with 5% glucose was given intravenously three times a week. He took five grams of C orally every four hours. He was free of the disease in five months. Dr. Klenner felt if he had more massive and continuous doses in the hospital he would have been well in a few weeks, but his peers on the staff would have denied the patient this safe treatment.

-Dr. Klenner reemphasized the point, “Sodium ascorbate in amounts ranging up to 900 mg per kilogram body weight every eight to twelve hours will effect cures in two to four days.”

-He felt that the risk of serum hepatitis from dialysis machines could be eliminated by flushing the machines with 50 grams of sodium ascorbate. When he needed to give a patient a blood transfusion he always added ten grams of sodium ascorbate to each pint. The Japanese, he said, have added but five grams of C to each unit of blood; result, no hepatitis and in thousands of cases.

–Fever blisters: three percent ointment of Vitamin C applied to the lips ten to fifteen times a day in a water soluble base speeds up the cure. A three-percent solution of ascorbic acid used as a douche will heal a cervical erosion; direct application of this solution by the physician would be prudent. Twenty grams of C orally each day would “erase this form of malignancy.” Dr. Klenner points out that the cancer seems to hit those with a hereditary tendency; a virus grows more eagerly in the susceptible. If there is a family tendency, oral C in large doses as a preventative makes sense.

-One to three injections of 400 mg per kg every eight hours will dry up chicken pox in 24 hours. Controls nausea with one gram of C per five cc of fluid. Thirst is precluded if a glass of juice is drunk just before the I.V.

-A ten month old baby had the high fever, watery nose, dry cough, the red eyes, and the Koplik spots that gave the disease away: hard measles. He gave 1000 mg of C every four hours. After twelve hours the temperature had fallen to 97.5°; the cough had stopped and the redness of the membranes had cleared. Just to see if this improvement happened to be the natural course of the disease, he stopped the C for just eight hours. The fever rose to 103.4°. The C injections were resumed and the fever dropped in a few hours to 99°. 1000 mg was given every four hours; no rash developed.

-An eight-year-old developed measles and mumps closely followed by encephalitis (T-104°). He could not eat, was stuporous and responded only to pain. Two hours after one injection of 2000 mg of Vitamin C, he sat up, ate a hearty meal and then played. In six hours he started to revert to his previous stupor, and the fever returned. Twelve hours after a second injection of two grams, and 1000 mg every two hours by mouth, he recovered. Dr. Klenner said, “The rude irritability shown prior to the first injection of Vitamin C was strikingly absent.” I think what he wants the reader to grasp is that the symptoms of these devastating virus diseases are similar to the clues seen in scorbutic patients.

-He reports cases of influenza, encephalitis, and measles easily cured with Vitamin C injections and oral doses. A 23-year-old male developed mumps plus bilateral orchitis; his fever was 105°, and he was in overwhelming pain with “testicles the size of tennis balls.” After one 1000-mg injection of Vitamin C intravenously the pain began to subside and after six more shots spaced every two hours the pain was gone. The fever was normal in 36 hours. He was up, about and well in 60 hours. Total dose 25,000 mg.

-Dr. Klenner felt mono is related to cancer because the same virus (Epstein-Barr) is found in Burkitt’s lymphoma. The disease, mono, can be eliminated with an I.V. of C in just a few days, “The actual time being directly proportional to the amount of the vitamin employed in relation to the severity of the infection.” (Most use Dr. Cathcart’s formula for the amount of C to be given: “I think this is a 50 gram disease: some fever, generalized aches, but ambulatory.”) In one patient who was given the last rites by her church, the girl’s mother took things into her own hands when the attending physician refused to give ascorbic acid. In each bottle of I.V. fluid she would secretly and quickly “tap in” 20 -30 grams of Vitamin C. The patient made an uneventful recovery. Her mother has her BS in nursing and has been a long time advocate of massive “C” therapy. (100 gram disease: 102-103°, holding down fluids but needs to stay in bed, miserable. 200 gram disease: 104 degree temperature, semi-comatose, somewhat dehydrated; hospitalization a good idea.)

–Pancreatitis. He treated but one case of this. He put 60 grams of sodium ascorbate in 1000 cc of 5% dextrose in water and let it drip in rapidly and the patient was able to go home in twelve hours.

–Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Dr. Klenner was an authority in the treatment of this rather debilitating, serious disease because his practice was right in the middle of a constant locus of infection for tick bite fever. Dr. Klenner had been taught in his training that there was no cure for it, only supportive. So when he was confronted with an obvious case—104.4° degree temperature, spots over body, coma, and positive blood test—he quickly gave 30 grams of C intravenously every six hours. The patient was given para-aminobenzoic acid orally, six grams, every two hours x3, then 4 grams every two hours for 24 hours, then 4 grams every 4 hours until his fever was gone for 24 hours. At about the sixth hour of treatment he became conscious and rational. He was sent home on the sixth day, fully recovered. The C is given around the clock and at the 500-900 mg per kg body weight level. The disease “can always be reversed.”

-Dr. Klenner reports on other research: Vitamin C inactivates the toxin of tetanus. He felt that the number of fatalities from the disease were equal to the number of those who die from the treatment. He emphasized some principles of treatment 30 to 40 years ago that many of us have forgotten: namely, do no harm, and the body has tremendous restorative powers if the doctor will supply it with the raw materials to promote recovery.

–Chronic cystitis is usually associated with alkaline urine. Germs grow more easily in this alkaline urine. Vitamin C will discourage these bacteria and cut the chance of an ascending infection which might devastate the kidneys (pyelitis). Ten grams of C per day are suggested.

-For acute alcoholism Dr. Klenner has given 1000 mg of thiamin intramuscularly every two hours until recovery. Pyridoxine, 500 mg is given every six hours. 40 grams of C intravenously will detoxify the patient.

–Arthritis: Vitamin C counteracts the damaging effects of aspirin. C is the number one precursor for collagen formation. If serum levels of C are high, synovial fluid is thinner allowing for easier joint movement. Those taking 15 to 25 grams daily will experience commensurate benefit. Prevention seems prudent. “A person who will take ten to twenty grams of ascorbic acid a day along with other nutrients might very well never develop arthritis.”

–Cancer: He cites Schlegel’s (Tulane University) use of ascorbic acid (1.5 grams a day only) in preventing bladder cancer recurrence. “This is the so called wasted Vitamin C.” He “demonstrated that in the presence of ascorbic acid, carcinogenic metabolites will not develop in the urine. They suggested that spontaneous tumor formation is the result of faulty tryptophan metabolism while urine is retained in the bladder.” Other researchers report that the depletion of mast cells from guinea pig skin was due to ascorbic acid deficiency. It suggests Vitamin C is necessary for the formation and maintenance of mast cells. Vitamin C will control myelocytic leukemia with 25-30 grams orally daily. “How long must we wait for someone to start continuous ascorbic acid drip for two to three months, giving 100 to 300 grams each day, for various malignant conditions?

–Small basal cell epithelioma: 30% Vitamin C ointment.

-His protocol for treating cancer is printed here in total. All of this is designed to kill the cancer cells by shoring up the immune system.

[Note: Back then there was less industrial pollution, no GMOs and less toxicity in general. The dietary guidelines in this diet make no sense in that they contain too much sugar and protein. A ketogenic diet is the one thing that is showing differences for cancer patients nowadays. For more info see Ketogenic diet may be key to cancer recovery.]

1. Use radioactive cobalt when and where indicated.
2. Give 45 grams of sodium ascorbate intravenously every twelve hours for one month. Then use 60 to 65 grams in 500 cc of normal saline or 5% dextrose in water for five days a week until a cure is obtained. It usually takes five months.
3. Each bottle is to contain one gram of calcium gluconate, a cc of some B complex, plus 1,200 mg of thiamin, 300 mg of pyridoxine, and 600 mg of niacinamide.
4. Oral sodium ascorbate, 5, 10, 20, grams daily. The dose depends upon the bowel tolerance.
5. Vitamin A palmitate, 50,000 units, daily, orally.
6. Pantothenic acid, (B5) one gram orally four times a day.
7. Amino acid protein powder with all the eighteen amino acids. 60 tablets each day or, if a powder, several tablespoons daily. This supports the immune system and the enzymes. Tyrosine should be taken separately, if possible, as this one makes the others work better; 500 mg tablets—six daily.
8. In addition, a high protein diet using white chicken meat, fresh fish, chicken livers, and brown-shelled eggs. Beef (but once a week) should be as lean as possible: lean stew beef or sirloin tip are the best but have the butcher grind it three times. Hamburgers? Only once a week. No sugar and no starches. Fruit and fruit juices are permitted. Almonds are excellent.
9. 30 to 40 apricot almonds should be chewed every day in divided doses until a continuous bitter almond taste develops. At this point the patient cuts the dose in half. “This will form cyanide by way of the stomach acid. Cyanide will kill cancer cells. Vitamin C will protect one against the lethal effects of cyanide. It is the antidote. 500 mg tablets of vitamin B₁₇ are available. One after each meal and at bed time.” (Not everyone would agree with this part of the therapy. Cancer victims are still getting amygdalin B₁₇, as injections from Mexico, but there is some doubt as to its efficacy. LHS)
10. Vitamin E, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate, 400 International unit size, 3,200 units daily. Don’t take iron with it.
11. One pint of grape juice daily.
12. B complex tablets with 100 mg of each of the B’s and 100 mcg of B₁₂. Six to eight tablets daily. Theragran-M or a similar capsule with all the minerals to replace what is being pulled out by the C.
13. Maintain the hemoglobin at 13 grams.
14. Keep a good attitude.

