Vitamin C and Cardiovascular Disease

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, June 22, 2010

Vitamin C and Cardiovascular Disease

A Personal Viewpoint by Alan Spencer and W. Saul

(OMNS, June 22, 2010) Linus ing was aware that studies of the animal

kingdom showed that most animals have the ability to manufacture vitamin C

in their bodies. Humans cannot. Furthermore, on average, mammals make

5,400mg daily when adjusted for body weight, and make more (often considerably

more) when under stress or ill. This is about 100 times as much as the 50mg we

get from a typical modern diet. It prompts the question, why do animals

make so much vitamin C, and what purpose does it serve in the body?

A small number of animals which are known to share our inability to make

vitamin C include the apes, the guinea pig, the fruit bat, and some birds,

all of which will normally get a lot of vitamin C from their food. If you

deprive a guinea pig of vitamin C it soon develops a form of cardiovascular

disease (damage to its arteries showing within a few weeks). Similarly,

studies of genetically modified mice have shown that if you switch off the gene

that enables a mouse to produce vitamin C it will also soon show signs of

heart disease. Re-introduction of a high vitamin C diet enables the damage

to be reversed. While heart disease is rare in the animal kingdom, it is

becoming a problem for apes in zoos where their diets are perhaps not as rich

in vitamin C as when they are in the wild.

Collagen

A very important function of vitamin C in the body is its role in the

production of collagen. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, and

forms into fibres which are stronger than iron wire of comparable size.

These fibres provide strength and stability to all body tissues, including the

arteries. Vitamin C is absolutely essential for the production and repair

of collagen, and is destroyed during the process, so a regular supply of

vitamin C is necessary to maintain the strength of body tissues. Severe

deficiency of vitamin C causes the total breakdown of body tissue witnessed in

scurvy. Linus ing believed that whilst humans normally obtain sufficient

vitamin C to prevent full-blown scurvy, we do not consume enough to

maintain the strength of the walls of the arteries. He suggested that of all

the

structural tissues in the body, the walls of the arteries around the heart

are subject to the greatest continual stress. Every time the heart beats the

arteries are flattened and stretched, and this has been likened to

standing on a garden hose thousands of times a day. Many tiny cracks and

lesions

develop and the artery walls become inflamed.

Dr. ing believed that in the presence of adequate supplies of vitamin

C this damage can be readily repaired and heart disease is avoided.

However, in the absence of adequate levels of vitamin C, the body attempts to

repair the arteries using alternative materials: cholesterol and other fatty

substances, which attach to the artery wall. (1-8)

Cholesterol and Lipoprotein (a), Lp(a)

The most abundant amino acids (protein building blocks) in collagen are

lysine and proline, and when collagen strands are damaged lysine and proline

become exposed. A special kind of cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), is attracted

to lysine and proline and will attach itself to the exposed damaged

collagen strands. It is an attempt by the body to repair damage to the collagen

of the artery walls in the absence of adequate levels of vitamin C.

Unfortunately the repair is not ideal and over many years repeated deposits can

cause the artery to become narrow and inflamed. Heart attack or stroke is

likely to follow (usually caused by a clot forming at the site of the narrowed

artery, or by a piece of plaque breaking off and blocking a smaller vessel

downstream). When vitamin C levels are low, the body manufactures more

cholesterol, especially Lp(a). Conversely, when vitamin C levels are high the

body makes less cholesterol.

If high blood cholesterol were the primary cause of heart disease, all

bears and other hibernating animals would have become extinct long ago. They

naturally have high cholesterol levels. One reason bears are still with us

is simple: they produce large amounts of vitamin C in their bodies, which

stabilises the artery walls, and there is therefore no tendency to develop

cholesterol deposits or plaque.

Keeping healthy

The low levels of vitamin C that are available through diet are inadequate

to prevent many people developing arterial plaques, and over time this may

result in cardiovascular disease. Post mortem examinations showed that 77%

of young American soldiers killed in the Korean war (average age 22)

already had well-advanced atherosclerosis (heart disease), and post mortem

studies from the Vietnam war gave similar results. Heart disease is not just a

disease of the elderly, although it does not usually become life threatening

until later in life.

