QUOTES FROM VARIOUS ARTICLES

VITAMIN C

Extract from LPI -- copyright: Oregon State University 

"Dr. Pauling…based his own recommendations for vitamin C largely on theoretical arguments… [new] data … have indicated that vitamin C levels in plasma and circulating cells become fully saturated at intakes of about 400 mg/day in young, healthy nonsmokers…. they are based on a small number of young, healthy men and women. We currently do not know how much vitamin C is required to achieve saturation of cells and tissues in children, older adults, and diseased or stressed individuals…. elderly require a substantially higher daily intake of vitamin C to attain plasma concentrations that younger adults achieve at a lower intake…. cellular uptake of vitamin C declines with age… Thus, individuals suffering from certain diseases may require substantially larger amounts of vitamin C to achieve optimum body levels or derive therapeutic benefits…”

Monday March 27, 2000 7:28 PM ET

 Vitamin C, E may protect the aging brain

 NEW YORK, Mar 27 (Reuters Health) -- Taking vitamin C and vitamin E supplements may
 help protect memory and mental decline as you age, researchers report.

Masaki and co-authors note, however, that men who took both vitamin E and C
 supplements together for many years showed a substantially greater improvement,
 ``suggesting that long-term use is required to improve cognitive function in late life.''

 The researchers believe that vitamin C and E may protect from brain damage because they
 are antioxidants and can mop up brain-damaging free radical particles. SOURCE:
 Neurology 2000;54:1265-1272

Monday October 29, 2001 5:21 PM ET

                Vitamin C Shows Promise in Heart
                Failure Patients

                                   By Amy Norton

                                   NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Therapy with
                                   vitamin C may help heart failure patients by
                                   improving the function of their blood vessels,
                                   results from a small study suggest.

                Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which means it helps remove cell-damaging
                oxygen compounds from the body. ``Therefore,'' Dimmeler said, ``we
                questioned whether antioxidative treatment of heart failure patients with
                vitamin C against these reactive oxygen species can reduce endothelial
                cell death.''

                SOURCE: Circulation 2001;104.

 TAMPA, Fla., Mar 29 (Reuters) -- Taking high doses of vitamin C while undergoing
 traditional cancer therapy may interfere with radiation or chemotherapy treatments and
 possibly protect the very cancer cells the treatments are designed to destroy, doctors said on
 Monday.

"Overall, we need to think about the nutritional needs of tumor cells, as well as those of
 normal cells, in formulating answers to patient questions regarding taking supplemental
 vitamin C,'' he said. Also, because radiation and chemotherapy rely on oxidation to kill
 cancer cells, taking an antioxidant -- such as vitamin C -- may interfere with that process.

``High dietary intake of vitamin C has been found to be associated with low death rates from cerebrovascular and
cardiovascular diseases. More importantly, a study of 11,348 U.S. adults found that men and women with the highest vitamin C
intake and regular vitamin C supplementation had a 42% and 25% decrease in cardiovascular mortality, respectively. It has also
been demonstrated that vitamin C supplementation can reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality by positively influencing
cholesterol levels, platelets and even blood pressure. In addition, a 15 year prospective study involving over 12,000 subjects
conducted by Cheraskin and colleagues, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, found that the group
most symptom free of any disease or condition was the group supplementing at nearly the identical level of vitamin C that
Dwyer's group allegedly places subjects at increased risk of arteriosclerosis.

                  December 20, 1999
                    By Sarah Yang
(WebMD) -- Vitamin C has been touted as a treatment for the common  cold, gallbladder disease and blocked arteries. Too little in the diet can  cause scurvy, a disease marked by bleeding around the gums and loose  teeth. Now, a new study may further boost vitamin C's reputation with  results that it may also reduce high blood pressure.

NEW YORK, Sep 03 (Reuters Health) -- Supplements of vitamins C and E appear to reduce the risk of
pre-eclampsia, a potentially life-threatening complication of pregnancy, researchers report.

The authors point out that 'free radicals' -- the destructive by-products of normal metabolic processes -- can cause oxidative
stress to cells lining arteries, and could be ''promoters'' of pre-eclampsia. They theorized that supplementation with
anti-oxidants like vitamins C and E that ''mop up'' free radicals might reduce risks for pre-eclampsia in pregnant women at high
risk.

