7/29/2019 Vitamin p Group of the c Complex by Royal Lee - Vitamin News 1948

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VITAMIN NEWSPublished by VITAMIN PRODUCTS COMPANYILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

Page 155THE VITAMIN P GROUP OF THE C COMPLEX

The promotion of rutin from buckwheat is anotherrevival of an old household rem edy.Millspaugh's "American Medicinal Plants" (1887)states that the only uses on record of the buckwheatplant are that an infusion of the leaf is useful as aremedy for erysipelas, and that the flour of the seed,made into a paste with sour milk, is useful as a poul-tice to the mammary glands to increase the secretionof milk.It is not too much of a coincidence, then, to find thattoday the juice of the plant is found to be a valuablesource of the vitamin C component that is importantin stopping capillary hemorrhages, and that the buck-wheat meal is now known to be a source of a fraction(as is rice and barley) that is very useful in increasingtissue permeability and thereby lowering blood pres-sure.When we look into the erysipelas background, we findit is not a disease with a definite cause, but "the mostcommon excitant is Streptococcus pyogenes" (1). "It isusually accompanied by constitutional disturbances. themost marked of which is fever" . . . ". . . aside fromthe local lesions, there may be a toxemia marked bypetechiae in the serous membranes, swelling of thespleen, focal necroses, and albuminous dege neration inthe kidneys and liver."Sajous, in his "Analytical Cyclopedia of PracticalMedicine," says also "From its etiology, therefore,erysipelas is a non-specific disease." That, of course,means to us that THE CAUSE IS NOT ANY ONETYPE OF GERM. The REAL cause, then, may bedeficiency, just as the cause of capillary breakdown inscurvy is deficiency. Here, we have the added com-plication of infection, the infective agent being inci-

dental, not the basic cause, just as it is in tuberculosis.Both can only occur in a subject who has loweredresistance due to malnutrition.Erysipelas should be called "fulminating. scurvy" asdistinguished from the be tter known slower form of thedisease. Various infective agents can convert a case ofsubclinical scurvy where the symptoms may be rela-tively inconspicuous into this type. The commonest ofcourse, is streptococcus pyogenes. Bacteriologists andfollowers of Pasteur believe that the microorganism isthe ONLY cause. Bechamp, the French professor whoseresearches Pasteur appropriated without credit as hisown (2), had other ideas. He believed that diseasedcells gave off "microzyma," fragments as it were ofchromosomes that recombined in other forms and, ineffect, became disease "germs." (These fragments arenow known as "chromidia.") This he said, accountedfor the species specificity of most infectious disease.Florence Nightingale said "The specific disease doc-trine is the grand refuge of weak , uncultured, unstableminds, such as now rule in the medical profession.There are no specific diseases: there are specific diseaseconditions" (2).Becham p's program wa s to "treat the patient, not thedisease." Pasteur h as led us up a blind alley, it is appar-ent, by his overstressing of the infective agent, andunderstressing the condition or the state of the patientthat made him susceptible.Pyorrhea is a "germ disease," but it cannot be curedby germicides, and only m alnutrition can ca use it. Catsfed on pasteurized milk invariably develop pyorrheaand lose their teeth, get constipated and suffer from

gastric ulcers, finally dying of arthritis or heartdisease (3). Sounds familiar, does it not?The vitamin in milk that is destroyed by heat process-ing happens to be one that keeps the blood calciumlevels from dropping w ith advancing age (4). When th epituitary and sex g lands regress in middle age (before,if malnutrition is present, no doubt), calcium levels inthe blood drop, as these hormone sources complete thecalcification of the skeleton at maturity, and are essen-tial to keep it calcified (5). It is obvious how pasteur-ized milk can promote physical decay in middle agedpeople, and hasten the advent of "store teeth," atrophicarthritis, etc., etc.Since vitamin P is also a factor aiding in maintain-ing a high blood calcium (6), it is no mystery how itsdeficiency can contribute to a drop in tissue resistanceto infective agents, and open the door to pyorrhea,

