Vitamin C: The Real Story: The Remarkable and Controversial Healing Factor

211 Pages·2015·1.23 MB·English

by  Steve Hickey

VITAMIN C:
The Real Story
The Remarkable and
Controversial Healing Factor
Steve Hickey, PhD,
and Andrew W. Saul, PhD
The information contained in this book is based upon the research and personal and professional
experiences of the authors. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or
other healthcare provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the
direction of a healthcare professional.
The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular healthcare protocol but believes the
information in this book should be available to the public. The publisher and authors are not
responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions,
preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. Should the reader have any questions concerning
the appropriateness of any procedures or preparation mentioned, the authors and the publisher
strongly suggest consulting a professional healthcare advisor.
Basic Health Publications, Inc.
28812 Top of the World Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949-715-7327 • www.basichealthpub.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hickey, Steve
Vitamin C : the real story / Steve Hickey and Andrew W. Saul.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59120-526-5
1. Vitamin C—Therapeutic use. 2. Orthomolecular therapy.
3. Vitamin therapy. I. Saul, Andrew W. II. Title.
RM666.A79H53 2008
615'.328—dc22
2008028974
Copyright © 2008 Steve Hickey and Andrew W. Saul
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
Editor: John Anderson
Typesetting/Book design: Gary A. Rosenberg
Cover design: Mike Stromberg
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.
Preface
1. A Remarkable Molecule
2. The Pioneers of Vitamin C Research
3. Taking Vitamin C
4. Conventional Medicine vs. Vitamin C
5. The Need for Antioxidants
6. Infectious Diseases
7. Cancer and Vitamin C
8. Heart Disease
Conclusion
References
About the Authors
In memory of Dr. Robert F. Cathcart III, one of the most innovative physicians in
orthomolecular medicine.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D., for his continued
encouragement and support. Dr. Hoffer has played a leading role in
orthomolecular medicine, and he is an inspiration for scientists and
physicians interested in nutrition and medicine. The late Dr. Robert F.
Cathcart III has similarly been at the forefront of the use of vitamin C in
orthomolecular medicine and has provided essential information used in
compiling this book. Drs. Ron Hunninghake, Michael Gonzalez, and Jorge
Miranda-Massari of the RECNAC initiative have generously given of their
time in keeping us informed of clinical work in vitamin C and disease. In the
United Kingdom, Dr. Damien Downing has given access to his wealth of
experience in nutritional medicine. Dr. Gert Schuitemaker, president of the
International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine, kindly provided video
and literature on Linus Pauling and his role in the vitamin C controversy.
Drs. Hilary Roberts and Len Noriega have consistently given their scientific
expertise to facilitate our understanding of vitamin C and its actions.
Any book on vitamin C and orthomolecular medicine owes a debt of
gratitude to those individuals who endeavor to maintain the public profile of
the background research. These include medical journalist Bill Sardi, Owen
Fonorow of the Vitamin C Foundation, Rusty Hodge of the C for Yourself
website, and Chris Gupta. We owe thanks to many more people, far too
many to list here, for their efforts in preventing the vitamin C story from
being completely hidden from the public.
Foreword
About forty years ago, I met Drs. Linus Pauling and Irwin Stone at a meeting
in New York City. Linus Pauling spoke about his discovery of the structure
of the hemoglobin molecule. During his presentation, he remarked that he
wished he would live another twenty-five years because the future of new
findings would be so interesting. Little did he realize that this wish and our
meeting would change his life and give him thirty years. Dr. Stone told me
about his interest in vitamin C, which he preferred to call ascorbic acid. It
had saved him after a life-threatening motor vehicle accident. He had a
massive collection of vitamin C reprints and I urged him to write a book.
After he got home, he wrote to Dr. Pauling and advised him that if he too
took this vitamin, he would get his twenty-five years. This interested Dr.
Pauling and he followed Dr. Stone’s advice. To his surprise, his frequent
colds vanished. Eventually, he was taking 18 grams daily. He used that
number, which was 200 times the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA),
and loved to tell everyone about it. Dr. Stone eventually published his
wonderful book The Healing Factor.
Critics often are unaware of unintended consequences. At another
meeting, Dr. Pauling suggested that ascorbic acid might decrease the ravages
of the common cold. Dr. Victor Herbert, spokesperson for the anti-vitamin
establishment, demanded evidence. Dr. Pauling thought that was fair and did
a complete literature search. He found plenty of evidence, but Dr. Herbert
refused to look at it. Linus Pauling’s book Vitamin C and the Common Cold
was a best-seller, and sales of vitamin C skyrocketed.
I was fascinated. Ascorbic acid was already part of the nutritional
treatment program I used for schizophrenic patients, in combination with
vitamin B . Starting in 1952, I used vitamin C as an antioxidant to decrease
3
the oxidation of adrenaline into psychosis-causing adrenochrome.
Schizophrenia is one of the severest of oxidative stress conditions. I also
