The Vitamin C Story
The Vitamin C story begins for most of us when we think about the dreadful disease known as Scurvy which was responsible for the deaths of countless sailors on early voyages of discovery. Scurvy was probably first observed as a disease by Hippocrates (c. 460 BC-c. 380 BC). In the 13th century the Crusaders suffered from scurvy frequently, the disease inflicted terrible losses on both besieged and besieger in times of war It is reported that Vasco da Gama lost two thirds of his crew to the disease while making his way to India in 1499. In 1520 Magellan lost more than 80 per cent while crossing the Pacific. Two voyages made by Pedro de Quiros early in the 17th century resulted in huge mortality from a sickness Sir Richard Hawkins called, after his venture into the South Seas, 'the plague of the Sea, and the Spoyle of Mariners'.
Scurvy was described in 1541 by a Dutch physician named Echthius working in Cologne, Germany. Mistakenly, he thought it was an infectious disease Scurvy came to public notice in Britain after Commodore George Anson led a squadron into the Pacific in the 1740s to raid Spanish shipping. He lost all but one of his six ships, and two thirds of the crews he shipped (700 survived out of an original complement of 2000), most of them to scurvy. Their symptoms were vividly described by Richard Walter, the chaplain who wrote up the official account of the voyage. "Here were descriptions of its ghastly traces: skin black as ink, ulcers, difficult respiration, rictus of the limbs, teeth falling out and, perhaps most revolting of all, a strange plethora of gum tissue sprouting out of the mouth, which immediately rotted and lent the victim's breath an abominable odour".
It seems that some knew more about Scurvy and how to treat it. When Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) arrived in Newfoundland in 1536 with hundreds of scurvy-ridden crewmen, friendly Indians advised him to give his men an extract of needles from local trees (thought to be white cedar, spruce or sassafras.) Cartier took their advice and promptly cured most of his men. During that same century, other writers mentioned cloudberries, various vegetables and even citrus fruits as a remedy for scurvy.
James Lind, a surgeon in the Royal Navy, conducted clinical tests that proved that citrus fruits and their juices would cure and prevent scurvy, the disease which killed a million seamen between 1600 and 1800. In this painting he is shown aboard HMS Salisbury in 1747. Lind published his paper, A Treatise on the Scurvy was published in 1751. He later became Chief Surgeon of the Royal Naval Hospital and published many more papers on how to safeguard the health of sailors.
Image from A History of Medicine In Pictures, published by Parke, Davis & Co. in 1960; Artist: Robert A.Thom
Scottish naval surgeon, James Lind (1716-1794), is however generally credited with being the first to discover the cure for scurvy. In 1747 shortly after the four-year voyage of Admiral George Anson, during which over a thousand sailors died mostly from scurvy, Lind began his own investigations into the disease. After reading numerous historical accounts, Lind realized that scurvy almost invariably broke out among people whose diet, for one reason or another, had become severely limited.
He therefore took a ten-week voyage during which he treated stricken sailors with various foods--and found that citrus fruits effected the fastest and most dramatic cures. Although Lind published his Treatise on the Scurvy in 1753, it wasn't until almost a half-century later, in 1795, that the admiralty began prescribing daily doses of lime juice for all British sailors (as a result, British sailors became known as limeys). Scurvy promptly diminished, but only in the British navy.
THE DISCOVERY OF VITAMIN C
The discovery of vitamin C came after centuries of the search for a scurvy cure. For the most part, the civilized world continued to resist the notion that scurvy might be due to a dietary deficiency. In 1907, however, two Norwegian biochemists, Axel Holst (1861-1931) and Theodore Frolich, proved conclusively that a scurvy-like condition could be produced in the guinea pig by restricting certain foods and cured by restoring those foods. The stage was then set for the eventual discovery of a new vitamin. Between 1910 and 1920, Zilva and his associates worked at isolating the elusive anti-scurvy substance in various foods and found one substance that appeared to be effective.
However, the actual isolation of ascorbic acid (from latin for Scurvy - Scorbutus) was accomplished a few years later, in 1928, by two independent teams of researchers. One of the teams was headed by Hungarian born scientist Albert Szent-Gyoergyi, who extracted a substance from cabbage, oranges, paprika and adrenal glands which he named hexuronic acid.
Szent-Gyoergyi had given Charles G King the remains of the 'hexuronic' acid that he had isolated at the Mayo Clinic and asked him to test it, using guinea pigs with induced scurvy. Charles G. King had been doing some similar work at the University of Pittsburgh with a substance isolated from oranges and lemons. Repeated trials proved that "hexuronic acid" was, in fact, vitamin C. Szent-Gyoergyi had suspected this, but had put the project aside rather than take up the messy, expensive, and labor intensive animal studies required. In March 1932, Szent-Gyorgi's colleague Joseph Svirbely wrote to King telling him about their findings and adding that he and Szent-Gyoergyi were submitting a report to 'Nature'.
On April 1, 1932, Science published an announcement by King that he had discovered vitamin C, which was identical to hexuronic acid. King cited Szent-Gyoergyi's earlier work on hexuronic acid but gave him no credit for vitamin C. The discovery story was picked up quickly by the American press. Astonished and dismayed, Szent-Gyoergyi and Svirbely sent off their own report to Nature, challenging King's priority in the discovery. A bitter controversy ensued.
