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Adding more credibility to its research into alternative methods for oncologic medical care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America said it has won federal approval to begin a clinical trial studying the potential of intravenous vitamin C as a cancer treatment. While winning U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin clinical trials is a regular occurrence for traditional cancer researchers such as the nation's elite comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute, Zion-based Cancer Treatment Centers is not known for conducting federally approved research--making the FDA-approved vitamin C trial a bit of a coup for the firm. "Our...

Is mainstream medical science ignoring an inexpensive, painless, readily available cure for cancer? Mark Levine mulls this loaded question. The government nutrition researcher has published new evidence that suggests vitamin C can work like chemotherapy - only better. But so far, he hasn't been able to interest cancer experts in conducting the kind of conclusive studies that, one way or the other, would advance treatment. "If vitamin C is useful in cancer treatment, that's wonderful. If it's not, or if it's harmful, that's fine, too," said Levine, a Harvard-educated physician at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney...

AP SCIENCE WRITER A disappointing new study found that vitamin C and E supplements given to healthy pregnant women do not reduce their risk of developing preeclampsia, a complication that can be lethal to both mother and child. Similarly, a recent British study found that the supplements do not help women who run a high risk of preeclampsia, and might even harm their babies by leading to low birth weight. Preeclampsia happens when vessels in the mother's womb constrict, cutting off blood and oxygen to the fetus. It occurs in late pregnancy and produces a spike in blood pressure. No...

A Quebec company is producing a cigarette it claims does not stain teeth, has less of an odour than regular brands and contains beneficial ingredients like vitamin C. Called the "VitaCig," it was invented by non-smoker Roger Ouellette for his wife, who has smoked a pack of cigarettes every day since the age of 14. "We give you all the vitamins you lose, plus some vitamins to help you," he told CTV News. Health Canada is skeptical of the claim, saying any cigarette is harmful. "I say this half-jokingly: a safe cigarette is one that's not lit," Health Canada spokesperson...

Linus Pauling's book Vitamin C and The Common Cold, published in 1970, was a bestseller and led many people to believe in the value of the vitamin for cold prevention and treatment. But an article in this month's PLoS Medicine reviewing all of the best clinical research on this topic, suggests that the public's enthusiasm for the vitamin may be unjustified. Robert M Douglas of the Australian National University, Canberra, and Harri Hemilä of the University of Helsinki, Finland, reviewed the best quality studies on vitamin C and the common cold done over the last 65 years. All of these...

Vitamin C for Preventing and Treating the Common Cold Robert M. Douglas*, Harri HemiläRobert M. Douglas is at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Harri Hemilä is at the Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.Competing Interests: RMD was an organising author of one of the papers considered in the review. HH declares that he has no competing interests.Published: June 28, 2005DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020168Copyright: © 2005 Douglas and Hemilä. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any...

I never thought I would be doing a vanity on this but here it goes. I am interested in knowing how people cope with Spring allergies. I have never had them until this year apparently. I have had a sore throat now going into day 18,I have seen the doctor twice where once gave me Ketex and decongestion meds and those did nothing,so they ruled out the common cold or flu or any bacterial infection. My throat is still red,I still am congested,I have regular acid reflux (gerd) to be exact so when I sleep at night all of the...

Study: Scurvy Hit Early N. American French Colony 1 hour, 4 minutes ago Science - Reuters CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scurvy wiped out nearly half of the colonists who established one of the first French settlements in North America 400 years ago, scientists confirmed on Monday. The colony existed in 1604 and 1605 on St. Croix Island off present-day Calais, Maine, and St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Nearly half of the 79 settlers died during the harsh winter, prompting survivors to move to what is now Nova Scotia in the summer of 1605. It was one of the earliest European outposts on...

Vitamin E may do "more harm than good" Vitamin E supplements, which millions take in the hope of longer, healthier lives, may do more harm than good, researchers have reported. In fact, people taking high doses of vitamin E may in some cases be more likely to die earlier, although the reasons are not clear, Dr. Edgar Miller of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who led the study, said on Wednesday. (snip) Miller and colleagues re-analysed 19 studies of vitamin E and health between 1993 and 2004. The trials involved more than 136,000 mostly elderly patients in North America, Europe...