10 Cold and Flu Home Remedies

THE COMMON COLD: ASCORBIC ACID (PURE VITAMIN C)

Form the Book: Healing Factor Vitamin C Against Disease – by Irwin Stone, Linus Pauling, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi 1972, p. 121-123

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With this chapter, we begin the discussions of the use of ascorbic acid in the treatment of various diseases other than scurvy. We start with the common cold because it is a most annoying ailment and it is one to which everyone is repeatedly exposed. It is also the one with which the author has had the most personal experience. From this personal experience, it is the author's belief that this disease could be eradicated through the proper use of ascorbic acid. It is the purpose of this chapter to tell how this can be done.

Let us first go over some statistics and current research on the common cold and then take a quick look at the medical literature to see what has been done with ascorbic acid in the treatment of the common cold over the last thirty years.

It has been estimated that Americans get about 500 million colds per year. Besides causing acute physical discomfort and taxing the individual's health and stamina, the common cold is the greatest single cause of industrial absenteeism. Its cost to industry appears to be well over five billion dollars a year in lost time and production.

Much research money is being expended now in the hope of developing a vaccine for colds. The probability of developing a useful vaccine is remote because of the large number of different viruses and associated bacteria found in common cold victims. For instance, the rhinoviruses which can be isolated from more than half the adults with common colds comprise about seventy to eighty different serotypes. Since a vaccine is highly specific and only effective against a particular viral strain or bacterial species, it is doubtful whether a polyvalent vaccine would be useful because of the great number of serotypes and the short duration of induced immunity. What is needed, instead, is a wide=spectrum, nontoxic, virucidal, and bactericidal agent. Ascorbic acid fills this bill.

One of the difficulties in common cold research is the general lack of laboratory animals that are susceptible to this disease. Man and apes are reputed to be the only susceptible hosts to this disease. Easily managed laboratory animals such as rats, mice, rabbits, cats and dogs are said not to catch the disease, thus making laboratory studies very difficult. It is significant that the two species that can catch colds, man and the apes, are the two that cannot make their own ascorbic acid.

Shortly after the discovery of ascorbic acid, it was found that it had a powerful antiviral activity. This activity was found to be nonspecific and a wide spectrum of viruses were attacked and inactivated. These included the viruses of poliomyelitis (polio), vaccinia, herpes, rabies, foot-and-mouth disease, and tobacco mosaic. The ability of ascorbic acid to inactivate viruses extends to many more and probably covers all the viruses, but these were the ones investigated at this early date. Other workers in the 1930s found that ascorbic acid was capable of inactivating a number of bacterial toxins such as those of diphtheria, tetanus, dysentery, staphylococcus, and anaerobic toxins. These result appeared so promising that, in 1939, they led one worker (1) to state: "Vitamin C, therefore, may truthfully be designated the 'antitoxic and antiviral' vitamin." And in addition it is relatively harmless to humans.

The medical literature on ascorbic acid and the common cold from 1939 to 1961 can be divided into two groups: one group contains the clinical tests where the ascorbic acid was administered for the treatment of the common cold at dosage rates measured in milligrams per day (one gram or less); the other group contains those where it was given at higher daily dosages. The milligram group found ascorbic acid to be ineffective in the treatment of colds; the higher-dosage group reported more successful results.