erysipelas, and all the other infective diseases Dr.McCormick has listed as now being on the wane becausewe are eating more fresh vegetables and fruits, NOTbecause medical science knows more about how theymay be controlled (7).This high level of blood calcium, or possibly speciallyearmarked calcium due to the vitamin P, seems to havethe special function of promoting the formation offibrin, in blood clotting. This fibrin is biochemicallyidentical with connective tissue fibers, and the samebiochemical substrate is essential to the formation ofboth (8).Here is where we can go back to the old, oncestressed function of vitamin C, the "participation, in astill unknown manner, in the formation of colloidalintercellular substances, which com prise those of car-tilage, dentine, and the matrix of bone and, further-more, the collagen of all fibrous tissue a nd non-epithelialcement substances. These phenomena are in close rela-tionship to the disturbance of the calcium m etabolismduring times of vitamin C depletion, which affectsgrowth and ma intenance of bones and teeth and whichsometimes appears similar to that observed duringvitamin D deficiency" (9).It becomes quite evident wh y synthetic ascorbic acidfailed to perform as "vitamin C." Since both ascorbicacid and vitamin P are partners in the function, theobserved alterations in the ascorbic acid levels affordeda rough index of de ficiency of the C complex. The bloodrise in ascorbic acid or increase in excretion, followingthe administration of sulfa drugs (10), antipyrin (11),chloretone (12), amidopyrine or codeine (13) is nodoubt a clue to the effect of these drugs. They simplymobilize th e vitamin into the blood, where its effects areattributed to the drug, and u ltimately leave the patientmore debilitated than ever. Just another one of thosecommon asininities of trying to cure the effects ofstarvation with a synthetic drug or poison. We hearthat the U. S. Army medical authorities have aban-doned the use of sulfa drugs because of the after-effects. We might class these after-effects as a newkind of scurvy (See Vitamin News, page 151 -153).The natural vitamin C complex has not had the fan-fare and publicity of sulfa drugs, but as Dr. McCor-mick has show n, has accomplished far more in riddingus of infective scourges, tuberculosis alone havingdropped to one-tenth its incidence of a hundred yearsago. He quotes the great English physician, Dr. Leon-ard Williams: "The discovery of the vitamins has

7/29/2019 Vitamin p Group of the c Complex by Royal Lee - Vitamin News 1948

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Page 156ITAMIN NEWSaltered our conception of the causes and origins ofdisease. Until lately disease was regarded as a sin ofcommission by some unseen and subtle agency. Thevitamins are teaching us to regard it, in some degree a tany rate, as a sin of omission on the part of civilizedor hypercivilized man. By our habit of riveting ourattention on microbes and their toxins we have sadlyneglected the side of the question wh ich concerns itselfwith our own bodily defenses."

McCormick remarks "After all, we should recognizethat natural resistance to disease is developed by funda-mental improvement in nutrition and hygiene. Suchresistance gives protection to all diseases. Artificialimmunization, on the other hand, is dependent upon theconversion of a portion of this latent general resistanceto a specific resistance, such as toxoiding for diphtheria.The injection of an attenuated virus or bacterial toxinelicits a reaction of the organism to that specific mor-bific agent only, and draws upon the reserves of naturalimmunity to mee t this conversion demand . If repeateddemands exceed the supply we are left physically bank-rupt." And that is just why the Army found the sulfadrugs impractical, no doubt. Borrowing imm unity fromthe future? What next may we expect in wonders ofscience?Sulfathiazole too, promotes vitamin K deficiency(13).Vitamin K is an integral part of the C complex,found associated with it in most green plant sources,but has the solubility of chlorophyll, so is removed inconcentration as a mem ber of the chlorophyll complex.Its function is to promote the synthesis in the liver ofthe prothrombin that is essential to the formation ofthe fibers of fibrin or connective tissue laid down bythe other reactions depending on the intact vitaminC complex. So the overdosage of a patient who mayhave many deficiencies including that of vitamin K,with too much vitamin C complex, especially that ofthe buckwheat vitamin P, may theoretically aggravate

the latent K deficiency. Venous congestion and enlargedveins is the symptom. It is very interesting to see the"Road Map" faces and many of the erythematous andXanthomatous skin lesions of the chronic type graduallyclear up under treatment with these concentrates. Dia-betics are particularly prone to these complications,especially in the eyes, where vascular breakdown i sreally serious. A general improvement in the sugarmetabolism is common, too, the need for insulin oftenbecoming progressively less.Potassium bicarbonate is another factor needed bythe diabetic, he tends to drift to acidosis and his alkalibases become depleted. Potassium is required to com-bine with sugar in the phospha gen m olecule (di-potas-sium-creatine-hexose-phosphate) which is the form inwhich sugar is fixed in liver and muscle cells. Potassiumdeficiency can impair sugar absorption thereby, isknown to cause pa ralysis in both human subjects andin dogs. The general use of sodium bicarbonate as analkalizer is physiologically unsound. Sodium ionsnormally cannot enter the cell (16). The physiologicaldosage of potassium bicarbonate is not over one grain(15 grains) per day.

REFERENCES1. Delafield & Prudden: "Textbook of Pathology."15th ed., Wm. Wood & Co., New York.2. Hume, E. D.: -"Bechamp or Pasteur." 3rd edition,C. W. Daniel Co., London, 1947.3. Pottenger, F. M.: "The Effect of Heat-ProcessedFoods and Metabolized Vitamin D Milk on theDentofacial Structures of Experimental Animals."Oral Surg. 32 (8) :467-485, August 1946.4. Van Wagtendonk, W. J. and Freed: J. Biol. Chem.167:219-224; 225-228, 1947.5. Baker & Leek: Am. J . Physiol. 147:522-526, 1946.6. