Bowel Tolerance Vitamin C - Advice Please

[H3LL]

After hearing 'friend of a friend' evidence of success with bowel tolerance vitamin C therapy for a variety of ailments I had a quick look into it.

I am a little skeptical about what I have read and sound medical evidence that it is not effective was impossible to find other than rather woolly dismissals that presented zero evidence.

Can anyone advise please.

[Zep]

Any references so far, either for or against?

[H3LL]

The biggest resource would be:

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

but this place gave me the strongest feeling of skepticism and is the main reason for posting. Alarm bells were ringing on my personal ballony detector.

Sorry, but I kept no record of other sites, for or against, as it was a prolonged google session with various search criteria.

[Zep]

Yes, the posting of "unpublished letters to The Lancet" don't give much feeling of confidence. The page with the copy of the letter actually published in The Lancet didn't show any responses or subsequent follow-up studies, nor commentary from other scientists or doctors.

I'd suggest Googling for more info on the people involved. Note that Linus Pauling has been a strong advocate of megadoses of Vitamin-C, and has not been without criticism of same.

[H3LL]

I had not followed the Linus Pauling route closely enough...Thanks.

It is rather disappointing to find that someone that has won two nobel prizes is involved in questionable therapy. Who can you trust :(

I found a very extensive article at www.quackwatch.org (http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/pauling.html) which I think is well regarded by JREF.

It makes for depressing reading, such as:

In 1983, Pauling and Irwin Stone testified at a hearing on behalf of Oscar Falconi, a vitamin promoter charged by the Postal Service with making false claims for several products. Pauling supported Falconi's contentions that vitamin C was useful not only in preventing cancer, but also in curing drug addicts and destroying both viruses and bacteria. Pauling also testified in 1984 before the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance in defense of Michael Gerber, M.D., who was accused of improperly administering to patients. One was a 56-year-old woman with treatable cancer who -- the Board concluded -- had died as a result of Gerber's neglect while he treated her with herbs, enzymes, coffee enemas, and chelation therapy. The other patients were three-year-old twin boys with ear infections for which Gerber had prescribed 70,000 or more units of vitamin A daily and coffee enemas twice daily for several weeks. Gerber lost his license to practice medicine as a result of the hearings. He now practices in Nevada under a homeopathic license.

I think I have a result....Thanks :D