IV vitamin C infusions reduce muscle fatigue associated with COPD

Thursday, December 05, 2013 by: PF Louis
Tags: vitamin C, intravenous infusions, COPD

(NaturalNews) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a rather vague name for a chronic disorder that inhibits breathing and oxygen delivery to the blood. It manifests in decreased lung capacity from various reasons and inhibits breathing. It can get progressively worse, leading to chronic bronchitis or emphysema.

Recently, a study involving IV-infused ascorbate vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in COPD sufferers was performed to observe how vitamin C affects COPD sufferers' exercise performance and fatigue levels.

The study involved ten COPD sufferers who were familiarized with specific knee extension exercises to create skeletal muscle fatigue and demand more oxygen into the blood. Several test parameters were established to determine oxidative stress, fatigue, breathing capacity and other factors that exist with COPD. (1)

Because of the limited number of subjects, all the subjects were randomly given placebo saline solutions alternated with ascorbate C in saline solutions. Neither the subjects nor the researchers knew what was going through the IV catheters attached to the subjects' arms at any given time. Only whoever was making the solutions knew.

The actual ascorbate C solutions contained only 100 mg of ascorbic acid and were administered with an infusion rate of 1 ml per minute for 20 minutes. This is not a mega-dose IV C blood level, not even close. But it was a proper measuring effort for testing with a predetermined constant blood level of ascorbate C, since absorption of oral C into the blood varies among individuals.

It would take several hundred milligrams more of oral vitamin C with ascorbic acid to render that 100 mg of blood level vitamin C, and that exact amount would vary from one person to another.

So this trial was apparently concerned with observing what effect normal oral supplementation with ascorbate C or ascorbic acid could have on COPD sufferers' antioxidant activity, muscular fatigue and breathing capacity.

The trial results proved that when the ascorbate C was in their blood, the subjects could perform the exercises longer and with less fatigue. Their antioxidant capacity was higher, and their breathing was easier with greater lung capacity during and after exercising. So it's wise for COPD sufferers to take vitamin C supplements on a daily basis to better cope with COPD issues.

The study, "Ascorbate Infusion Increases Skeletal Muscle Fatigue Resistance in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease," appears in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. (2)

Comparing lower doses with IV mega-dose vitamin C therapy

Mega-dose IV C (ascorbic acid) is concerned with healing. Injecting massive amounts into the blood creates ozone for increased cellular respiration, actually converting antioxidant C into an oxygenator. This is why it's useful for killing cancer cells and eliminating anaerobic pathogens without side effects.

The blood level of ascorbic acid injected in the above trial was miniscule compared to normal mega-dose vitamin C therapy for acute diseases, which range from 25 to 50 grams (25,000 to 50,000 mg) of ascorbic acid or ascorbate C per session.

Due to its aqueous nature, it's estimated that only 20% or less of mega-dose IV C penetrates cells' fatty outer wall tissues. But an estimated 90% of lipid-encapsulated particles of liposomal vitamin C are able to penetrate into cells because of their lipid nature, which harmonizes with cell walls' fatty tissue.

Here are two dramatic life saving examples of mega-dose IV C and liposomal C that no other form of vitamin C could ever duplicate: a New Zealander pulled out of a coma on life support in days, and Fukushima clean-up workers protected or cured from radioactive poisoning (http://www.naturalnews.com).

Readers who are concerned that ascorbic acid is toxic should read sources (3) and (4) below.

Sources for this article include:

(1) http://www.eurekalert.org

(2) http://ajpregu.physiology.org

(3) http://www.vitamincfoundation.org

(4) http://lpi.oregonstate.edu