Vitamin C treatment in Edmonton

Our Clinic is a Leader in Vitamin C Therapy in Edmonton

One of the most commonly administered treatments is Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is usually administered as an Alternative Cancer Therapy.

Our clinic has extensive experience with IV Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is thought to be strongly synergistic with Hyperbaric Chamber Treatment. 

Vitamin C in Edmonton

For Cancer, Vitamin C can often be co-administered with various chemotherapies.

Commonly used in Colon, Breast, Kidney & Bladder Cancer, Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancer.

In Colon and Breast Cancer we use Vitamin C with Artemesinin or a metabolic approach.

Vitamin C Therapy can often be administered after Hyperbaric treatment.

Vitamin C has shown benefit in:

Vitamin C Basics 

We dose Vitamin C anywhere from 5 grams to 125 grams per treatment.

Lyme, Chronic Fatigue and Immune Boosting is usually in doses between 5 and 30 grams. 

Doses for Cancer are typically from 50-125 grams of Vitamin C. 

Data exists that suggests the effect of Vitamin C Therapy is enhanced by the addition Hyperbaric Oxygen.

Review Papers

In 2018, a review by Bazzan was published of all patients receiving Vitamin C for cancer for patients at a hospital over a 7-year period.

86 patients received doses of Vitamin C ranging from 50g to 150g.

Of those, 32 patients received only Vitamin C as part of their cancer management.

54 patients received Vitamin C in conjunction with chemotherapy (included drugs such as paclitaxel, carboplatin, sorafenib, irinotecan, and gemcitabine).

Patients, overall, reported improvements in fatigue, pain, and mood with Vitamin C Therapy.

The authors concluded that Vitamin C may be useful in symptom management and improving quality of life in cancer patients.

Another 2018 review looked at a total of 23 trials involving 385 cancer patients using Vitamin C.

The authors concluded Vitamin C Therapy was shown to be safe in nearly all patient populations, alone and in combination with chemotherapies (Nauman 2018).

Dosing & Safety 

Vitamin C has been administered in doses as high as 200g without adverse consequences.

A study at McGill University found no toxicity at Vitamin C doses of up to 125g in Cancer.

At our Naturopath clinic, most commonly for cancer, dosing is between 50 to 100 grams. 

We always do measurements of renal function as well as a G6PD screen - for oxidative tolerance. 

Tolerance of Vitamin C is extremely high and incidence of adverse effects is very low.

Biochemistry

Vitamin C levels achievable in-office are cytotoxic to select cancer cell lines but not to normal cells by a mechanism involving formation of hydrogen peroxide.

Whereas normal cells have more catalase enzyme that metabolizes (dismutates) hydrogen peroxide. 

Vitamin C may also deregulates cellular calcium homeostasis, thereby promoting cell death.

High levels of ascorbate result in lower expression of HIF (helps tumor cells shift from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism) which decreases tumor growth. 

Hyperbaric Oxygen

One source suggests pairing low dose Vitamin C with 1.3 to 2.5 ATA Hyperbaric treatment.

Whereas high dose strategies (over 25 grams Vitamin C) paired with 1.3 to 1.5 ATA Hyperbaric protocols.

Our Edmonton office has Hyperbaric chambers capable of 1.5 to 3.0 ATA Hyperbaric pressures.

Vitamin C and Infections

We use low dose Vitamin C treatment primarily for acute infections like colds and flus.

Our Naturopaths use moderate dose Vitamin C with chronic infections such as Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).

Results on 178 patients from the Riordan Clinic treated with Vitamin C (7.5 g to 50 g infusions) showed a reduction in EBV antibody levels over time.

This is consistent with observations that Vitamin C can hinder viral infection and replication. 

Low Dose vs High

The Vitamin C treatments are in two major categories:

– Those for general immune and antioxidant support (Low Dose) - these therapies contain support nutrients, and occasionally are given with glutathione. 

– Those for purely oxidative "cancer damaging" purposes (High Dose) - These generally only have minerals to balance blood electrolytes, and are generally not given with antioxidants on the same day

The high dose oxidative formulas that have a prolonged oxidative effect in the body likely begin at 20-25 grams and above.

How many treatments do I need?

It depends on what you are using Vitamin C for. 

For skin health, we usually give Vitamin C with Glutathione 1-2x weekly for 4-12 weeks, usually using 5-10 grams of Vitamin C.

For cancer, Vitamin C therapy is usually twice a week for 6-8 weeks; after about 20 treatments it can be done once a week (assuming there are positive treatment responses). 

20 is not an arbitrary number, data from the Bastyr Integrative Oncology Research Centre found that with less than 12-15 treatments they could not properly assess a clear outcome.

What are all the things Vitamin C can be used for?

Most commonly we use Vitamin C therapy for: Immunity, Skin Health, Infections. 

We can also use Vitamin C treatment for Cancer, Allergy and Longevity.

Side-effects to High Dose Vitamin C? 

Surprisingly, not really.

We've administered Vitamin C in high doses for 14 years with almost no side effects.

High Dose Vitamin C can be dehydrating, because it's a hypertonic, so we might need to pre-hydrate patients that might be at risk for dehydration. 

Our experience: 

At our Edmonton clinic, our Naturopaths commonly administer 50 - 75 gram treatments of Vitamin C.

We frequently measure blood vitamin C with a glucometer to approximate 400mg/dL levels of Vitamin C (reflecting in-vitro data from the Riordan clinic) or approximately 1.5g/kg.

For chronic infections such as EBV and HHV-6 our Naturopaths often use doses of 15-30 grams but we are open to using higher doses up to 50 grams as per the Riordan EBV data. 

Overall, Vitamin C Therapy is an extremely safe treatment.

Need Vitamin C?

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