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Medical research confirms the anti-cancer effects of ordinary vitamin C.
According to a new study published in the magazine Science, high doses of injected vitamin C were able to destroy colon cancer cells.
Researchers used cell cultures and experiments on mice to determine what effect vitamin C has on them.
The original data came from applying vitamin C to cell cultures characterized by specific genetic mutations that are often present in colorectal cancers.
Researchers found that cells exhibiting these mutations were more likely to take up metabolites of vitamin C than other cells.
The result was that the cancer cells absorbed such a large amount of vitamin C and its products that it eventually killed them.
An experiment directly on mice confirmed the effect of vitamin C
Researchers later moved from studying cell cultures directly to mice to test whether they would reach similar results. They chose mice because their biochemistry is very similar to that of humans.
The result of the experiment was astonishing. Even in mice, scientists observed the destruction of cancer cells.
Further research discovered the mechanism by which vitamin C was able to destroy cancer cells.
It works in such a way that vitamin C reduces the amount of ATP molecules in cancer cells, from which energy is produced. This, in turn, leads to a drastic lack of energy, causing tumors to die.
The results of this research are of great importance because they describe the cellular mechanisms that lead to the destruction of cancer cells.
Scientists also found that the active substance is a metabolic product of vitamin C called dehydroascorbate. Its great advantage is that it acts selectively only on cancer cells, while it does not harm healthy cells.
Another study confirming the effect of vitamin C on cancer
This is not the first study to confirm the anti-cancer effects of vitamin C.
According to another study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine last February, patients given vitamin C injections were able to increase the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy and reduce its side effects.
As BBC News reported, scientists in the laboratory injected vitamin C into ovarian cancer cells in both mice and people in advanced stages of the disease. The cancer cells were destroyed and healthy cells were unaffected.
Moreover, as already mentioned, a small group of patients reported that with vitamin C they tolerated the side effects of chemotherapy much better.
Clinical trials in humans are unlikely because pharmaceutical companies cannot patent vitamin C
Although evidence of vitamin C’s effectiveness against cancer is continually growing, we are unlikely to see large clinical trials in humans.
The reason? It’s simple — pharmaceutical companies cannot patent vitamins.
Clinical trials require enormous amounts of money, which are needed for the development and approval of new drugs.
And pharmaceutical companies will not invest money in natural substances such as vitamin C. They would not make any profit from it and at the same time would destroy their billion-dollar business producing current toxic cancer drugs.
As Qi Chen, the author of the aforementioned new study, states:
“Because vitamin C cannot be patented, research into its use in cancer treatment will not be supported by the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, this research should be funded by government bodies. “
Whether they will commit to that, however, is another question …
