LIFE SPAN MOLECULES
SUSTAIN HUMAN LIFE SPAN

    Life-span molecules sustain the species life span in two important ways. First, life-span foods preserve the structural integrity of human cells. Second, life-span foods preserve the functional capacity of the cells. I cite two of my recent research studies to illustrate these phenomena. In those studies, I examined the effects of vitamin C on the structure of the cell membrane of red blood cells and on the function of the plasma membrane of platelets, the smallest of all blood corpuscles. The stickiness of blood platelets plays a central role in the causation of heart attack, stroke and other vascular problems.

Ascorbic acid reverses abnormal erythrocyte morphology in chronic fatigue syndrome. Ali, M. Am J Clin Pathol 94:515, 1990

    In the preceding study, I examined the membrane of red blood cells of patients with allergy caused by IgE-type antibodies and who suffered from chronic persistent fatigue. I used a high-resolution microscope that enlarges the red corpuscles of blood over 11,000 times. I observed that up to 50% of all red cells showed marked deformities of the red blood cell membrane. Some of these cells had wrinkled membranes, others showed sharp angulations, and yet others bore thornlike projections on their surfaces. It was evident to me that blood cells with such deformities could not flow smoothly within the blood capillaries. It seems to me that this is one of the causes of muscle and skin pains, aches and numbness which patients with chronic fatigue often suffer. In the second part of that study, I examined the effects of vitamin C on the deformed cell membranes. Following an intravenous infusion of 15 grams of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), the regular structure of the red blood cell membrane was restored in more than half of the cells showing abnormalities. The study demonstrates the efficacy of vitamin C in restoring the structural integrity of the erythrocyte membrane, and by implication, the membranes of cells of other tissues. Ascorbic acid appears to restore the normal erythrocyte morphology by reducing the oxidant stress imposed upon it by allergic triggers and other factors.

Ascorbic acid prevents platelet aggregations by norepinephrine, collagen, ADP and ristocetin. Ali, M. Am J Clin Pathol 95:281, 1991

    In the second study, I investigated the effects of ascorbic acid on the function of platelet plasma membranes. In my laboratory, I caused the blood platelets to become sticky and form platelet clots (platelet aggregates) by exposing them to the oxidative stress of adrenaline and three other substances identified in the title of the paper cited above. I fully expected that vitamin C would protect the platelets from the oxidative stress of adrenaline and prevent abnormal stickiness. That is indeed what I observed. What I had not expected, and it turned out to be a far more important observation, was that vitamin C would cause the breakup of formed platelet clots (dissociation of formed platelet aggregates). These data suggest strongly that ascorbic acid may be of great value in the prevention of heart attack, stroke and other vascular problems that begin with formation of platelet clots. I believe further studies will validate my observations, and vitamin C will be accepted as a far superior food factor for prevention of these diseases than aspirin, which is presently used for this purpose. Aspirin, as is well known, causes stomach bleeding, tiny ulcers in the stomach lining and in many cases leads to abnormal patterns of bleeding.

VITAMIN C: A GUARDIAN ANGEL MOLECULE FOR THE HEART

    (In the early 1990s), Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath proposed another protective role of vitamin C in the prevention of arteriosclerosis which leads to heart attacks and strokes. They hypothesized that lipoprotein (a) is a surrogate for ascorbate (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci 87:6204; 1990). The evidence they marshaled to support their hypothesis includes the following: 1) Lipoprotein is generally found in the blood of primates and guinea pig, which have lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C; 2) lipoprotein shares with vitamin C the properties of facilitating wound healing and preventing lipid peroxidation; 3) High lipoprotein levels in blood are associated with heart disease; and 4) The incidence of heart disease is decreased by elevated levels of vitamin C.

    A large number of studies show the many ways vitamin C prevents oxidative injury to other life molecules and prevents tissue injury and diseases. Two of my own studies briefly described above show some of the other ways vitamin C acts as the guardian angel molecule for the heart. I discussed this subject at length in a recent review article which appeared in the winter 1991 issue of The Environmental Physician published by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. I include below some brief comments.

VITAMIN C: A PREMIUM LIFE SPAN MOLECULE.

    Vitamin C is an excellent life span molecule. It is a molecule of small size, a close cousin of the glucose molecule from which it is derived in animals. We human beings cannot make this vitamin from glucose molecules because we do not have an enzyme necessary for this. It has been estimated that we humans lost the enzyme (glucunolactone oxidase) over 50 million years ago. Vitamin C is water soluble, is freely cleared through the kidneys and the bowel. It has no known toxicity. It is a premium water-soluble anti-oxidant molecule in the blood (Proc Nat Acad Sci 86:6377;1989). It is essential for the function of several enzymes including some that are necessary for the synthesis of stress molecules in the adrenal gland and the metabolism of cholesterol. Finally and fortunately, no drug company has a patent on it and so it is quite inexpensive.  

VITAMIN C IS AN ORPHAN DRUG

    I have often thought how different things would have been if a drug company had owned a patent protecting its sale of vitamin C. I have no doubt in my mind that such a patent would have been the greatest blockbuster of all time, an unparalleled gold mine of a patent. I have also wondered how different things would have been in the area of "continuing medical education" for physicians in the hospitals. More lectures on the clinical benefits of this life-span molecule would have been given by doctors (paid by the drug company holding the patent) in our hospitals than for any other drug. The reason for this is simple. The drug researchers would have figured out that vitamin C, a powerful life span molecule, is likely to benefit many clinical disorders, just as physicians in nutritional medicine have found out. The difference is that when drug companies discover something, they spend millions of dollars to disseminate such information for marketing their drugs. When physician-nutritionists discover something of value about vitamin C, there is no money available for spreading this information. So it is that vitamin C remains an orphan drug.

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