WHAT IS VITAMIN C USED FOR ? Applying intravenous vitamin C is used for the following clinical uses:
Vitamin C is the best natural antioxidant. Antioxidants have the ability to disarm free radicals without destabilizing their own state. When there are more antioxidants, the mitochondria avoid oxidation and gain life. When there are more free radicals, a disease state known as oxidative stress is generated . Bad habits such as the habitual intake of alcohol, tobacco and poor nutrition and some treatments such as dialysis, bypass, grafts, corticosteroids (medications used to reduce inflammation but with a multitude of harmful side effects for health), contraceptives, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and antivirals increase the amount of free radicals. The amount of antioxidants you keep in your body is directly proportional to how long you will live. If you have had healthy habits you have fewer free radicals.
Oxidative stress is associated with diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Recent studies suggest that oxygen radicals contribute to enhancement of basal vascular tone, tubulo-glomerular feedback, monocyte/macrophage infiltration, and vasculature sensitivity and endothelium-dependent relaxation in the diseased kidney. Vitamin C decreases oxidative stress, improves renal vascular function, and lowers blood pressure in cardiovascular-renal disease.
COPD patients are subject to enhanced oxidative stress, as a result of reduced antioxidant systems (vitamin C and selenium deficiency, reduced intracellular levels of vitamin E, reduced glutathione system activity) and increased prooxidant activity (age disease, high frequency of diabetes, chronic inflammatory state, uremic syndrome, bio-incompatibility of membranes and dialysis solutions). Oxidative stress and inflammation are deeply interrelated, as phagocytic cells generate different oxidant free radicals in response to inflammatory stimuli: both are related to endothelial dysfunction, as the endothelium is a source and target of oxidants and is involved in the inflammatory response. There is increasing evidence, from experimental and clinical studies, that oxidative stress may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and other complications of ESRD, namely dialysis-related amyloidosis, malnutrition, and anemia. Since free radicals have very short half-lives (seconds), the clinical assessment of oxidative stress is based on the measurement of different stable oxidized compounds (such as lipid peroxidation products, advanced glycation and oxidation products of lipids and proteins, derivatives of oxidation of nucleic acids) or antibodies directed against oxidized epitopes (such as oxidized low-density lipoprotein antibodies). At the same time, enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (glutathione, vitamin C, vitamin E, negative inflammatory proteins) can be evaluated. However, many laboratory methods that assess various components of oxidative stress have yet to be standardized. Furthermore, it is still uncertain whether it is better to measure the plasmatic and/or intracellular concentrations or activities of these components. The possibility of improving patient outcome by therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing oxidative stress, by supplementation with vitamin C or vitamin E, is currently in the foreground, but the results have so far been inconclusive [3].
Vitamin C has different functions in our body, among which are:
- Reduces the risk of suffocation due to low blood oxygen saturation levels because it protects against the activation of Hypoxia Inducing Factor (HIF).
- As an antioxidant in cellular respiration, it traps and destroys aggressive oxidizing agents and free radicals, reducing oxidative stress (See Micronutrients ).
- Helps in the conversion of dopamine into norepinephrine and adrenaline, substances necessary for the body to react to adverse physical stimuli.
- Prevention of cancer through the modulation of the components of the systems that establish the epigenetic code, since it is a cofactor in the demethylation of histones.
- Helps produce oxytocin, vasopressin, cholecystokinin, and alpha-melanotropin, substances necessary for regulating blood pressure
- Intensifies collagen synthesis and increases skin elasticity. Hydroxylation of lysine to carnitine is required for glycosylation and cross-bridge formation in collagen fibers present in the extracellular matrix.
- Synthesis of carnitine that transforms fat into energy available for use by the body .
- It is important to maintain vitamin E and the inhibition of lipid or fat oxidation (cholesterol and triglycerides).
- Increases iron absorption, facilitating mobilization and intestinal absorption. Additionally, iron is the key molecule that activates hemoglobin to fulfill its function of transporting oxygen.
- It is essential for the proper functioning of the immune system, it acts in inflammatory reactions, helping to synthesize immunoglobulin to control them.
