Does vitamin C interfere with cancer treatment?
You are a cancer patient undergoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy: Vitamin C may interfere with these treatments and lessen their effect. You are taking bortezomib: Vitamin C may reduce the effect of this drug. You are taking paracetamol: Vitamin C can increase the risk of side effects of paracetamol.
Does intravenous vitamin C have any side effects?
Beneficial effects of intravenous vitamin C on the disease conditions for which it is used are unproven, but side effects appear to be minor. Physicians should be cognizant of potential adverse or other unexpected effects, and of unrecognized interactions with drugs used in conventional and alternative medicine.
Is it safe to take vitamin C supplements?
It’s generally safe to eat foods that are rich in vitamin C. However, talk with your healthcare provider before taking supplements or higher amounts of vitamin C. Herbal supplements can interact with some medications and affect how they work. For more information, read the “What else do I need to know?” section below. What are the side effects?
Does vitamin C interact with other drugs?
A drug interaction is a change in the way a drug acts in the body when taken with certain other drugs. When high-dose vitamin C is combined with certain anticancer drugs, the anticancer drugs may not work as well. So far, these effects have been seen only in some laboratory and animal studies.
Before Taking This Medicine
You should not use Vitamin C if you have ever had an allergic reaction to a vitamin C supplement.Ask a doctor or pharmacist about using Vitamin C i...
How Should I Take Vitamin C?
Use exactly as directed on the label, or as prescribed by your doctor. Do not use in larger or smaller amounts or for longer than recommended.The r...
What Happens If I Miss A Dose?
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. Skip the missed dose if it is almost time for your next scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to...
What Other Drugs Will Affect Vitamin C?
Other drugs may interact with ascorbic acid, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Tell each of you...
What does it mean when you don't have vitamin C?
A severe deficiency (lack) of vitamin C in the diet causes scurvy, a disease with symptoms of extreme weakness, lethargy, easy bruising, and bleeding. The lack of vitamin C in patients with scurvy makes collagen thinner in texture; when vitamin C is given, collagen becomes thicker again.
How to give vitamin C?
High-dose vitamin C may be given by intravenous (IV) infusion (through a vein into the bloodstream) or orally (taken by mouth). When taken by intravenous infusion, vitamin C can reach much higher levels in the blood than when the same amount is taken by mouth. High-dose vitamin C has been studied as a treatment for patients with cancer since ...
What is the oxidized form of vitamin C?
An oxidized form of vitamin C called dehydroascorbic acid has been studied in cell cultures and in animals with tumors. Several studies have found that high doses of dehydroascorbic acid can interfere with the anticancer effects of several chemotherapy drugs.
What is the role of vitamin C in oxidative stress?
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps prevent oxidative stress. It also works with enzymes to play a key role in making collagen. Vitamin C is a nutrient found in food and dietary supplements. It is an antioxidant and also plays a key role in making collagen. High-dose vitamin C may be given by intravenous (IV) infusion ...
What is the role of vitamin C in the body?
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps prevent oxidative stress. It also works with enzymes to play a key role in making collagen.
Is ascorbic acid a high dose?
Intravenous high-dose ascorbic acid has caused very few side effects in clinical trials. While generally approved as a dietary supplement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of IV high-dose vitamin C as a treatment for cancer or any other medical condition.
Does ascorbic acid help with cancer?
In the 1970's, it was proposed that high-dose ascorbic acid could help build resistance to disease or infection and possibly treat cancer.
What is the role of vitamin C in the body?
Vitamin C also helps the body absorb iron, which is needed for red blood cell production.
What is the purpose of ascorbic acid?
Vitamin C also helps the body absorb iron, which is needed for red blood cell production. Ascorbic acid is used to treat and prevent vitamin C deficiency. Ascorbic acid may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.
Can ascorbic acid cause hives?
Ascorbic acid side effects. Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. Stop using ascorbic acid and call your doctor at once if you have: joint pain, weakness or tired feeling, weight loss, stomach pain;
Can you take vitamin C supplements longer than recommended?
Use exactly as directed on the label, or as prescribed by your doctor. Do not use in larger or smaller amounts or for longer than recommended. The recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) increases with age. Follow your healthcare provider's instructions.
