October 2, 2019. The October 1, 2019 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a trial conducted at seven intensive care units which found a lower risk of mortality among men and women with sepsis who were treated with vitamin C.

Sepsis occurs when the immune system’s response to infection leads to damaging systemic inflammation, which can be life-threatening.

The investigation included 167 participants in the CITRIS-ALI trial, which evaluated organ dysfunction, inflammation and vascular injury following a 96-hour infusion of vitamin C or a placebo among individuals with sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. “We conducted this phase II, proof-of-concept trial to explore if vitamin C is a more effective therapy for organ failure than the current standard of care for sepsis,” stated lead researcher Alpha A. Fowler III, MD. “We did not find evidence that vitamin C improves sepsis-related organ failure in this particular trial, but it significantly reduced how long patients were hospitalized.”

At 28 days, 25 of the 84 participants who received vitamin C had died, compared to 38 of the 82 participants who received a placebo. Compared to the placebo group, ventilator use averaged two and a half days less and time spent out of the ICU averaged three days more in the treated group. Twenty-five percent of those treated with vitamin C were transferred out of the ICU within a week in comparison with 12.5% of participants who received a placebo, and treated patients spent an average of six and a half more days out of the hospital.

“This therapy could potentially transform the way we care for sepsis patients,” Dr Fowler predicted. “We may have found a lifesaving therapy. While further research is needed, the results from our preliminary study are encouraging.”

—D Dye

via Life Extension What’s Hot Archive October 2019