King was known to have been working on the problem for over five years and he had many supporters, who were ready to vilify Szent-Gyoergyi as a plagiarist. Yet European and British scientists also knew of Szent-Gyoergyi's long history with this anti-oxidant substance and accepted his claim. Both of these reports were published in 1932. A short while later, vitamin C was synthesized by two men: Walter Norman Haworth, an English chemist who also determined its chemical structure, and Tadeus Reichstein, a Polish-Swiss endocrinologist, who completed the vitamin's synthesis in 1933. Szent-Gyoergyi was quite surprised when, in October 1937, he was informed by the Royal Karolinska Institute in Stockholm that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, "for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with especial reference to vitamin C.
LINUS PAULING (February 28, 1901 - August 19, 1994)
The next person to pick up the baton was Linus Pauling PhD. Linus Pauling a two time Nobel Prize winner is regarded as the modern day 'father' of Vitamin C. He is perhaps best known for his belief that Vitamin C could prevent the Common Cold. His book 'Vitamin C and the Common Cold' was published in 1970. Pauling's work on vitamin C in his later years generated controversy and was originally regarded by some adversaries in the field of medicine as outright quackery a term often used against anyone who dares to present data that is inconsistent with current dogma.
It is indeed a travesty that Linus Pauling was not lauded for his work. After all, Pauling's contribution to science is held by many in the utmost regard. He was included in a list of the 20 greatest scientists of all time by the British magazine 'New Scientist', with Albert Einstein being the only other scientist from the twentieth century on the list.
Gautam R. Desiraju, the author of the 'Millennium Essay in 'Nature', claimed that Pauling was one of the greatest thinkers and visionaries of the millennium, along with Galileo, Newton, and Einstein. Pauling received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his campaign against above-ground nuclear testing, and is the only person to win two Nobel prizes that were not shared with another recipient.
Linus Pauling was first introduced to the concept of high-dose vitamin C by biochemist Irwin Stone in 1966 and began taking several grams every day to prevent colds. Excited by the results, he researched the clinical literature and published "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" in 1970. He began a long clinical collaboration with the British cancer surgeon, Ewan Cameron, in 1971 on the use of intravenous and oral vitamin C as cancer therapy for terminal patients. Cameron and Pauling wrote many technical papers and a popular book, "Cancer and Vitamin C", that discussed their observations. Three prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trials were conducted by Moertel et al. at the Mayo Clinic; all three failed to prove a benefit for megadoses of vitamin C in cancer patients. Pauling denounced Charles Moertel's conclusions and handling of the final study as "fraud and deliberate misrepresentation." Pauling then published critiques of the second Mayo-Moertel cancer trial's flaws over several years as he was able to slowly unearth some of the trial's undisclosed details. However, the wave of adverse publicity generated by Moertel and the media effectively undercut Pauling's credibility and his vitamin C work for a generation, the oncological mainstream continued with other avenues of treatment.
Though the scientific community at large did not agree with Pauling's conclusions in his vitamin-related medical research and writing, his entry into the fray gave a larger voice in the public mind to nutrients such as vitamins and minerals for disease prevention Pauling's work on vitamin C in his later years generated controversy and was originally regarded by some adversaries in the field of medicine as outright quackery. He was first introduced to the concept of high-dose vitamin C by biochemist Irwin Stone in 1966 and began taking several grams every day to prevent colds. Excited by the results, he researched the clinical literature and published "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" in 1970.
He began a long clinical collaboration with the British cancer surgeon, Ewan Cameron, in 1971 on the use of intravenous and oral vitamin C as cancer therapy for terminal patients. Cameron and Pauling wrote many technical papers and a popular book, "Cancer and Vitamin C", that discussed their observations. Three prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trials were conducted by Moertel et al. at the Mayo Clinic; all three failed to prove a benefit for megadoses of vitamin C in cancer patients. Pauling denounced Charles Moertel's conclusions and handling of the final study as "fraud and deliberate misrepresentation." Pauling then published critiques of the second Mayo-Moertel cancer trial's flaws over several years as he was able to slowly unearth some of the trial's undisclosed details. However, the wave of adverse publicity generated by Moertel and the media effectively undercut Pauling's credibility and his vitamin C work for a generation, the oncological mainstream continued with other avenues of treatment.
In his foreword to Glen Dettman's book "Vitamin C, Nature's Miraculous Healing Missile" Linus Pauling says
"This ascorbic acid molecule, now commonly called vitamin C, is an extremely simple combination of just carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, having a very low molecular weight. Its very simplicity explains why it has found its way into literally hundreds of metabolic pathways within our bodies, and why a more than "ample" amount of vitamin C can turn such a large variety of maladies into happy effects. Doctors Archie Kalokerinos, Glen Dettman, and Ian Dettman, have sorted through many 1000s of research articles, books, and personal communications, written this century about vitamin C and have extracted the cream - those that most clearly and convincingly show how vitamin C performs its "miracles". Most of these articles are exciting to read, and some are quite moving. Over the decades it has been a great mystery to me how most medical doctors are so slow to take full advantage of vitamin C's remarkable powers. But we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here in America, even our nutritionally backward government and medical associations are beginning to recommend supplements such as beta carotene, niacin, and fiber. Just a few years ago they were insisting a good diet was quite sufficient. Whether they will ever bite the bullet and recommend vitamin C is a question the answer to which is fraught with politics, reputations, face-saving, and the almighty dollar. It will be interesting to see if this book, for which I'm honored to have been invited to write the Foreword, will turn the tide for vitamin C. I believe this book may help convince the skeptics by inundating them with many important, historical, informative, and yet readable, articles from the past".Poet Dorothy Parker said. "You Can't Teach An Old Dogma New Tricks" When one looks into the Vitamin C story there is certainly plenty of evidence of this.