He reported a case of a man with lymph glands all over his body. He got the above treatment and although the glands increased in size for a while, his liver and spleen were back to normal size in four months. Dr. Klenner noticed a ‘parachute-like’ substance in the urine. Microscopic examination revealed they were clumps of cancer cells.

Another case was that of a woman who had an adenocarcinoma of two years duration. She had had chemotherapy, two surgeries and extensive radiation over her chest, especially the neck area where the cancerous glands were. The cancer had spread to her lungs, her abdomen and six glands in her neck. Dr. Klenner gave her the above protocol. In three months the lesion in her lung had cleared and gone were the glands in her neck. After six months of intravenous Vitamin C and the B complex, the abdominal masses had disappeared, but she could not swallow food. The radiation had scarred her esophagus beyond dilatation and she refused more surgery. The cancer was gone; she died from starvation due to the radiation.

Dr Klenner summarized this paper with this: “The results suggest that larger daily amounts could be given in a hospital with faster results. I would suggest at least 100 grams in 1000 cc of fluid and given every twelve to 24 hours. The vitamins and the calcium gluconate also must be given.” He thought interferon could be assayed while the patient is in the hospital. “How long will it take for the general population to challenge the drug cartel?”

-There is a relationship of Vitamin C and cholesterol. Scorbutic guinea pigs have high cholesterol levels. Way back in 1947 high intravenous doses of Vitamin C were found effective in lowering cholesterol levels. Cholesterol levels in the blood of subjects vary with the amount of C used. In one patient the cholesterol was lowered 42 mg percent in six weeks when his oral intake of Vitamin C was increased from 10 grams a day to 20 grams a day. Extra C seems to be critical especially in those with a family tendency. [And as long as there is no excess iron in the body, cholesterol itself will be less likely to be toxic]

–Cavities: A gram of Vitamin C every day for each year of life (five grams a day for the five year old) will prevent cavities. Ten grams a day from age ten years for a lifetime should maintain that advantage.

–Disc, ruptured intervertebral: will be prevented with the ten-grams-a-day dose. Adequate amounts seem necessary for disc metabolism and maintenance.

-Corneal ulcers: healed with but 1.5 grams of C daily. The pain of a corneal burn was relieved immediately with twelve grams of C intravenously. The cornea was normal in 24 hours.

-He reported the story of a seven year old diabetic, who developed measles, and his insulin requirements went from 5 units to more than 90 units a day, but with one gram of Vitamin C every four hours his infection and elevated blood sugar came under control. In these diabetic cases, the Vitamin C can be cut back to reasonable levels after the infection is under control. Large prolonged doses of “Vitamin C might prove undesirable due to its dehydrating and diuretic powers.”

-As a matter of fact Dr. Klenner had been studying the effects of ten grams of C per day orally in patients with diabetes mellitus; 60% were able to control the condition with diet and C. The other 40% were able to reduce the insulin dose. Wounds healed more readily.

–Glaucoma: patients use 35 grams of C (100 mg/kg after meals and bedtime) in divided doses during the 24 hours and this osmotic dehydration of the eyeball was safe and effective. “The size of the dose does make a difference—a real difference.”

–Schizophrenia: Dr. Klenner reminds us of Hoffer and Osmond’s work with niacin and Vitamin C back in the early 1950’s. Six to 8 grams of C a day made the niacin work. One schizophrenic took one gram every hour for 48 hours and was completely recovered for six months with no further treatment. These megadoses halved the suicide rate. It has been demonstrated that schizophrenics burn up C ten times faster than the normal population.

