Doctors are using intravenous vitamin C to treat COVID-19 patients in China and Italy, where clinical trials are being conducted. Doctors in some areas of the U.S. are using it. Although it isn’t standard protocol in hospitals here, you can usually find it in private holistic clinics as an adjunct to other therapies and as an overall health booster.

But if you or a loved one happens to end up in the hospital with COVID-19, based on the few studies that have been documented, I would try my best to get it prescribed ASAP. If you are not able to find a treatment center for IV vitamin C, or are afraid of needles, here is Dr. Magaziner’s COVID-19 wellness recommendations to strengthen your immunity and resistance to the coronavirus: https://drmagaziner.com/news/dr-magaziners-coronavirus-covid-19-wellness-recommendations/

• Vitamin C 4000-6000 mg/day (4-6 grams/day)
• Vitamin A 10,000 IU per day
• Vitamin D 5000-10,000 IU per day https://barbracohn.com/2020/07/10/the-most-important-supplements-you-need-for-protection-against-covid-19-and-influenza/
• Zinc 30 mg/day
• N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) 500-600 mg, two of these per day.

What is IV vitamin C?

A solution of vitamin C is administered intravenously in the arm so that the vitamin C goes directly into the bloodstream. When you take vitamin C supplements, it goes into the stomach and intestines. If the dose is higher than your body needs, you excrete it through urine. No matter how much vitamin C you take via a supplement you will not be able to achieve the blood levels you’d get from intravenous vitamin C.

How does it work?

It’s counter-intuitive, but even though vitamin C is an antioxidant when it is infused into your blood in very high doses it creates free radicals that destroy viruses and bacterial. At the same time, IV vitamin C strengthens the body’s antioxidant protection, which is especially important during an illness because serious infections use up the body’s antioxidants and vitamin very quickly.

Is it safe?

Yes, but it must be administered by a medical professional and few hospitals in the U.S. are prescribing it for COVID-19, so you have to beg for it. It is administered in private clinics as a preventative treatment against COVID-19 and for other illnesses including cancer. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/vitamin-c-pdq

Intravenous vitamin C keeps people healthier longer.

Covid19 pneumonia is an extremely rapidly developing disease with a high mortality rate. The main pathogenesis is the acute lung injury that causes Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and death. Clinical studies and reports demonstrate that a timely administration of high dose IV Vit-C improves the outcome of Covid19 infection.

Since the development of vaccines or antiviral drugs may take a long time to develop, the use of IV Vit-C as a universal agent for ARDS may have benefits for Covid19 and other viral diseases.

Where has IV Vit-C been used successfully?

Recently, it was used in China to treat COVID-19 patients. Data published by the “Expert Group on clinical Treatment of New Corona Virus Disease in Shanghai” (Shanghai, 2019) discusses the use of IV Vit-C as a safe and effective treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The Chinese facility had 358 COVID -19 patients on March 17th, 2020. Fifty patients with moderate to severe infection were treated with the vitamin C infusion. None of the patients died and all of them improved. Their length of stay at the hospital was 3 to 5 days shorter than the typical 30-day hospital stay of the patients who did not receive the Vitamin-C IV.

Intravenous vitamin-C therapy has a safe track record and is relatively inexpensive. It shortens hospital stays, making it cost effective, and it frees up hospital beds and resources.

A 2020 meta-analysis of 9 existing clinical trials compared a group of people who received an IV infusion with a group of controls. The researchers found that, on average, IV vitamin C shortened the length of mechanical ventilation by 14%. The effect varied from study to study, though, and it was greater when members of the control group needed longer periods of ventilation.

A 2019 meta-analysis found that vitamin C infusions could shorten the length of intensive care unit stays by 7.8% and the need for mechanical ventilation by 18.2%. The study looked at a wide range of medical conditions, but not at COVID-19.

A 2019 randomized controlled trial looked at people with sepsis and severe acute respiratory failure, which are two complications that people with severe COVID-19 may experience. Participants received either a placebo or a vitamin C infusion. Although vitamin C did not decrease the rate of organ failure or sepsis, fewer people in the vitamin C group died.

What can you do now?

It might be awhile until a safe vaccine against COVID-19 is available. In the meantime, support your immune system with the recommended supplements and eat the color of the rainbow, including lots of fresh berries and vegetables, low-fat healthy protein, legumes, and nuts, and healthy fats (olive and avocado oils).

References

Alberto Boretti, Bimal Krishna Banik. Intravenous vitamin C for reduction of cytokines storm in acute respiratory distress syndrome. PharmaNutrition. 2020 Jun; 12: 100190.

Paul S. Anderson. Intravenous ascorbic acid for supportive treatment in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. 12 March 2020. International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine.

Barbra Cohn cared for her husband Morris for 10 years. He passed away from younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2010. Afterward, she was compelled to write “Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s & Dementia”—Winner of the 2018 Book Excellence Award in Self-Help—in order to help other caregivers feel healthier and happier, have more energy, sleep better, feel more confident, deal with feelings of guilt and grief, and to ultimately experience inner peace. “Calmer Waters” is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Boulder Book Store, Tattered Cover Book Store,  Indie Bound.org, and many other fine independent bookstores, as well as public libraries.