Most people know that vitamin C supports the immune system. This finding is backed up by several studies and yet hospitals rarely use it to treat COVID-19.
Indeed, a review of 12 studies, including five “gold standard” randomized controlled trials, shows that this simple vitamin saves lives when given in the right dose. The review, which was published in the journal Life, was carried out and funded by VitaminC4Covid, a consortium of vitamin C experts including Dr. Marcela Vizcaychipi from the Faculty of Medicine at London’s Imperial College, Associate Professor Anitra Carr, who heads the Nutrition in Medicine group at the University of Otago, and Dr. Paul Marik, chief of the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School.
The studies show that COVID-19 patients have depleted vitamin C levels, often to the level found in scurvy. In patients with serious pneumonia, a depleted vitamin C level greatly increases the risk of widespread internal organ damage and death. They need substantial doses of vitamin C to recover and survive.
Vizcaychipi, who heads research in intensive care medicine at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the United Kingdom, has been giving COVID and non-COVID patients in its intensive care units up to 6 grams (6,000 mg) of vitamin C intravenously. The dosage is dependent on the severity of the disease and the amount needed to correct a deficiency, as indicated by vitamin C urine test sticks.
“Vitamin C is certainly one of multiple factors that contributes to better outcomes and speed of recovery. It should be standard practice. We have not had any safety issues at all,” Vizcaychipi says.
Read More: 12 Intervention Trials Show Vitamin C Works for COVID-19
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