Let us skim through this record, covering over a quarter-century, and see what it shows. We will take the inadequate, low-dosage tests first: Berquist (2), in 1940, used 90 milligrams of ascorbic acid per day. Kuttner (3) used 100 milligrams daily on 108 rheumatic children and found no lessening of the incidence of upper-respiratory infections. Cowan, Diehl, and Baker (4) used 200-milligrams per day. Glazebrook and Thomson (5), in 1942,200 used between 50 and 300 milligrams daily on boys in a large institution. They reported no difference in the incidence of colds and tonsillitis, and the duration of the colds was the same in the group getting the ascorbic acid and that not getting it. The duration of the tonsillitis was longer, however, in the control group, and cases of rheumatic fever and pneumonia developed; but none occurred in the group getting the ascorbic acid. Even a these threshold levels there seemed t be some protection. In 1944 Dahlberg, Engel, and Rydin (6) used 200 milligrams per day on a regiment of Swedish soldiers and reported, "No difference could be found as regards frequency or duration of colds, degrees of fever, etc." Franz and Heyl (7) and Tebrock, Arminio, and Johnston (8), in 1956, both used about 200 milligrams daily in combination with "bioflavanoids, " without reporting notable success. At this late date these workers were still proving the pharmacologic fact that you cannot squeeze consistent good therapeutic results from ineffective threshold dosages. Shekhtman (9), in 1961, used 100 milligrams of ascorbic acid for seven months of the year and then 50 milligrams for the rest of the year. He reported a decreased incidence of colds, but the difference was not striking. These are some of the reports of those who used the threshold of "vitamin-like" dosages of milligrams per day. Now, let us turn to the other side of the picture -- the group that used higher dosages.

This group includes Ruskin (10) who, in 1938, injected 450 milligrams of calcium ascorbate as soon after the onset of cold symptoms as possible. (this report is included among the higher level group because giving ascorbate by injection is several times more effective that the equivalent dosage by mouth.) In over 2,000 injections there were no complications incident to the injections. Forty-two percent of his patients were completely relieved, usually after the first or second injection. Forty-eight percent were reported as "markedly improved." Ruskin, in his summary, states, "Calcium ascorbate would appear to be practically an abortive in the treatment of the common cold." This statement appeared in 1938, and an astronomical number of colds could have been prevented in the intervening years if only this early work had been followed up. Van Alyea (11), in 1942, found 1 gram a day of ascorbic acid a valuable aid in treating rhinosinusitis. Markwell (12), by 1947, using 3/4 gram or more every three or four hours stated:

My experience seems to show that if the dose is given both early enough and in large enough quantity, the chances of stopping a cold are about fifty-fifty, or perhaps better. It is an amazing and comforting experience to realize suddenly in the middle of the afternoon that no cold is present, after having in the morning expected several days of throat torture... I have never seen any ill effects whatsoever from vitamin C and I do not think there are any... The number of patients who have taken large doses of vitamin C to abort colds during in the last three years is considerable -- large enough to allow an opinion to be formed, at any rate, as a preliminary to more scientific research.

Albanese (13), in 1947, injected 2 grams of ascorbic acid a day to fight off "la grippe" and reported an immediate alleviation of symptoms, a rapid drop in fever, and shortening of duration of illness. The injections were well tolerated and there were no complications. Albanese reported his observations in the hope that it would stimulate others to try his treatment and obtain additional clinical data. Woolstone (14), in 1954, obtained good results in treating the common cold with 0,8 grams of ascorbic acid hourly and vitamin B complex three times a day. He stated, "although I can only offer my own observations as proof, the results have been so dramatic that I feel others should be given a chance to try it." Miegl (15), three years later, described the excellent relief of 111 of 132 common cold sufferers in half a day by taking 1 gram of ascorbic acid in tea, three times a day (3,000mg). In 1958 (15), he published another paper extending his previous good results and recommended 2 to 5 grams of ascorbic acid a day for the prophylaxis of respiratory diseases, nosebleeds, radiation sickness, postoperative bleeding, and other conditions. Bessel-Lorch (16) in tests on Berlin high school students at a ski camp gave 1 gram a day to twenty-six students and none to twenty others. After nine days, nine members of the "no-ascorbic" group had fallen ill and only one member of the "ascorbic" group. All students catching colds were given 2 grams of ascorbic acid daily, which produced a general improvement within twenty-four hours so that increased physical exertion could be tolerated without special difficulties. The significant observation was made that, "all participants sowed considerable increase in physical stamina under the influence of vitamin C medication." Ritzel (17), in 1961, reported on a larger experiment in a ski camp. One gram of ascorbic acid was given to 139 subjects and 140 others did not receive it. symptoms were reported in 119 cases from the "no-ascorbic" subjects and 42 cases from the "ascorbic" group. Ritzel stated in his summary, "Statistical evaluation of the results confirmed the efficacy of vitamin C in the prophylaxis and treatment of colds."