found that some of my schizophrenic patients who also had cancer began to
respond to the large doses of vitamin C. Sarcomas are particularly sensitive to
large doses of vitamin C.
I subsequently met Dr. Robert F. Cathcart III and studied his findings
that high doses of oral ascorbic acid, as close to the laxative level as possible,
were effective for treating cancer. He was also giving patients huge
intravenous doses for a large variety of conditions. One of my patients with
cancer increased her vitamin C dose as high as she could and eventually was
taking 40,000 milligrams each day. Six months later, her tumor was no longer
visible on a computerized tomography (CT) scan, and she lived another
twenty years. This recovered patient changed my professional life away from
a purely psychiatric practice. Physicians began to refer their terminal patients
to me in droves, and since then I have seen about 1,500 patients. The results
of my treatment have been generally good, much better than the results of
surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy used alone or in combination.
The results of high-dose intravenous ascorbic acid are even more
impressive. Dr. Hugh D. Riordan had more experience treating cancer
patients in this way than any other physician. He showed that very high
doses of vitamin C were something oncologists had only dreamed of: a
chemotherapy that killed only cancer cells and left normal cells alone. He is
honored by the new Chair created by the University of Kansas, where Jeanne
A. Drisko, M.D., is Riordan Professor of Orthomolecular Medicine and
Research. She is investigating the safety and efficacy of antioxidants,
including vitamin C, in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.
Considering the properties of vitamin C in the body, it is not surprising
that it has proven so valuable. I will list only three very important roles, as
you will read about the rest of them in this book:
• Antioxidant—Without antioxidants, we would slowly burn up from the
oxygen in our atmosphere. It is essential that the body keep oxidation
under control.
• Collagen formation—Collagen is an important structural protein in the
body’s connective tissues. Lack of vitamin C is why, in scurvy, the
collagen tissues break down so severely.
• Histamine scavenger—Each molecule of vitamin C destroys one molecule
of histamine. The bleeding tissues and loosening of collagen fibers in
scurvy is caused by the massive buildup of histamine in the body, which
does not contain enough vitamin C.
Vitamin C is very safe. It has always puzzled me why the medical
profession was so eager to invent so many toxic properties when vitamin C
does not have any. False factoids are prevalent, and the profession still
considers these myths to be truth—something that could change with an
examination of this book. For example, vitamin C does not cause kidney
stones or pernicious anemia, and it does not make women sterile. Vitamin C
did not shorten Linus Pauling’s life, as Victor Herbert claimed. Dr. Pauling
lived eighteen years longer taking vitamin C than Dr. Herbert did without it.
Dr. Stone stated over and over that vitamin C should be classified as an
important nutrient that we need in quantity and cannot make, and not as a
vitamin. If you want to be really healthy, you should take enough vitamin C.
After reading this book, you will know why and how much. I am ninety
years old and I have been taking vitamin C for over fifty years, and I plan to
stay on it forevermore. It has also been very good for my patients but not so
good for my practice—my patients get well too fast.
—Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.
Preface
Research into vitamin C is progressing rapidly, despite a lack of funding from
conventional medicine for studies into its clinical applications. As you will
see, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has proven highly successful as an antioxidant
for infections, the common cold, heart disease, and cancer. And even in very
high doses, vitamin C is safe and nontoxic, in spite of any scare stories you
may have heard in the media.
The purpose of this book is to tell the story of how the controversy about
vitamin C has grown and continues while the increasing evidence
demonstrates the value of the orthomolecular (megavitamin) approach. The
story looks at the courageous efforts of pioneering scientists and physicians
in vitamin C research. It also involves an understanding of political and
economic influences in modern medicine. And finally, there are the
astounding results of vitamin C studies, which demonstrate the effectiveness
of this remarkable molecule.
Since its origins several decades ago, orthomolecular medicine, which uses
nutrition to protect against or cure disease, has been regarded as highly
controversial by the medical establishment. This rejection of the
orthomolecular approach has little basis in science and reflects a bias at the
heart of the status quo. In this book, we illustrate how the claims for vitamin
C have been a central area of contention between conventional and
orthomolecular medicine.
The disparity between encouraging clinical reports on vitamin C and paltry
follow-up research is enormous. Well-documented clinical results indicate
that massive amounts of vitamin C are an effective antibiotic against both
viral and bacterial infections, a nontoxic anticancer agent that puts
conventional chemotherapy to shame, and also a cure for heart disease. These
claims are considered absurd by conventional medicine, a view that is totally
without scientific support. By not performing or funding essential
experiments on the clinical role of orthomolecular levels of nutrients, the
establishment continues to avoid scientific reality.