Intravenous Vitamin C
For years holistic doctors have observed the positive effects of nutritional intravenous therapies such as vitamin C on their patients. I myself have personally witnessed 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, specifically good ones, require 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 because natural substances can't be patented and will not generate 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.
Kick your immune response into high gear with IVC
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 usually can't reach high enough blood levels to effectively kill cancer cells. Research by the Riordan Clinic has found that tumor cells become susceptible to high dose IVC at plasma levels of 350 to 400 mg/dL.
Your immune system naturally produces 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 and other foreign invaders. IVC enhances what your immune system is already doing, making the process much more effective.
Normal healthy cells have the ability to counteract the effects of hydrogen peroxide with an enzyme known as catalase. Since cancer cells lack this enzyme it results in 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 supplying hydrogen peroxide to tissues.
High dose IVC also serves as an antioxidant, however this action seems a bit less powerful than its oxidant effect. As an antioxidant, however, vitamin C helps to manage the inflammation that stokes the fires of cancer cell replication. While many traditional doctors are worried about the antioxidant effect of vitamin C for patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation (which produce a lot of oxidants), this concern seems largely unfounded in light of current research. Furthermore, Naturopathic Doctor Paul Anderson has done substantial research on published interactions between vitamin C and common chemotherapy medications and other typical cancer drugs. His research finds little in the way of negative 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 formation. This enables therapy-resistant cells to flourish, while leaving your other cells with less control over cancer formation 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 restore the cells so they have control over cell replication such as the p53 gene.
Douse inflammation and lower your CRP levels
Inflammation plays an important role in cancer development and supports the replication of cancer cells, their survival, and their movement throughout the body. One of the conventional blood tests for keeping track of inflammation in the body is C reactive protein (CRP). In one study of over 274,000 people, approximately one third of deaths in a society were because of cancer. Those with an increased CRP had a greater risk of dying from cancer than from any other cause including heart disease.
Research also shows that your level of CRP is a good predictor of cancer survival. Research at the Riordan Clinic has found that a series of IVC sessions can lower CRP by approximately 75%. They concluded that this decrease 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 improves oxygenation of the cells. Cancer cells do not do well in an oxygenated environment and IVC switches cells to an aerobic (utilizing oxygen) environment rather than the anaerobic (without oxygen) state that results in the production of more cells.
According to Hunninghake, his research team has documented seven ways that IVC fights cancer. Hunninghake's Seven Hallmarks of Cancer that IVC deals with are:
IVC therapy is prolonging lives ... yours could be next
Among the leading research institutions for studying the results of IVC in people 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 died from breast cancer who 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 involving all stages of the disease. Initially individuals were just from the Seattle area, but as word spread cancer patients from all over the country have come to the clinic to take part 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 type 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 the cancer has spread. They are treated with nutritional therapies and Intravenous Vitamin C and other holistic intravenous therapies.
Leanna Standish, PhD, 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 clinic. She's been comparing the data to The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a world renowned conventional cancer treatment center in the same area. While the research is ongoing, the data the clinic has gathered thus far has been amazing.
For further information about Dr. Stengler’s practice and his clinic in Leucadia, California, please visit our website at MarkStengler.com or give us a call at (760) 274-2377