There are two things that should be noted in these provocative reports. First, the unheeded appeals for additional extensive clinical research on the high-dosage ascorbic acid treatment of the common cold. Second, the levels of ascorbic acid dosages which were considered "high" by these various authors, who still thought of it as vitamin C, were still far below the dosages that would be considered adequate under the teachings of the genetic disease concept.

In keeping with this new concept, the following regimen for the control of the common cold has been devised and should be subjected to thorough clinical testing. The rationale is based on the known virucidal action of ascorbic acid and the general mammalian response to biochemical stresses. The strategy is to raise the blood and tissue levels of ascorbic acid, by repeated frequent doses, to a point where the virus can no longer survive. It is really difficult to understand how this simple and logical idea has escaped so many investigators for so long. This regime is not untried: the author has been his own "guinea pig" and has not had a cold for nearly two decades. Many of the author's family, colleagues, and friends have volunteered to follow it and have reported successful results. When used as directed it has been practically 100 percent effective.

An individual continuously on the "full correction" regimen of 3 to 5 grams of ascorbic acid daily for an unstressed adult will have a high resistance to infectious respiratory diseases. Should the exposure to the infectious agent be unduly heavy or some other uncorrected biochemical stresses be imposed, the infecting virus may gain a foothold and start developing. Treatment is instituted at the very first indication of the cold starting, because it is much easier to abort an incipient cold than to try to treat an advanced case. If a known heavy exposure to the infectious agent is experienced, such as close contacts with a coughing and sneezing cold sufferer, then prophylactic doses of several grams of ascorbic acid, several times a day, may be taken without waiting for cold symptoms to develop.

At the first symptoms of a developing cold I take about 1.5 to 2.0 grams of ascorbic acid (1,500mg – 2,000mg), dissolved in a couple of ounces of water, unsweetened or sweetened to taste. Within twenty minutes to half an hour another dose is ingested and this is repeated at twenty-minute to half-hour intervals. Usually by the third dose the virus has been effectively inactivated, and usually no further cold symptoms will appear. I watch for any delayed symptoms and, if any become evident, I take further doses. If the start of this regimen is delayed and it is instituted only after the virus has spread throughout the body, the results may not be so dramatic, but ascorbic acid will nevertheless be of great benefit. Continued dosages at one- or two-hour intervals will shorten the duration of the attack, often to a day. The great advantage of this common cold therapy is that it utilizes a normal body constituent rather than some foreign toxic material. This regime should be the subject of large-scale, long-range clinical studies in order to establish its efficacy and safety, and to provide the data required by medicine for any new suggested therapy.

In 1966, this regime was sent to Dr. Linus Pauling. As a result of his successful personal experience and other work, he published in 1970 the book (18) Vitamin C and The Common Cold. This volume, the first published book in the new fields of megascorbic prophylaxis and megascorbic therapy, gives a more detailed and practical account of the use of ascorbic acid for this condition than is possible in the space of this short chapter.

With the publication of this book, there was a rash of unjustified criticism heaped upon Dr. Pauling by the medical establishment as well as the lay press. In the second edition of this book, published by Bantam Books in 1971, Dr. Pauling answers these criticisms. Chapter 12 ends with the statement:

With the increasing recognition of the value of vitamin C and the increasing use of this natural and essential substance to strengthen the body's defenses against infections, this universal scourge, the common cold, can be brought under control.

Up to the date of the publication of this book, the author is not aware of any clinical tests planned or started that follow the suggested regimen of: 1. long-term correction of hypoascorbemia to improve resistance against the cold virus, and 2. massive mirucidal therapy with ascorbic acid once the symptoms of the cold appear.