VITAMIN C -THE ALL ROUNDER MEDICINE AND ITS ROLE IN CORONAVIRUS AND OTHER HEALTH RELATED BENEFITS.

WHAT IS VITAMIN C ?

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. Even, if one will take it in excess most of its quantity will be flushed out of the body. Our system keeps very small reserves of it. So, it has to be taken regularly to prevent its deficiency.

It has played as a  'SAVIOUR OF THE HUMAN RACE' in this covid-19 pandemic, although there are other medicines too that are needed to be taken to fight against coronavirus.

CONTENTS 

1 . WHAT IS VITAMIN C?

2 . MAJOR USES OF VITAMIN -C

3. VITAMIN C AND ITS ROLE IN CORONAVIRUS

4. VITAMIN C AND IMMUNE SYSTEM

5. VITAMIN C AND ITS DOSES IN CORONAVIRUS 

MAJOR USES OF VITAMIN C

REPAIRS TISSUE-Helps to repair and maintain cartilage, bones, and teeth. 

IRON ABSORPTION-If has taken along with iron it increases iron absorption 13 times.

TISSUE FORMATION-It plays a vital role to form major proteins needed to make skin, tendon, ligaments, muscles, and blood vessels.

WOUND HEALING-Its needed for fast wound healing and for the formation of scars.

ANTIOXIDANTS-It's best-known role is to block some of the damage caused by free radicals that can cause cancer, inflammatory conditions like arthritis.

VITAMIN C AND ITS ROLE IN CORONAVIRUS AS ITS DEFEATER

Vitamin C shows non-specific effects on severe viral respiratory tract infections with many trials and reports showing that it may affect the immune system like it influences the function of phagocytes , transformation of T lymphocytes, and production of interferon. All these kill the coronavirus.

VITAMIN C AND IMMUNE SYSTEM

Vitamin C affects your immune health in several ways. Its antioxidant activity can decrease inflammation, which may help improve your immune function.

Vitamin C also keeps your skin healthy by boosting collagen production, helping the skin serve as a functional barrier to keep harmful compounds from entering your body. Vitamin C in the skin can also promote wound healing.

The vitamin also boosts the activity of phagocytes, immune cells that can “swallow” harmful bacteria and other particles.

In addition, it promotes the growth and spread of lymphocytes, a type of immune cell that increases your circulating antibodies, proteins that can attack foreign or harmful substances in your blood.

In studies of its effectiveness against viruses that cause the common cold, vitamin C doesn’t appear to make you any less likely to get a cold — but it may help you get over a cold faster and make the symptoms less severe.

There’s also some evidence from animal research and case studies in humans that high dose or IV vitamin C can reduce lung inflammation in severe respiratory illnesses caused by H1N1 (“swine flu”) or other viruses.

However, these doses were far above the DV, and there’s not enough research to support the use of high dose vitamin C for lung inflammation at this time. You shouldn’t take high doses of vitamin C supplements — even orally — because they can cause side effects like diarrhea.

In an article published in the Chinese Journal of Infection Diseases, the Shanghai Medical Association endorsed the use of high dose vitamin C as a treatment for hospitalized people with COVID-19.

Doses that are magnitudes higher than the DV are recommended to be given through IV to improve lung function, which may help keep a patient off of mechanical ventilation or life support.

Additionally, a 2019 review found that both oral and IV high-dose vitamin C treatment may aid people admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) for critical illnesses by reducing ICU stay length by 8% and shortening the duration of mechanical ventilation by 18.2%.

Chinese researchers have also registered a clinical trial to further study the effectiveness of IV vitamin C in hospitalized people with COVID-19.

However, it’s important to note that vitamin C is not yet a standard part of the treatment plan for COVID-19 because the evidence is still lacking.

Though high dose IV vitamin C is currently being tested to see if it can improve lung function in people with COVID-19, no evidence suggests that high doses of oral vitamin C supplements can help with the disease. In fact, they can cause complications like diarrhea.

DOSE OF VITAMIN C IN CORONAVIRUS

VITAMIN C dosage in adults

The RDA for normal adult MALE is 90 mg/day, FEMALES is 75 mg/day and in pregnant it's 85 mg/day; not to exceed 2000 mg/day.

For children and neonates, it varies as mentioned below according to age.

VITAMIN C dosage in children

In cases of coronavirus, it is concluded after early reports and analysis that the amount of vitamin C decreases in the body. Thus, it's given in very high doses in excess for the covid 19 positive patients as 1500 mg/day in three divided doses of 500 mg each. One should always take it after consulting with the physician as it's not a fancy drug and may cause more harm than benefit if consumed without a prescription.

KEY NOTES 

Vitamin C has acted as a wonderful weapon for human beings to have a good fight with the new enemy 'The Coronavirus'. However, to have its full benefits always consult your physician while taking its dose if you are coronavirus positive.