What is Intravenous Vitamin C
For years holistic doctors have noted the positive results of nutritional intravenous therapies such as vitamin C on their patients. I myself have personally seen patients having better results in terms of length and quality of life. However, little published data has existed to present to the medical world. Studies, particularly good ones, need 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't be patented and will not produce huge 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 get to levels 70 to 100 times higher than oral vitamin C. This is important since oral vitamin C typically can not reach high enough blood levels to effectively destroy cancer cells. Research by the Riordan Clinic has discovered 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 acts 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 efficient.
Regular healthy cells are able to neutralize 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 kills cancer cells by providing hydrogen peroxide to tissues.
High-dose IVC also serves as an antioxidant, but this action seems a bit less effective 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 worried about the antioxidant effect of vitamin C for individuals undergoing chemotherapy and radiation (which produce a lot of oxidants), this concern seems 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 typical cancer medications. His research finds little in the way of adverse interactions.
As Dr. Hunninghake from the Riordan Clinic has mentioned, traditional therapies such as certain chemotherapies and radiation work by increasing oxidation and causing cancer cell death (apoptosis). On the other hand, they also damage the control mechanisms for cell death including the p53 gene which suppresses tumor development. This allows therapy-resistant cells to flourish while leaving your other cells with less control over cancer formation at the same time. He notes that IVC acts as an oxidative treatment helping to kill cancer cells, while the mild antioxidant effects of the vitamin protect and repair 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 part in cancer formation and promotes the replication of cancer cells, their survival, as well as their migration throughout the body. One of the traditional 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 fatalities in society were due to cancer. Those with an increased CRP had a higher 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 around 75%. They concluded that this decrease in CRP corresponded 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 improves the oxygenation of the cells. Cancer cells do not do well in an oxygenated environment and IVC shifts cells to an aerobic (using oxygen) environment instead of the anaerobic (without oxygen) state that causes the creation 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 researching 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 getting a grant from a man whose wife had died from breast cancer and wanted research to be done to learn if there was a better way to treat the disease. Since then, 521 cancer patients have been enrolled in a study series involving all stages of the disease. Originally patients 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). Around 30% of the individuals 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 clinic. 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 clinic has collected thus far has been amazing.
