Cathcart Bowel Tolerance

CONCLUSION

The method of titrating a patient's dosage of ascorbic acid between the relief of most symptoms and bowel tolerance has been described. Either this titration method or large intravenous doses are absolutely necessary to obtain excellent results. Studies of lesser amounts are almost useless. The oral method cannot by its very nature be investigated by double blind studies because no placebo will mimic this bowel tolerance phenomenon. The method produces such spectacular effects in all patients capable of tolerating these doses, especially in the cases of acute self-limiting viral diseases, as to be undeniable. A placebo could not possibly work so reliably, even in infants and children, and have such a profound effect on critically ill patients.

Belfield (32) has had similar results in veterinary medicine during distemper and kennel fever in dogs with intravenous ascorbate. Although dogs produce their own ascorbate, they do not produce enough to neutralize the toxicity of these diseases. This effect in animals could hardly be a placebo.

It would be possible to conduct a double blind study on intravenous ascorbate; however, doses would have to be determined by someone experienced with this method.

Part of the difficulty many have with understanding ascorbate is that claims for its benefits seem too many. Most of these clinical results merely indicate that large doses of ascorbate augment the healing abilities of the body already known to be dependent upon minimal doses of ascorbate.

I anticipate that other essential nutrients will be found being utilized at unexpectedly rapid rates in disease states. Complications caused by failures in systems dependent upon those nutrients will be found. The magnitude of supplementations necessary to avert those complications will seem extraordinary by standards accepted today.

REFERENCES COMPLICATIONS BEGINNING