Hemilä , H 2017 , ' Vitamin C and Infections ' , Nutrients , vol. 9 , no. 4 , pp. 339 . https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9040339
Title: | Vitamin C and Infections |
Author: | Hemilä, Harri |
Contributor organization: | Harri Hemilä / Principal Investigator Department of Public Health |
Date: | 2017 |
Language: | eng |
Number of pages: | 28 |
Belongs to series: | Nutrients |
ISSN: | 2072-6643 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9040339 |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/189050 |
Abstract: | In the early literature, vitamin C deficiency was associated with pneumonia. After its identification, a number of studies investigated the effects of vitamin C on diverse infections. A total of 148 animal studies indicated that vitamin C may alleviate or prevent infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. The most extensively studied human infection is the common cold. Vitamin C administration does not decrease the average incidence of colds in the general population, yet it halved the number of colds in physically active people. Regularly administered vitamin C has shortened the duration of colds, indicating a biological effect. However, the role of vitamin C in common cold treatment is unclear. Two controlled trials found a statistically significant dose-response, for the duration of common cold symptoms, with up to 6-8 g/day of vitamin C. Thus, the negative findings of some therapeutic common cold studies might be explained by the low doses of 3-4 g/day of vitamin C. Three controlled trials found that vitamin C prevented pneumonia. Two controlled trials found a treatment benefit of vitamin C for pneumonia patients. One controlled trial reported treatment benefits for tetanus patients. The effects of vitamin C against infections should be investigated further. |
Subject: |
3121 General medicine, internal medicine and other clinical medicine
Vitamin C Ascorbic Acid BACTERIA BACTERIAL TOXINS Common Cold herpes zoster Pneumonia Protozoa Respiratory tract infections tetanus Viruses 3142 Public health care science, environmental and occupational health |
Peer reviewed: | Yes |
Rights: | cc_by |
Usage restriction: | openAccess |
Self-archived version: | publishedVersion |
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