Spinal Injury & Vitamin C


Hypothesis:  Can high doses of Vitamin C protect and repair nerve damage in the brain; could high doses of Vitamin C protect and repair nerve damage in the spine?

The Vitamin C Therapy herein discussed is “mega” doses.  Far exceeding USDA upper limits currently set at 2,000 mgs. (2 grams)

Mega dosage would mean doses of 50,000 mgs – 100,000 mgs or more.

Delivery methods preferably by IV or Liposomal.

There is plenty of research from several doctors to warrant the investigation of mega doses of Vitamin C and its healing ability for a wide variety of diseases and injuries. 

Since neurological diseases are characterized by increased free radical generation and the highest concentrations of Vit C in the body are found in the brain and neuroendocrine tissues, it is suggested that Vit C may change the course of neurological diseases and display potential therapeutic roles.

http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/7/659/pdf

Vitamin C is a cofactor in at least eight enzymatic reactions including several collagen synthesis reactions…

…Collagen is also important for the formation of the lining (myelin sheath) around nerves. Studies on the effect of vitamin C on myelin demonstrate that high doses stimulate myelin formation and differentiation of schwann cells, which protect the neurons of the peripheral nervous system.

There appears to be an important interaction between vitamin E and vitamin C in the brain and spinal cord. In another study of guinea pigs made deficient in vitamin E alone, the pigs appeared to be perfectly normal.  But when researchers also removed vitamin C from the animals’ diets, they developed a progressive ascending paralysis and died within 24 hours.

It appears that even modest decreases in nervous system vitamin C could accelerate vitamin E deficiency with significant damage to the spinal cord and brain stem.

Interestingly, vitamin C has been shown to enhance maturation of the synapse (the connection between two brain cells), which is something not done by other antioxidants. This all means that vitamin C is important to how the brain forms and develops.

Because of the high level of vitamin C in the substantia nigra (a midbrain structure that controls movement, among other things) and striatum (part of the basal ganglia, which also governs movement), it may be that vitamin C is involved in Parkinson’s disease.

Vitamin C promotes oligodendrocytes generation and remyelination.

PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29423921



Dr. Fred R. Klenner

Dr Klenner was a leading proponent to mega dosing Vitamin C. From the 1940s on he experimented with the use of mega dosage as a therapy for a wide range of illnesses, most notably polio.  He authored 28 research papers during his career. He was one of the originators of orthomolecular medicine, but his work remains largely unaddressed by established medicine.

In 1949 Klenner published in and presented a paper to the American Medical Association detailing the complete cure of 60 out of 60 of his patients with polio using intravenous sodium ascorbate injection[7] Galloway and Seifert cited Klenner's presentation to the AMA in a paper of theirs.[8] Generally, he gave 350 to 700 mg per kilogram body weight per day.

He described giving up to 300,000 milligrams (mg) per day of neutral pH sodium ascorbate. Klenner published 27 medical papers, most about vitamin C applications for over 30 diseases, two about treatment of severe neuropathies including multiple sclerosis using aggressive supplementation].[9] He wrote a 28th paper ca 1980, an unpublished update about MS treatment. It was posthumously summarized by Lendon Smith in the Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_R._Klenner

Additional source link:  http://www.whale.to/m/klenner.html

Here in the below linked paper by Dr. Klenner we have his recommendation of massive doses of vitamins for Myasthenia Gravis disease, Multiple Sclerosis which is similar to Polio, which he cured patients of.

Also outlining the importance of Thiamin Hydrochloride and B Vitamins:

On page 11 of this report he states this:

            “…Our diagnosis in this case is Transverse Myelitis. (200 grams ascorbic acid given IV, in divided doses, would have saved this patient from paralysis.) She has also received 300mg ribonucleic acid four times each week.

Note: We don’t want to overlook the importance placed on Nicotinic Acid that Dr. Klenner employed as well.

And most importantly, on page 11 of this report:

            In years past, when we were treating Poliomyelitis successfully with massive doses of ascorbic acid, we would always follow with an indefinite timetable, giving the B vitamins for nerve repair.

  We see the same results when treating damage to the spinal cord, whether this is due to mechanical trauma, or to the inflammation caused by a virus, any virus.”


There is much more about how he treated MS and the vitamins used in the full report:


 He summarized the function of Vitamin C in poliomyelitis:

1. Virus destruction.
2. Dehydrates the brain and the spinal cord safely.
3. Supports and normalized the stressed adrenal glands.
4. It preserves the lining of the central canal and maintains more regular spacing and less crowding of ependymal cells (surface cells of the spinal cord).


This report outlines Dr. Klenner’s discovery of the miraculous uses of Vitamin C on a variable number of illnesses, diseases and injuries.


Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) has many important functions. It is a powerful oxidizer and when given in massive amounts; that is, 50 grams to 150 grams, intravenously, for certain pathological conditions…

Research has shown that during times of acute illness and traumatic injury the plasma levels of Vitamin C are depleted.

                “A significant body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays an important role in the manifestation of critical illness.  Active oxygen species (ROS) induce direct oxidative tissue injury by means of peroxidation of cellular membranes, oxidation of critical enzymatic and structural proteins, and inductions of apoptosis….

                The importance of oxidative stress in the early phases of critical illness is underscored by the relative antioxidant depletion reported in many observations studies…

                For example, patients admitted to ICU have reduced total antioxidant capacity, with lower circulating levels of a-tocopherol and serum ascorbate and increased alveolar fluid levels of oxidized glutathione.”