Can you take ascorbic acid if you have an allergic reaction to vitamin C?
Before taking this medicine. You should not use ascorbic acid if you have ever had an allergic reaction to a vitamin C supplement. Ask a doctor or pharmacist about using ascorbic acid if you have: hereditary iron overload disorder (hematochromatosis); or. if you smoke ( smoking can make ascorbic acid less effective).
How long has vitamin C been used?
Independent of its use to treat the deficiency disease scurvy, vitamin C has been used by non-mainstream physicians orally and parenterally for more than 60 years as a therapeutic agent [2]–[7]. Oral vitamin C is widely used by the public to prevent or treat infections, especially the common cold [8].
Is IV vitamin C safe?
Other than the known complications of IV vitamin C in those with renal impairment or glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, high dose intravenous vitamin C appears to be remarkably safe.
Is vitamin C still used in medicine?
Anecdotal evidence led us to posit that intravenous (IV) vitamin C is still used by Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners to treat diverse conditions including infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer and illnesses of uncertain origin [11]–[13].
Can vitamin C be administered IV?
The major manufacturers/importers in the US of vitamin C preparations that can be administered IV were contacted by telephone. Data on annual sales of vitamin C in the US were obtained with the understanding that the names and sales figures of individual companies would not be linked nor made public.
To the Editor
This is to comment on three minor sidelights of A. F. Libby’s and Irwin Stone’s interesting report on the use of vitamin C in drug addiction (Vol. 6, No. 4).
To the Editor
We were glad to see Dr. Donald Davis’ comments regarding our finding of the almost immediate detoxication of heroin and other narcotics by high levels of ascorbate (vitamin C).
What is vitamin C?
Overview. Vitamin C is a nutrient found in food and dietary supplements. It is an antioxidant and also plays a key role in making collagen (see Question 1 ). High- dose vitamin C may be taken by mouth or given by an intravenous (IV) infusion (through a vein into the bloodstream). When taken by IV infusion, vitamin C can reach higher levels in ...
What is vitamin C interaction?
A drug interaction is a change in the way a drug acts in the body when taken with certain other drugs. When high-dose vitamin C is combined with certain anticancer drugs, the anticancer drugs may not work as well. So far, these effects have been seen only in some laboratory and animal studies. See the Adverse Effects section ...
What is high dose vitamin C?
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps prevent damage to cells caused by free radicals.
How long does vitamin C last in the blood?
Studies have also shown that vitamin C levels in the blood are higher when given by IV than when taken by mouth, and last for more than 4 hours. Studies of IV vitamin C combined with other drugs. Studies of IV vitamin C combined with other drugs have shown mixed results.
Why did 5 patients not complete the treatment?
Five patients did not complete the treatment because the tumor continued to grow during treatment. The nine patients who completed the treatment had stable disease as shown by imaging studies. Patients had very few side effects from the vitamin C treatment.
Is vitamin C bad for kidneys?
However, high-dose vitamin C may be harmful in patients with certain risk factors. In patients with a history of kidney disease, kidney failure has been reported after treatment with high-dose vitamin C. Patients who are likely to develop kidney stones should not be treated with high-dose vitamin C.
Does IV vitamin C help with cancer?
Patients who received IV vitamin C had few er side effects from the chemotherapy. Patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer or metastatic melanoma were treated with IV vitamin C combined with other drugs.
Does vitamin C help with cancer?
There's still no evidence that vitamin C alone can cure cancer, but researchers are studying whether it might boost the effectiveness of other cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, or reduce treatment side effects. There are still no large, controlled clinical trials that have shown a substantial effect ...
Can you take vitamin C for cancer?
Despite the lack of evidence, some alternative medicine practitioners continue to recommend high doses of vitamin C for cancer treatment. More recently, vitamin C given through a vein (intravenously) has been found to have different effects than vitamin C taken in pill form. This has prompted renewed interest in the use ...
Is vitamin C toxic to cancer cells?
Interest in using very high doses of vitamin C as a cancer treatment began as long ago as the 1970s when it was discovered that some properties of the vitamin may make it toxic to cancer cells. Initial studies in humans had promising results, but these studies were later found to be flawed.