To test this theory, they had 283 pregnant women at high risk for developing pre-eclampsia take vitamin C (1,000 mg/day) and
vitamin E (400 IU/day) or a 'dummy' placebo, starting at between 16 to 22 weeks of pregnancy and continuing until delivery.

Vitamin C reduces effects of chronic stress

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters Health) -- A high dietary intake of vitamin C may help reduce the
effects of chronic stress by inhibiting the release of stress hormones, thus preventing these hormones
from dampening the immune response.

The findings also suggest that current guidelines on recommended vitamin C intake may be too low. The researchers note
that the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is currently set at 60 mg per day. But Campbell's team
believes that our ancestors consumed much more of the vitamin daily, in a diet rich in fruits.

``If so,'' Campbell said in a statement, ``the physiological constitution we have inherited may require doses far larger than
the present RDA to keep us healthy under varying environmental conditions, including stress.''

 NEW YORK, Feb 03 (Reuters Health) -- Smokers are at higher risk for vitamin C
 deficiency than nonsmokers but can substantially boost levels of the antioxidant vitamin by
 taking a daily supplement, new study findings suggest.

 The study found that among men with poor diets, levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) were
 lower in smokers than in nonsmokers. However, when supplemented with the same vitamin
 pill, vitamin C levels rose more than four times higher in smokers compared with
 nonsmokers, researchers report.

 The study in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the
 effects of smoking on antioxidant status. According to the investigators, poor dietary habits
 combined with the depletion of antioxidants by cigarette smoke puts smokers at greater risk
 for a number of chronic diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

                Vitamin C Helps Drugs Pass Blood-Brain Barrier

                By Rossella Lorenzi

                FLORENCE (Reuters Health) - Vitamin C could provide a key to unlock the blood-brain barrier,
                which stops many drugs from getting into the brain where they could potentially treat diseases such as
                Alzheimer's or epilepsy, according to preliminary findings from researchers in Italy.

                Dr. Stefano Manfredini from the University of Ferrara and colleagues found that drugs used to treat
                neurological disorders appear to slip past the blood-brain barrier more easily when a vitamin C
                molecule is attached.

                ``Ascorbic acid works like a sort of a shuttle. Theoretically, it could transport onto the brain any
                compound,'' Manfredini told Reuters Health.

                Potential applications include not only drugs for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and epilepsy,
                but also viral infections, including AIDS (news - web sites).

                Lack of Vitamin C May Trigger Fetal Membrane Break

                By Melissa Schorr

                NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who get little vitamin C both before and during their
                pregnancies have an increased risk of suffering a ruptured membrane and subsequently delivering
                prematurely, according to research presented this week at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's
                annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

                ``Vitamin C plays a role in the structure of collagen in the fetal membrane, and when it's not there, it
                makes the membrane weaker,'' lead author Dr. Anna Siega-Riz, an assistant professor of maternal and
                child health and nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Reuters Health.

                ``The best advice we can give is for women to take a multivitamin preconceptually and throughout
                pregnancy,'' Siega-Riz said. ``You can't ignore the preconceptual period--women have to be in good
                physical well-being when they become pregnant.''
 

                By Alan Mozes

                NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Orange juice made from frozen concentrate can have higher levels of
                active vitamin C than ready-to-drink orange juice, researchers report. And once reconstituted, the
                vitamin in frozen juices may keep its potency longer.

                "Frozen concentrates have more vitamin C in them, quite a bit more, than ready-to-drink juices--since
                vitamin C is very easily destroyed and ready-to-drink orange juice goes through more processing than
                concentrates," said study lead author Dr. Carol S. Johnston of Arizona State University East in Mesa.

                SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2002;102:525-529.

By Charnicia E. Huggins

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who add extra vitamin C to their diet during pregnancy may lower their risk of premature delivery, a team of Mexican researchers reports.

In Mexico, premature rupture of the membrane surrounding the fetus has become relatively common among pregnant women, lead researcher Veronica Gutierrez at the National Institute of Perinatology in Mexico City told Reuters Health. This rupture can increase a woman's risk of premature delivery.

Vitamin C is known to play an important role in the structure of the collagen-composed membrane. In fact, women who don't get enough vitamin C both before and during pregnancy may be more susceptible to premature membrane rupture, according to previous research.