For all its wonders, modern medicine still has its limitations—perhaps even more than we usually like to admit.
Serious infections provide a window of insight into these limitations; one glance at medical statistics is enough to remind us that even our most powerful antibiotics and most cutting-edge interventions are sometimes helpless in the face of highly virulent bacteria and viruses.
Sepsis—a bacterial infection of the blood—is perhaps one of the most dire kinds of common infection. The condition afflicts over a million Americans every year, and a shocking 28-50% of all sepsis patients die from it (this is more than the number of deaths from prostate cancer, breast cancer, and AIDS combined).[1]
The symptoms of sepsis can escalate to life-threatening severity very quickly. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the body often is triggered into systemic inflammation, which can lead to a cascade of events that cause organ failure and other debilitating effects.
For these reasons, it’s critical to treat sepsis with fast-acting measures. Intravenous antibiotics are the main line of defense we have, and they have major drawbacks.
You might remember from our previous articles that antibiotics are extremely hard on the body. They indiscriminately kill bacteria (including the good bacteria that critically support for vast array of bodily functions), hamper the immune system, and increase the risk of antibiotic resistance (wherein bacteria mutate into stronger, more deadly versions of themselves).
Antibiotics also do little to address the systemic inflammation and oxidative stress that accompany sepsis.
All of these risks might be acceptable if antibiotics were a guaranteed measure against sepsis. As evidenced by the statistics above, though, this is not the case. An increasing number of physicians recognize that the risks posed by antibiotics are untenable, given that up to 50% of sepsis patients still lose their lives.
Until recently, though, there were very few viable alternatives, and doctors were left with no option but to administer high-dose antibiotics and hope for the best. In 2016, however, one doctor discovered that intravenous vitamin C may be exactly the sepsis treatment for which the medical world has been searching.
A humble vitamin with miraculous results
Prior to 2016, researchers had already explored the mechanisms by which vitamin C can reduce sepsis mortality.[2]
Dr. Paul Marik of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital tested the validity of their findings when faced with a nearly hopeless case of sepsis. A 48-year-old women under his care in the ICU was facing almost certain death—a severe case of sepsis had already caused her kidneys and lungs to shut down.
In a final attempt to save her life, Dr. Marik administered an intravenous mixture outlined by previous research: vitamin C, thiamine (vitamin B1), and corticosteroids (to ease the inflammation caused by rampant immune response). Amazingly, the treatment worked, and by the next morning it was clear that she would enjoy a full recovery.
Dr. Marik’s success sparked a string of trials and studies over the past year, all of which have yielded very promising results. Dr. Marik reports that the administration of intravenous vitamin C lowered the mortality rate of his sepsis patients to 1 percent.[3]
These findings have been supported by subsequent studies,[4] and one review confirmed that corticosteroids are not the ingredient that provide the greatest benefit (and that steroids can actually be counterproductive for sepsis treatment when administered without vitamin C).[5]
While some experts are still skeptical, Dr. Marik’s work has inspired a great deal of enthusiasm overall. A “sepsis treatment protocol for medical professionals” has now been posted online by the Eastern Virginia Medical School, and many experts are urging that further research be conducted.[6] And unlike many alternative medical treatments, IV vitamin C treatment for sepsis has already been featured and shared across many mainstream media platforms.
Vitamin C is massively undervalued
This discovery is great news for vitamin C, and hopefully leads to a reevaluation of the vitamin’s potential. As we’ve covered in past article, vitamin C is tremendously underutilized as a natural medicine. Over the years, a string of independent physicians have discovered its ability to treat a wide variety of illnesses, including many supposedly incurable ailments.
Unsurprisingly, the findings of these vitamin C pioneers were ridiculed and dismissed into obscurity. With Dr. Marik’s clinical findings already gathering momentum, though, it seems that mainstream medicine may final start to believe in the untapped capacities of vitamin C.
And don’t think that vitamin C is only useful for treating sepsis and preventing scurvy—it offers a wealth of potential benefits to nearly anyone. Integrating a vitamin C supplement into your daily regimen dramatically boosts the immune system, supports heart health, increases physical performance, and can even ward off cancer.
An increasing number of doctors offer in-office intravenous vitamin C treatments, in case you want to experience it in its most direct form. These injections can be costly, though, and research has demonstrated that liposomal vitamin C is every bit as absorbable.
Always do your homework before purchasing liposomal vitamin C, though—only buy products that use “true” liposomes, and avoid GMO lecithin and toxic additives. We think that PuraTHRIVE’s new micelle liposomal vitamin C is the best on the market: it’s affordable, optimal potency, and absolutely delicious.
References
[1] https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/pages/factsheet_sepsis.aspx
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2767105/
[3] https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/metabolic-sepsis-resuscitation/
[4] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012369216625643
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21925074
[6] http://www.evms.edu/about_evms/administrative_offices/marketing_communications/publications/issue_9_4/sepsis.php