–Burns: can be treated with Vitamin C. “30-100 grams of Vitamin C is the proper amount to employ.” (500 mg per kg of body weight diluted to at least 18 cc per gram of C using 5% dextrose or saline in water or Ringer’s solution, repeated every eight hours for several days, then at twelve hour intervals. Calcium gluconate is added.) “Vitamin C is given until healing takes place.” It takes seven to thirty days depending upon the degree of the burn. It may prevent the need for grafting as it keeps the tissues oxygenated thus preventing the blood from sludging. [Kniseley] On the fourth to fifth day the malodorous burn eschars will fall off leaving normal tissue. Vitamin C also eliminates pain; opiates are less necessary. (It stimulates endorphin production in the brain.) Three percent ascorbic acid solution is used as a spray every two to four hours for five days. Pseudomonas: (a nasty bacteria, often seen in burn patients; very resistant to antibiotics): three percent spray plus massive injections.

–Heat stroke: 500 mg per kg of body weight will reverse it.

–Sunburn: One gram taken every one to two hours during exposure will prevent sunburn; an I.V. injection will quickly relieve the pain and erythema. Even second-degree burns will be healed.

-Prickly heat, heat stroke, heat collapse can all be treated; the latter needs twelve to forty grams intravenously. Electric shock patients must be given Vitamin C immediately after the accident—including lightning victims.

-Vitamin C will control the side effects of radiation including radiation burns. “Who can say what 100 to 300 grams given intravenously daily for several months might accomplish in cancer? The potential is so great and the employment so elementary that only the illiterate will continue to deny its use.”

–Surgery: Way back in 1960 and again in 1966, Dr. Klenner delivered papers before the Tri-State Medical Society calling attention to the “scurvy levels” of C in post-operative patients. The levels began to fall six hours after surgery and by 24 hours the levels were 3/4 lower than pre-op. Tensile strength of healing wounds is lowered if the plasma drops to scurvy levels. The lower the C levels the poorer the wound heals. Even as little a dose as 500 mg of C orally “was remarkable successful in preventing shock and weakness,” following dental extraction.

-Dr. Klenner used 10 grams preoperatively intravenously and ten grams in each post-operative bottle and then ten grams orally when eating was resumed. Surgical wounds rarely separated with this method. Fractures healed faster. (Some surgeons will give ten grams of Vitamin C at the end of the operation, and the patient is awake and alert in 60 seconds. No need for the nausea and vomiting in the recovery room.)

–Heavy Metal Poisonings: Especially lead and mercury—are controlled with Vitamin C injections and oral intake. An intake of Vitamin C daily will protect animals—and by extrapolation, humans—from fatal doses of mercury. If a guinea pig needed 200 mg one day to protect it from an otherwise fatal dose of mercury, the human would need 14 grams daily. Smaller doses would be able to protect the body from smaller amounts of the toxin.

-Lead poisoning: 350 mg of Vitamin C per one kg of body weight taken intramuscularly every two to four hours; recovery in less than 72 hours.

-Dr. Klenner found that the amount of C used “in any case is the all important factor. In 28 years of research we have observed that 30 grams each day is critical in terms of response” regardless of age and weight. (Barbiturate intoxication, snake bite and viral encephalitis may require larger doses in some individuals.)

–Carbon Monoxide (CO): if 12 to 50 grams of Vitamin C is injected rapidly into the blood stream, it acts as an oxidizer and will “pull CO from hemoglobin to form carbon dioxide” which is easily exhaled. A burn victim should immediately receive a dose of 500 mg of C per kg of body weight intravenously. It will “neutralize the CO or smoke poisoning while at the same time it will prevent blood sludging which in the major factor in the development of third degree burns.” An accidental carbon monoxide poisoning was reversed in ten minutes with 12 grams of ascorbic acid in a 50 cc syringe using a twenty gauge needle. (”We employ a twenty-gauge needle when using a 50 cc syringe; a twenty-one gauge for a thirty-cc syringe, a twenty-two gauge for a twenty cc syringe and a twenty-three gauge needle for a ten cc syringe“).

-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. “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.”

-“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).

