Intravenous Vitamin C
For years holistic doctors have noted the positive effects of nutritional intravenous therapies such as vitamin C on their patients. I myself have personally observed individuals having better results in regards to duration and quality of life. However, little published data has existed to present to the medical world. Studies, particularly good ones, require a lot of money to fund. But pharmaceutical companies, which by far have the deepest pockets when it comes to funding research, don't have an interest in paying for such studies because natural substances can not be patented and will not generate big stacks of cash.
But things are looking up and the tide is turning. Some high-quality studies have been completed, 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 since oral vitamin C typically can't reach high enough blood levels to effectively destroy cancer cells. Research by the Riordan Clinic has discovered 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 as well as other foreign invaders. IVC enhances what your immune system is already doing, making the process much more efficient.
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 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 delivering hydrogen peroxide to tissues.
High-dose IVC also acts 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 a lot of conventional physicians are concerned about the antioxidant effect of vitamin C for individuals receiving chemotherapy and radiation (which produce a lot of oxidants), this concern appears largely unfounded in light of current research. Additionally, Naturopathic Doctor Paul Anderson has done comprehensive research on published interactions between vitamin C and typical chemotherapy medications and other common cancer drugs. His research finds little in the way of negative interactions.
As Dr. Hunninghake from the Riordan Clinic has pointed out, conventional therapies such as certain chemotherapies and radiation work by increasing oxidation and inducing cancer cell death (apoptosis). On the other hand, they also damage the control mechanisms for cell death including the p53 gene which suppresses tumor formation. This allows therapy-resistant cells to thrive while leaving your other cells with less control over cancer formation at the same time. He notes that IVC serves as an oxidative treatment helping to kill cancer cells, while the mild antioxidant effects of the vitamin protect and fix the cells so they have control over cell replication such as the p53 gene.
Douse inflammation and lower your CRP levels
Inflammation plays a vital part in cancer development and supports the replication of cancer cells, their survival, and also their movement 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, approximately one-third of deaths in society were due to 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 discovered that a series of IVC sessions can reduce CRP by approximately 75%. They concluded that this reduction in CRP correlated with a drop 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 do not do well in an oxygenated environment and IVC switches cells to an aerobic (using oxygen) state as opposed to the anaerobic (without oxygen) state that causes 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:
IVC therapy is prolonging lives ... yours could be next.
One of the leading research institutions for studying the effects 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 and wanted research to be done to find out 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, individuals were only from the Seattle area, but as word spread cancer patients from across the country have come to the center to participate in the research.
The most common forms of cancers seen at BIORC are breast, lung, colon, pancreatic, and brain cancers, in addition to Merkel cell carcinoma (a kind of skin cancer). Around 30% of the patients seen at the clinic have been in stage IV or the end stage of the disease where cancer has spread. They are treated with nutritional therapies and 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 researcher in analyzing the data coming from the center. She's been comparing the data to The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a world-renowned conventional cancer treatment facility in the same area. While the research is ongoing, the data the center has gathered so far has been incredible.
