For years holistic doctors have observed the positive results of nutritional intravenous therapies such as vitamin C on their patients. I myself have personally seen patients having better outcomes in terms of length and quality of life. However, little published data has existed to present to the medical world. Studies, especially good ones, need a lot of money to fund. But pharmaceutical companies, which without a doubt have the deepest pockets when it comes to funding research, do not have an interest in paying for such studies since natural substances can not be patented and will not produce big stacks of cash.
But things are improving and the tide is turning. Some high-quality studies have been conducted, and a lot more are on their way.
When you administer vitamin C intravenously, blood levels of the vitamin can reach levels 70 to 100 times higher than oral vitamin C. This is important because oral vitamin C generally can not reach high enough blood levels to effectively kill cancer cells. Research by the Riordan Clinic has found that tumor cells become vulnerable to high dose IVC at plasma levels of 350 to 400 mg/dL.
Your immune system naturally makes some hydrogen peroxide in response to infections and cancer. High doses of IVC kick this natural process into high gear. Hydrogen peroxide functions as an oxidant, helping to destroy cancer as well as other foreign invaders. IVC augments what your immune system is already doing, making the process much more effective.
Normal healthy cells are able to counteract the effects of hydrogen peroxide with an enzyme known as catalase. Since cancer cells lack this enzyme it leads to cell death. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America showed that IVC selectively destroys cancer cells by delivering hydrogen peroxide to tissues.
High-dose IVC also serves as an antioxidant, but this action appears to be a bit less powerful than its oxidant effect. As an antioxidant, however, vitamin C helps to control the inflammation that stokes the fires of cancer cell replication. While many conventional doctors are worried about the antioxidant effect of vitamin C for individuals receiving chemotherapy and radiation (which make a lot of oxidants), this concern appears largely unfounded in light of current research. Furthermore, Naturopathic Doctor Paul Anderson has done extensive research on published interactions between vitamin C and typical chemotherapy medications and other typical cancer drugs. His research finds little in the way of adverse interactions.
As Dr. Hunninghake from the Riordan Clinic has mentioned, conventional therapies such as certain chemotherapies and radiation work by increasing oxidation and inducing cancer cell death (apoptosis). However, they also harm the control mechanisms for cell death including the p53 gene which suppresses tumor development. This enables therapy-resistant cells to thrive, while leaving your other cells with less control over cancer development at the same time. He notes that IVC works as an oxidative therapy helping to destroy cancer cells, while the gentle antioxidant effects of the vitamin protect and fix the cells so they have control over cell replication such as the p53 gene.
Inflammation plays an important part in cancer formation and promotes the replication of cancer cells, their survival, and their migration throughout the body. One of the traditional blood tests for monitoring inflammation in the body is C reactive protein (CRP). In one study of over 274,000 people, about one-third of deaths in a community were due to cancer. Those with an increased CRP had a higher risk of dying from cancer than from any other reason including cardiovascular disease.
Research also shows that your level of CRP is a good predictor of cancer survival. Research at the Riordan Clinic has discovered that a series of IVC sessions can lower CRP by about 75%. They concluded that this reduction in CRP correlated with a decrease in tumor markers including the PSA in prostate cancer.
High-dose IVC also helps in detoxification and improving cell energy function. More specifically it enhances the oxygenation of the cells. Cancer cells don't do well in an oxygenated environment and IVC shifts cells to anaerobic (utilizing oxygen) environment rather than the anaerobic (without oxygen) state that triggers the production of more cells.
According to Hunninghake, his research team has recorded seven ways that IVC fights cancer. Hunninghake's Seven Hallmarks of Cancer that IVC deals with are:
One of the leading research institutions for studying the effects of IVC in individuals with cancer is the Bastyr University Integrative Oncology Research Center (BIORC), in Seattle. The Center opened in 2009, after receiving a grant from a man whose wife had passed away from breast cancer and wanted research to be done to learn if there was a better way to treat the disease. Ever since 521 cancer patients have been enrolled in a study series including all stages of the disease. Initially, patients were only from the Seattle area, but as word spread cancer patients from all over the country have come to the clinic to participate in the research.
The most common types of cancers seen at BIORC are breast, lung, colon, pancreatic, and brain cancers, along with Merkel cell carcinoma (a form of skin cancer). About 30% of the patients seen at the center have been in stage IV or the end stage of the disease where cancer has spread. They are treated with nutritional therapies Intravenous Vitamin C and other holistic intravenous therapies.
Leanna Standish, Ph.D., ND, Lac, from the School of Public Health at the University of Washington and BIORC has been the lead investigator in analyzing the data coming from the center. She's been comparing the data to The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a world-renowned traditional cancer treatment facility in the same area. While the research is ongoing, the data the center has collected so far has been incredible.
For further information about Dr. Stengler’s practice and his clinic in Encinitas, California, please visit our website at MarkStengler.com or give us a call at (760) 274-2377.