- As an antioxidant protecting the body from free radicals. By neutralizing them, it is believed that it contributes to slowing down the aging process and cell degeneration.
- It participates in the metabolism of fats, which is why it is considered an important factor in maintaining adequate levels of "low-density lipoproteins" (LDL) and "high-density lipoproteins" (cholesterol).
- It acts as a coenzyme in the synthesis of collagen, a protein that is the main component of tendons and that is also present in the skin, bones, teeth, ligaments, cartilage and blood vessels, facilitating the prevention of arthritis and osteoarthritis.
VITAMIN C STRENGTHENS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM BECAUSE:
- Facilitates cellular immune response and stimulates Natural Killer cells.
- Facilitates humoral responses and stimulates the production of Interferon.
- It interferes with the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines or with the expression of adhesion molecules.
- It protects immune cells against intracellular ROS formed during the inflammatory response.
- Vitamin C is an extremely important enzymatic cofactor in maintaining tissue integrity and plays a crucial role in the formation of skin, epithelial and endothelial barriers. Vitamin C is fundamental in the hydroxylation of proline and lysine, hence its importance in the genesis of collagen fibers. The proline derivative 4(R)-L-hydroxyproline (4-Hyp) plays a fundamental role in the folding and maintenance of the collagen structure and, therefore, in the stability of the extracellular matrix.
- Helps in neutrophil chemotaxis (increasing phagocytosis), protection against the toxic effects of the superoxide anion radical, favors the bactericidal effect mediated by myeloperoxidases.
- To overcome the immune system, some viruses and bacteria produce neuraminidase, which is an enzyme that allows them not to be trapped in mucous secretions. Vitamin C inhibits neuraminidase.
- Inhibits excessive activation of the immune system preventing tissue damage.
If oxidative stress is maintained, different diseases are generated in different organs, if time passes without correction it leads to aging and death. Vitamin C is the most powerful antioxidant, the blood concentration achieved by oral intake of vitamin C may be insufficient to meet cellular demands in the face of infection or cancer. Vitamin C restores the balance of the oxidative paradox, ending cellular oxidative stress. Understanding this will increase your chances of survival, so EXHALE, PAUSE, INHALE… AND APPLY VITAMIN C.
Human beings cannot synthesize L-ascorbic acid or Vitamin C (because we do not have the enzyme gulonolactone oxidase, which is the last biochemical step in the transformation of glucose into ascorbic acid), therefore it must be administered orally or parenterally. Symptoms of severe Vitamin C deficiency include frequent infections , bleeding gums, loose teeth, stiff and painful joints, petechiae, and slow healing.
The parenteral or intravenous application of high and frequent doses of vitamin C strengthens the immune system and helps the body to overcome the oxidative stress that affects all the cells of the body, helps to keep your immune system with the defenses up. At www.doctorsaliarmo.com/ we don't need to heal the world, but we do need to touch those within our reach.
Vitamin C strengthens the immune system and helps the body overcome oxidative stress that affects all cells in the body. The immune system is what protects us from all kinds of infections. Strengthening the immune system is the most logical thing that you can and should do for your life and that of your loved ones. Everything you do to strengthen your immune system is welcome. The amount of antioxidants in our body is directly proportional to the time we will live.
References
[8] Cass, H., & English, J. (2002). User's guide to vitamin C. Basic Health Publications, Inc.
[10] Fang Cheng, Lars-Åke Fransson, Katrin Mani, Reversal of apolipoprotein E4-dependent or chemical-induced accumulation of APP degradation products by vitamin C-induced release of heparan sulfate from glypican-1, Glycobiology , Volume 31, Issue 7 , July 2021, Pages 800–811, https://doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cwaa120
[11] Cheng, F., Cappai, R., Ciccotosto, GD, Svensson, G., Multhaup, G., Fransson, L. Å., & Mani, K. (2011). Suppression of amyloid β A11 antibody immunoreactivity by vitamin C: Possible role of heparan sulfate oligosaccharides derived from glypican-1 by ascorbate-induced, nitric oxide (NO)-catalyzed degradation. Journal of Biological Chemistry , 286 (31), 27559-27572.
[12] Apotosis inducing activity of vitamin C and vitamin K. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2000; 46:129-43.