By Dr. Mercola
Sepsis1
is a progressive disease process caused by an aggressive, dysfunctional
immune response to an infection in the bloodstream. It starts with
symptoms of infection that can progress to septic shock.
Unless treated — and the earlier the better — sepsis can result in
extremely low blood pressure that is unresponsive to fluid replacement,
weakening of the heart, and multiple-organ failure.
Sepsis is a common hospital-acquired infection,2,3
but common illnesses such as bronchitis, pneumonia, strep throat or
kidney infection can also turn septic, as can localized infections
caused by bacteria, fungi or viruses.
The condition becomes particularly problematic and deadly if the
infection involves methicillin-resistant or vancomycin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA or VRSA) bacteria.
Each year, an estimated 1 million Americans get sepsis4 and up to half of them die.5,6,7 Treatment can be a challenge, and is becoming even more so as drug-resistant infections become more prevalent.
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, sepsis
is the most expensive condition being treated in U.S. hospitals, costing
more than $20 billion in 20118 and $24 billion in 2014.9
The good news is a critical care physician just may have found a way
to save tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year
using two readily available vitamins and a steroid.
Vitamin C and Thiamine — An Inexpensive Cure for Sepsis
Vitamin C is well-known for its ability to prevent and treat
infectious diseases. Previous research has shown it effectively lowers
pro-inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein.10,11,12 Influenza,13 encephalitis and measles14 have all been successfully treated with high-dose vitamin C.
Studies have even shown vitamin C is selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells by
generating hydrogen peroxide when administered intravenously (IV) in high doses.
It also has a number of heart and cardiovascular benefits.
The anti-infective power of vitamin C has now been demonstrated yet
again by Dr. Paul Marik, a critical care doctor at Sentara Norfolk
General Hospital in East Virginia.
Last January, when faced with yet another deathly ill patient, Marik
decided to try a combination of intravenous (IV) vitamin C with
hydrocortisone as a last-ditch effort to save the woman’s life.15
He’d recently read a colleague’s paper on vitamin C, and he knew
vitamin C acts like the steroid hydrocortisone, so on a hunch, he
administered the two together. It worked. While everyone expected her to
die, the woman made a remarkable overnight recovery. As reported by
NBC4i News:16
“The staff couldn’t believe it, so they tried it
again and again — with the same results. They added a third element,
thiamine, to the IV treatment as well. Today, they have used the
treatment on about 150 patients and they say the result is the same …
A researcher at Old Dominion University, John Catravas, Ph.D., … did an independent
lab study that confirms the treatment’s effectiveness.”
Interestingly, Marik used a relatively small amount of
vitamin C — only 1.5 grams IV. Most natural medicine physicians tend to
use 25 grams or more when giving IV vitamin C, more than 20 times the
dose used here. One can only wonder how much more effective a larger
dose would be.
It’s All About the Right Combination of Ingredients
For the first two or three patients, only vitamin C and
hydrocortisone were used. Marik then decided to add thiamine for a number of
reasons. Importantly, it’s required for metabolism of some of the metabolites of vitamin C.
Research has also shown many patients with sepsis are vitamin
deficient, and when thiamine is given, it reduces mortality. Septic
shock patients who receive thiamine have also been shown to have a
reduced risk of renal failure.
Marik’s retrospective before-after clinical study,17,18
published in the journal Chest, showed that giving patients IV vitamin C
with hydrocortisone and thiamine (vitamin B1) for two days reduced
mortality nearly five-fold, from 40 percent to 8.5 percent.
Of the 50 patients treated, only four died — and none of them
actually died from sepsis. They died from their underlying disease.
Interestingly, further lab testing found that while neither vitamin C
nor hydrocortisone alone are able to prevent cell death following
exposure to toxins produced by bacteria, when given in combination, the
concoction does protect the cells. Turns out Marik’s hunch had been a
truly inspired one.
Other research has also shown thiamine reduces mortality from sepsis
and helps protect against renal failure, which is why Marik decided to
add it to his mixture.
The treatment has now become part of the hospital’s standard of care
for sepsis, and will hopefully become standard of care for sepsis
elsewhere as well. As noted by Marik, sepsis kills about 1,000 people
each day in the U.S. — that’s like having three jumbo jets crash each
day.
Sepsis kills more than breast cancer, colon cancer and AIDS combined,
and here’s a treatment that is not only profoundly effective, but also
has no side effects and is inexpensive, readily available and simple to
administer. Patients and doctors really have nothing to lose by trying
it.
Potential Contraindication
While more research is
needed to validate the
findings, vitamin C and thiamine (vitamin B1) administration is so safe
there’s really no need to avoid it. It certainly isn’t going to make the
situation worse — unless you happen to be glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase (G6PD)
deficient (a genetic disorder).19
G6PD is an enzyme your red blood cells need
to maintain membrane integrity. High-dose IV vitamin C is a strong pro-oxidant,
and giving a pro-oxidant to a G6PD-deficient individual can cause their red
blood cells to rupture, which could have disastrous consequences.
Fortunately,
G6PC deficiency is relatively uncommon, and can be tested for. People
of Mediterranean and African decent are at greater risk of being G6PC
deficient. Worldwide, G6PD deficiency is thought to affect 400 million
individuals, and in the U.S., an estimated 1 in 10 African American
males have it.20
Anecdotal Evidence Suggests Near-Infrared Light May Protect Against Kidney Failure
On a side note, your risk of kidney failure — which is a very common
outcome of sepsis — may be reduced or prevented by shining a
near-infrared light on the area. I know, that sounds too amazing to be
true, but according to Michael Hamblin, Ph.D., a photodynamic therapy researcher, the anecdotal evidence for this is quite strong.