How can we prevent it? ing believed that once we start taking high

levels of vitamin C, the disease process is halted, or at least slowed, as

Lp(a) cholesterol is no longer needed as a repair material. He also believed

that when we take adequate levels of vitamin C, existing arterial plaques

may start to be removed from the arteries. He found that the removal of

plaques is more rapid if the amino acid lysine is taken along with vitamin C.

Lysine appears to attach to the Lp(a) in existing plaque deposits and helps to

loosen them. Linus ing recommended at least 3000mg of vitamin C per

day as a preventive dose, and significantly higher levels of both vitamin C

and lysine for the treatment of existing heart disease. Dosage is a key

factor: low doses are ineffective.

Retention in the body

Another important point is that a single dose of vitamin C is not retained

in the body for very long. This fact has been used for a long time by

those who do not support the use of high doses of vitamin C as evidence that

the body does not need and cannot use large doses. After a single large dose

of vitamin C, the blood level quite soon returns to a low level. A lot is

excreted, the high blood level only remaining for a few hours.

The key factor here is that the body is not designed to function with just

a single large dose of vitamin C once a day. Animals are able to

manufacture vitamin C in their bodies and do so continuously throughout the

day.

They have an enzyme which converts glucose to vitamin C, and each day they

produce on the order of a hundred times more vitamin C than we are able to get

from even a good diet. When animals are ill they manufacture even more,

perhaps thousands of times more than we can get from our diet.

How much should we take?

For people who are essentially fit and well, the Vitamin C Foundation

recommends perhaps 3,000mg of vitamin C per day, taken in divided doses as

500mg every four hours, as a protection against the development of heart

disease. The problem with even this protective dose is that taking a tablet

every

four hours is not something that many people would want to adopt as part

of their daily routine. But there is good evidence to suggest that this

level of intake will help maintain the strength of the arteries and prevent the

build up of cholesterol plaques. If everybody were to do this, perhaps

heart disease would become a largely a thing of the past (as might many other

chronic diseases).

When treating illness, **bowel tolerance** is the indicator of dosage

level that should be used. This means taking just under the level of vitamin C

(in divided doses) that results in loose stools. Everyone is different.

Note that while a few 1,000mg doses a day might make you loose when you are

fit and well, your **bowel tolerance** might increase to ten or even a

hundred times this when very ill. So, for illness, the levels suggested by the

Vitamin C Foundation are 6,000mg to 18,000mg of vitamin C per day (or up to

bowel tolerance) plus 2,000mg to 6,000mg of lysine. These vitamin C levels

may seem high, but are perhaps not particularly large when compared with

levels seen in the animal kingdom. A substantial amount of lysine may be

obtained from diet. For example, one may obtain 3,000 to 4,000 milligrams of

lysine from about can and a half of beans. Supplementation reduces the need to

consume that much.

Controversy

**Even though some physicians had observed forty or fifty years ago that

amounts of vitamin C a hundred to a thousand times larger (than the RDA)

have value in controlling various diseases, the medical profession and most

scientists ignored this evidence.** (Linus ing, How to Live Longer and

Feel Better)

In medical circles, ing's recommendations remain controversial.

However, his theory seems reasonable, and the implications are so significant

that some major scientific trials should have been undertaken to assess it.

This has not happened. Supporters of high-dose vitamin C have had their

applications for research funding denied repeatedly, and have had to be content

with carrying out small scale research projects and case studies. These

have been very positive. Over the past fifteen years, ing therapy advocates

have received hundreds of reports from heart patients who have self

administered the therapy. It is reported that these people typically recover

within 30 days, and the majority experience significant relief within as little

as a week or two. In 1994, Linus ing wrote, **I think we can get

almost complete control of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes by

the proper use of vitamin C and lysine. It can prevent cardiovascular

disease and even cure it. If you are at risk of heart disease, or if there is a

history of heart disease in your family, if your father or other members of

the family died of a heart attack or stroke or whatever, or if you have a

mild heart attack yourself, then you had better be taking vitamin C and

lysine.**

References:

(1) Rath M, ing L. Immunological evidence for the accumulation of

lipoprotein(a) in the atherosclerotic lesion of the hypoascorbemic guinea pig.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Dec;87(23):9388-90. PMID: 2147514. Free

full text download: _http://www.pnas.org/content/87/23/9388.full.pdf_

(http://www.pnas.org/content/87/23/9388.full.pdf)

