Table of contents
Bias against Vitamin C in Mainstream Medicine: Examples from Trials of Vitamin C for Infections
Life 2022, 12(1), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12010062
by Harri Hemilä 1,*ORCID and Elizabeth Chalker 2
1 Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
2 Biological Data Science Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
PDF Table of Contents
Reduced duration of common cold with increasing Vitamin C
Evidence has shown unambiguously that, in certain contexts, vitamin C is effective against the common cold. However, in mainstream medicine, the views on vitamin C and infections have been determined by eminence-based medicine rather than evidence-based medicine. The rejection of the demonstrated benefits of vitamin C is largely explained by three papers published in 1975—two published in JAMA and one in the American Journal of Medicine—all of which have been standard citations in textbooks of medicine and nutrition and in nutritional recommendations. Two of the papers were authored by Thomas Chalmers, an influential expert in clinical trials, and the third was authored by Paul Meier, a famous medical statistician. In this paper, we summarize several flaws in the three papers. In addition, we describe problems with two recent randomized trial reports published in JAMA which were presented in a way that misled readers. We also discuss shortcomings in three recent JAMA editorials on vitamin C. While most of our examples are from JAMA, it is not the only journal with apparent bias against vitamin C, but it illustrates the general views in mainstream medicine. We also consider potential explanations for the widespread bias against vitamin C.
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Vitamin C 2X reduction in colds if person has been exercising a lot and/or in cold weather- Cochrane - 2004
VITAMIN C FOR PREVENTING AND TREATING THE COMMON COLD
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD000980.pub2. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub2.
Douglas RM, Hemila H, D'Souza R, Chalker EB, Treacy B
Main Results
Twenty-nine trial comparisons involving 11,077 study participants contributed to the metaanalysis on the relative risk (RR) of developing a cold while taking prophylaxis.
The pooled RR was 0.96 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.00).
A subgroup of six trials that involved a total of 642 marathon runners, skiers, and soldiers on sub-arctic exercises reported a pooled RR of 0.50 (95%CI 0.38 to 0.66).*Thirty comparisons that involved 9,676 respiratory episodes contributed to the metaanalysis on common cold duration during prophylaxis . A consistent benefit was observed, representing a reduction in cold duration of 8% (95% CI 3% to 13%) for adult participants and 13.5% (95% CI 5% to 21%) for child participants.
Reviewers' conclusions
The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the normal population indicates that routine mega-dose prophylaxis is not rationally justified for community use. But evidence shows that it could be justified in persons exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise and/or cold environments. Also, the consistent and statistically significant small benefits on duration and severity for those using regular vitamin C prophylaxis indicates that vitamin C plays some role in respiratory defence mechanisms. The trials in which vitamin C was introduced at the onset of colds as therapy did not show any benefit in doses up to 4 grams daily, but one large trial reported equivocal benefit from an 8 gram therapeutic dose at onset of symptoms.
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