“Kidney failure is the third leading cause of death. These are
old folks who are dying from kidney failure. You can’t really give them
transplants because they’re elderly. You put a near-infrared LED array
where their kidneys are and it seems to work like a dream. [But] it’s
hardly been studied at all,” Hamblin said. Again, the worst that
could happen is nothing, as red and near-infrared light (630 to 830
nanometer range) is quite safe.
Other Health Benefits of Thiamine
Thiamine or
vitamin B1,21 found in pork, dark leafy greens, wheat germ, green peas,
lentils and nuts,22
is perhaps best known for its role in cellular production of energy and
supporting normal neuronal activity. However, it also has a wide range
of other health benefits.23 According to the Mayo Clinic, studies confirm thiamine can be helpful for a long list of diseases and disorders, including:24
Metabolic and
mitochondrial disorders
Blood clots and clogged
arteries
Cerebellar ataxia
(movement disorder caused by neurological damage)
Coma
Kidney dysfunction
Research25 published in 2013 also found thiamine supplementation can improve cardiac
function in those with heart failure.
Overall, patients with heart failure tend to be deficient in thiamine,
as well as other micronutrients. Thiamine deficiency has also been
linked to delirium,26 thyroid fatigue and Hashimoto’s (a thyroid autoimmune disorder).27 These and other health effects may help explain why thiamine works so well (in
conjunction with vitamin C and hydrocortisone) for sepsis.
For general health purposes, adult men and women need about 1.2 and
1.1 milligrams (mg) of thiamine respectively each day. Also be aware
that thiamine conversion is dependent on having sufficient amounts of sulfur. Good sources of dietary sulfur include organic pastured eggs, legumes, garlic,
onion, Brussel
sprouts, asparagus, kale and wheat germ.
Moreover, all B vitamins, including thiamine, are produced within your gut28
provided you have a healthy gut microbiome. So, eating real food,
ideally organic, along with fermented foods will provide your microbiome
with important fiber and beneficial bacteria to help optimize your
internal vitamin B production.
To Avoid Sepsis, Understand the Cause
With
sepsis affecting more than a million Americans each year, how can you
avoid becoming a statistic? First, be aware that ANY infection can lead
to sepsis. While it’s typically associated with hospital-acquired
infections, nearly half of all cases are in fact the result of an
infection acquired outside a hospital setting.29
Part
of what makes it so deadly is that people typically do not suspect it,
and the longer you wait to treat it, the deadlier it gets. As noted in a
special report on sepsis by Consumer Reports:30
“Whenever the body develops an infection, the immune
system normally kicks in, producing chemicals to fight the infection.
But sometimes — either because the triggering bacteria is unusually
powerful or because the person’s immune system is already weakened by
other health problems — those chemicals are set loose in the bloodstream
and course through the body.
Instead
of just fighting the local infection, those chemicals unleashed by the
immune system cause widespread inflammation and damage tissues in the
liver, kidneys, heart and other organs. Within hours, blood clots can
begin to form, and damage to blood vessels causes blood pressure to
drop, which in turn slows the delivery of vital nutrients to those
organs already under attack. In the final stages, the heart weakens and
organs begin to fail.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), you’re at higher risk for sepsis if you have:
Chronic disease. A vast majority — 7 out of 10 — of people who develop sepsis have some kind of
chronic health condition. Those with diabetes, lung, kidney or liver disease
tend to be particularly susceptible to infection, which raises the risk.
Weakened immune system, AIDS or cancer.
Recently spent time in a hospital, nursing home or other health care facility, as exposure to infection-causing bacteria is common in these
places.
Common Sense Strategies to Reduce Your Risk of Sepsis
While health care workers have a responsibility to prevent infections
that could potentially turn septic and to educate patients about
warning signs of sepsis, you can lower your own risk by:
Promptly
treating urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs are the second most
common type of infection in the body, sending more than 8 million people
to their health care providers every year in the U.S. alone,31 and one-quarter of sepsis cases are related to urinary tract infections.
Conventional
treatment typically involves antibiotics, but research shows 90
percent of UTIs can be successfully treated with D-Mannose, a naturally
occurring sugar that's closely related to glucose. To learn more, see “D-Mannose for UTI Prevention Validated in a Clinical Trial.”
• Properly clean skin wounds. About 1 in 10 sepsis cases are due to skin
infections, so always take the time to properly clean and care for wounds and
scrapes. Wash the wound with mild soap and water to clean out dirt and debris,
then cover with a sterile bandage. Diabetics should follow good foot care to
avoid dangerous foot infections. • Avoid infections
in hospitals. When
visiting a health care facility, be sure to wash
your own hands, and remind doctors and nurses to wash theirs (and/or change gloves) before touching you or any equipment being used on you.
If you have to undergo a colonoscopy
or other testing using a flexible medical scope, remember to call and
ask how they clean their scopes and what kind of cleaning solution they
use. If the answer is glutaraldehyde (brand name Cidex), find another
hospital or clinic — one that uses peracetic acid. This preliminary
legwork will significantly
decrease your risk of contracting an infection from a contaminated
scope.
In the video below, Andrew Saul, Ph.D., co-author of the book, "Hospitals and Health:
Your Orthomolecular Guide to a Shorter, Safer Hospital Stay," discusses
the dangers of hospital stays, the type of patient that tends to get
killed the most, and how you can protect your health and life in the
event you have to
spend time in a hospital.
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