(2) Rath M, ing L. Hypothesis: lipoprotein(a) is a surrogate for ascor

bate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(16):6204-7. [Erratum in: Proc

Natl Acad Sci U S A 1991 Dec 5;88(24):11588.] PMID: 2143582. Free full text

download: _http://www.pnas.org/content/87/16/6204.full.pdf_

(http://www.pnas.org/content/87/16/6204.full.pdf)

(3) Rath M, ing L. Solution To the Puzzle of Human Cardiovascular

Disease: Its Primary Cause Is Ascorbate Deficiency Leading to the Deposition of

Lipoprotein(a) and Fibrinogen/Fibrin in the Vascular Wall. J

Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3 & 4th Quarters, 1991, p 125. Free full text

download:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p125.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p125.pdf)

(4) ing L, Rath M. An Orthomolecular Theory of Human Health and

Disease. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3 & 4th Quarters, 1991, p 135. Free full

text

download:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p135.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p135.pdf)

(5) Rath M, ing L. Apoprotein(a) Is An Adhesive Protein. J

Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3 & 4th Quarters, 1991, p 139. Free full text

download:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p139.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p139.pdf)

(6) Rath M, ing L. Case Report: Lysine/Ascorbate Related Amelioration

of Angina Pectoris. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3 & 4th Quarters, 1991, p

144. Free full text download:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p144.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n03 & 04-p144.pdf)

(7) Rath M, ing L. A Unified theory of Human Cardiovascular Disease

Leading the Way To the Abolition of This Diseases As A Cause for Human

Mortality. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 7, First Quarter 1992, p 5. Free full text

download:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/pdf/1992-v07n01-p005.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/pdf/1992-v07n01-p005.pdf)

(8) Rath M, ing L. Plasmin-induced Proteolysis and the Role of

Apoprotein(a), Lysine and Synthetic Lysine Analogs. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol

7,

First Quarter 1992, p 17. Free full text download:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/pdf/1992-v07n01-p017.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/pdf/1992-v07n01-p017.pdf)

For More Information:

Fonorow O. Practicing Medicine Without a License? The Story of the Linus

ing Therapy for Heart Disease. 2008. Lulu.com. ISBN-10: 1435712935;

ISBN-13: 978-1435712935. Reviewed in J Orthomolecular Med, 2009. Vol 24, No 1,

p 51-5.

Hickey S and H. Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C. 2004.

ISBN-10: 1411607244; ISBN-13: 978-1411607248. Lulu.com. This book contains 575

references, and is reviewed at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/ascorbate.html_

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/ascorbate.html)

Hickey S, Saul AW. Vitamin C: The Real Story. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic

Health Publications, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-59120-223-3. This book contains 387

references, and is reviewed at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/realstory.html_

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/realstory.html)

Levy TE. Stop America's #1 Killer: Reversible vitamin deficiency found to

be the origin of all coronary heart disease. 2006. ISBN-10: 0977952002;

ISBN-13: 978-0977952007. (Dr. Levy is a board-certified cardiologist.)

Reviewed in J Orthomolecular Med, 2006. Vol 21, No 3, p 177-178. This book

contains 60 pages of references. To download the review:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2006/pdf/2006-v21n03-p175.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2006/pdf/2006-v21n03-p175.pdf)

ing L. How to Live Longer and Feel Better (Revised edition). Oregon

State University Press, 2006. ISBN-10: 0870710966; ISBN-13: 978-0870710964.

Reviewed in J Orthomolecular Med, 2006. Vol 21, No 3, p 175-177. To download

the review:

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2006/pdf/2006-v21n03-p175.pdf_

(http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2006/pdf/2006-v21n03-p175.pdf)

On the Web:

The Vitamin C Foundation _http://www.vitamincfoundation.org_

(http://www.vitamincfoundation.org)

AscorbateWeb, a historical compendium of 20th-Century medical and

scientific literature demonstrating the efficacy of vitamin C.

_http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/_

(http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/)

Putting the " C " in Cure: Quantity and frequency are the keys to ascorbate

therapy. _http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v05n11.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v05n11.shtml)

Vitamin C Saves Lives.

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v01n02.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v01n02.shtml)

RDA for Vitamin C is 10% of USDA Standard for Guinea Pigs.

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n08.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n08.shtml)

Vitamin C: What Form is Best?

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v05n10.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v05n10.shtml)

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