Can Vitamin C Supplements Help?
By: Daniel Weigum
The cold and flu season usually drags a percentage of the population down at some time during the year. A clinic visit and some prescription drugs is the usual method of dealing with out of control cold and flu symptoms. Is cold and flu prevention possible?
Vitamin C has gained a reputation of strengthening the immune system. Is this possible? A simple vitamin supplement can offer immunity to some of the most common illnesses afflicting the public today. Studies have indicated vitamin C really can help.
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology recently conducted a study on the affects of vitamin C on the immune system. Susan Ritter, MD, PhD candidate, and Gailen D. Marshall, Jr., MD, PhD, both from the University of Texas Health Science Center, studied the blood of 12 anonymous patients given a one gram daily vitamin C supplement.
An increase in NK cells was found in all patients after the 2 week vitamin C supplement trial. The NK cells are important in immunity against viral infections. NK cells (Natural Killer cells) are large, granular lymphocytes carried in the blood. The NK cells function basically as a soldier waiting for a mission. When infection activates an immune system response, NK cell are signaled and initiate an attack destroying pathogens as they are designed. The increase level of Natural Killer cells in vitamin C supplement test subjects suggests an increased immunity to infections.
Vitamin C supplement subjects also had an increased level of interferon-gamma. Interferon-gamma is used by the cytotoxic T cells to do a couple of important functions. During a viral infection, cytotoxic T cells are formed specifically to attack the virus infecting the body. When the cytotoxic T cell targets an infected tissue cell, interferon-gamma is secreted and used to prevent the infected cell from replicating into another viral pathogen, increases the processing and presentation of viral infections with MHC class I molecules, and activates macrophages in the area of the infection near the cytotoxic T cell.
The three important steps referred to above can be simplified into isolation, assassination, and finally elimination. The cell replication is stopped when the cytotoxic T cell introduces interferon-gamma. The cell is programmed to die with use of MHC class I molecules. Finally, the dead interferon-gamma coated cell is easily identified as a foreign body and eliminated by the macrophages. Interferon-gamma triggers all three of these events which makes the immune system much more efficient when engaging in battle with a viral infection. The cytotoxic T cell can effectively kill several infected tissue cells from one to the next as well as gain space to maneuver as dead infected cells are eliminated by the macrophages.
A reduction of the presence of interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 were also found in the vitamin C supplement test subjects. Interleukin is secreted by T cells to initiate naive B cells to differentiate into plasma cells secreting immunoglobulins. This antibody response occurs during infections. Interleukins trigger or inhibit the different types of immunoglobulin formation. Immunoglobulin can be tailored to respond to different types of infections. The reduced levels of interleukin-4 and interleuking-10 give evidence of the decreased need of an antibody response by the immune system. The immune system function efficiency is more effective requiring less need for distinct antibody production.
Vitamin C supplements have had a profound affect on this group of people as well as survived the old home remedy tests passed down from generations before. Today, the glass of orange juice isn’t the only vitamin C source available. Simple measures such as benefiting the body with vitamin C can keep the body healthy. Instead of reaching for a Kleenex, the offer of a Kleenex to a sick coworker might be a better way to live through the cold and flu season.
References
- Peter Parham, The Immune System, New York, NY, Garland Publishing/Elsevier Science Ltd., 2000.
- Vitamin C Can Boost The Immune System
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
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