–Multiple Sclerosis & Myasthenia Gravis. Adequate oxygen is assured if the lungs and hemoglobin are normal, but also by taking 10 to 30 grams of ascorbic acid by mouth every 24 hours. Oxygen is released for tissue use when ascorbic acid becomes dehydroascorbic acid. Enzymes are necessary to make all these reactions possible. Genetic faults manifest themselves through enzymatic deficiencies. He puts Myasthenia Gravis and Multiple Sclerosis in the same therapeutic group as he found thiamin was the key to the therapy. M.G. is a genetically transmitted disease and M.S. is triggered by a virus and mimics poliomyelitis. Nerve damage in M.S. is due to microscopic hemorrhages in the nervous system. During healing, scar tissue contracts clamping off capillary flow and nutrition. This wasting results in loss of the myelin sheath protection. He felt that remyelinating these damaged nerves was every bit as hopeful as the myelination that occurs normally in infancy with nothing more spectacular than breast milk. It requires two years of treatment to repair the damage caused by one year of the disease. He cites works in the late 1930s by Stern at Columbia University who used thiamin intraspinally for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis with astonishing results. After 30 mg of thiamin was injected into the spinal canal of paralyzed MS. victims, they had a temporary remission. Dr. Klenner felt that most cases (80%) of Multiple Sclerosis had their origin in an illness—probably a coxsackie virus—compatible with a summer “flu”. He mentioned other theories of the etiology of M.S., but was convinced that the scar tissue that forms around the nerves and produces the symptoms “is the end result of microscopic hemorrhages following virus invasion.”

-Dr. Klenner reports on a few minor complications. Some diarrhea might have been due to sodium bisulfite. Induration after intramuscular injections was found to be due to the Vitamin C not being injected deeply enough into the muscle. (One had to be drained—a sterile abscess.) If the concentration was one gram to 5 cc it caused a vein spasm up the arm from the injection site in three cases. A thrombosis of the vein occurred in but one case. A minor face rash developed in a few that cleared after the C was stopped. Calcium seemed to enhance the effects of the C when both were give simultaneously. But a gram of just the calcium given intravenously can slow the heart rate to a dangerous degree.

-Oxalic acid precipitates out of solution only from a neutral or alkaline solution—pH 7 to pH 10. Urine pH in those consuming ten grams of Vitamin C daily is about 6. Even in diabetics who take this large amount of C (10 grams), the urinary oxalate excretion remains relatively unchanged. “Vitamin C is an excellent diuretic. No urinary stasis; no urine concentration. The ascorbic acid/kidney stone story is a myth.” One more bon mot: “Methylene will dissolve calcium oxalate stones, if the patient is given 65 mg orally two to three times a day,” he learned from Medical World News (Smith, M.J.V., M.D.: Dec. 4, 1970). (90% of all stones are calcium stones. Calcium is soluble in acid media. Vitamin C acidifies the urine. Acid urine discourages the growth of bacteria. Although uric acid stones are theoretically possible with high doses of C and a low urinary pH, none have been reported.)

-He reiterates the safety of large doses of C. He states that plasma doses of greater than twenty times normal produce no ill effects. Diarrhea is the most common side effect of large doses. Some notice thickening of subcutaneous tissue is the C is not injected deeply enough into, the muscle. (That induration will eventually resolve.) Some will complain of venous irritation and spasm if the intravenous Vitamin C is too concentrated or too rapidly injected. (C mixed with calcium will reduce this irritation.) A rare thrombosis may occur if the concentration of the C is greater than 500 mg per cc. Some will faint if the injection is given too rapidly. (It is best to have the patient lie flat.) Large doses by mouth may cause a genital or anal rash and itch. He also showed how safe large doses of C were. He gave 200 patients 500 to 1000 mg of C every four to six hours for five to ten days. No laboratory abnormalities were found in blood or urine and no symptoms were noted except one percent who developed vomiting; he assumed from a hypersensitive stomach. And these patients had no virus infection to “assist in destroying the vitamin.”

Current IV Vitamin C Guidelines

Nowadays baseline blood tests include screening for red blood cell glucose-6-phospahte dehydrogenase deficiency. Those with G6PD, an extremely rare condition, can have problems of hemolysis when vitamin C at large doses are first infused.

In case of iron overload, vitamin C is also discouraged as it will increase iron’s absorption, often carrying its toxic effect into the heart. Due to iron overload’s pro-cancer and pro-disease effects, many people will find themselves not able to benefit from vitamin C. These people will only recover their health and energy with iron chelation therapies such as EDTA and bloodletting. Yes, donating blood can be very good for your health!

There are numerous case histories where vitamin C’s anti-cancer properties have been reported. You’ll find resources on where these therapies are performed at Orthomolecular.org.

Usually a protocol will look like this:

Week 1: 1 x 15 g infusion per day, 2-3 per week.Week 2: 1 x 30 g infusion per day, 2-3 per week.
Week 3: 1 x 65 g infusion per day, 2-3 per week.

The dose is then adjusted to achieve blood concentrations of 400mg/dL, 2-3 infusions per week. Sodium ascorbate is the one usually used for IV vitamin C infusion, as it is more friendly.

Lots of folks just do their own liposomal vitamin C and voilà.