(This is a study done by Harborview Medical Center – Seattle)

 The brain and central nervous system are made up of large amounts of nerve cells. Stanford University's HOPES Project also notes that Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is also very prevalent in parts of the brain in between nerve cells. Studies have shown potential that Vitamin C can repair and prevent nerve damage.

Stanford University


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/280797-vitamin-c-to-repair-nerve-damage/#ixzz2LjyQfbgj


 Another study done by Seattle’s Harborview Medical study administering Vitamin C:

“In a prospective observational study, all trauma admissions to the HMC surgical ICU had 3 grams of

Vitamin C or 3,000 international units of Vitamin E, divided over three doses per day, started at the time of admission.

Otherwise, care was standard and the populations were followed to determine the incidence of ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), duration in the ICU, mortality and infectious complications. In addition, we studied BAL samples for evidence of oxidant injury and cytokine production.

The results show that the treatment with anti-oxidant supplementation on admission to the surgical ICU produced a 50% reduction in the evidence of oxidant injury in the BAL solution, along with a 50% reduction in the production of inflammatory mediators, while having no detrimental effect on the production of antibacterial mediators of the immune system. Concomitant with this decrease in intrapulmonary inflammatory response, there was a decrease by 50% in the incidence of ARDS and a significant decrease in length of stay and ventilator days in these critically ill patients.”

Source: http://www.gluegrant.org/PDFs/maier.pdf

Another Study:
Vitamin C Might Help Treat Multiple Sclerosis Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/03/in-the-lab/vitamin-c-myelin-multiple-sclerosis/Recent studies have showed that Vc could also promote somatic cell reprogramming and facilitate the generation of high quality induced pluripotent stem cells (Chen et al., 2013; Esteban et al., 2010). In this study, we demonstrated that Vc could also enhance the differentiation of OPCs to OLs and promote myelin formation both in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusion and Questions:

Traumatic injury causes depletion of Vitamin C and other anti-oxidants in the body.

High dose Vitamin C can be anti-inflammatory and is an anti-oxidant and a pro-oxidant.

Since Vitamin C deficiency has shown to cause paralysis, can mega doses of Vitamin C be a “healing” agent for the spine and nerves?

If Harborview Medical Center has such a resounding positive result of administering Vitamin C to traumatic injury patients admitted to ICU, then why is it not administered as a “standard protocol” to all trauma patients?

 Perhaps consultation could be made with doctors currently leading the research and use of Vitamin C.

Dr. Thomas Levy

Dr. Thomas E. Levy is a board certified cardiologist and he has written six books on health-related issues. Most of his work has centered on how to restore and/or maintain good health in the face of the many different forms of toxicity that all of us face, typically on a daily basis. He no longer has a clinical practice of medicine and cardiology. Rather, he limits himself to research and writing.

 Most of his work over the last ten years has centered on the importance of maintaining a healthy antioxidant status in the body. His work currently is focusing on the importance of liposomal technology as a way to optimally deliver vitamin C, glutathione, and other nutrients into the body orally, appearing to even surpass the bioavailability seen with the intravenous administration of these antioxidants.




Dr. Stephen Hickey, Ph.D.

Steve Hickey has a B.A. (math and science) from the Open University, membership of the Institute of Biology by examination in pharmacology, and is a chartered biologist and a former member of the British Compute Society. He did research into ultra-high-resolution computerized tomography (CT) body scanning, leading the physics team in Europe_s first clinical magnetic resonance (MR) imaging unit at Manchester Medical School. He has over 100 scientific publications, covering a variety of disciplines. Currently, he is a member of the biology department of Staffordshire University.

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D.,

Dr. Andrew Saul has over thirty years of experience in natural health education. He is chairman of the Independent Vitamin Safety Review Panel, editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, and assistant editor of the ;Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. He is the author of "Doctor Yourself: Natural Healing that Works. and Fire Your Doctor! How to Be Independently Healthy. His popular, peer-reviewed, non-commercial natural healing website is DoctorYourself.com.

Formerly Assistant Editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, is Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. He was on the faculty of the State University of New York for nine years, and taught nutrition, health science and cell biology at the college level. He has studied in Africa and Australia, holds three state certificates in science education, and has twice won New York Empire State Fellowships for teaching. Saul has a reputation for his knowledge of clinical nutrition. For a list of over 175 of his publications, with online links to most of them:



Dr. Robert F. Cathcart III, M.D.
ALLERGY, ENVIRONMENTAL & ORTHOMOLECULAR MEDICINE
127 SECOND STREET, SUITE 4
LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA 94022
(650) 949-2822



Delivery methods preferably by IV or Liposomal.

Liposomal Vitamin C is superior to IV and can be made at home for pennies and causes NO diarrhea.  Made with soy lecithin for immediate absorption.  The hydrophilic nature of the lecithin molecule plays an important part in the structure and properties of cell membranes. It is the lipid used in nerve tissue.”

There currently are no medical studies of mega doses of Vitamin C and spinal injury.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for maintaining and creating this web page. It is life changing news for anyone who finds it and restores real hope to many who have been advised to give up by the medical establishment. We need to break the stranglehold that the AMA has placed on researching and implementing these sorts of treatments, so we can make progress as a society.

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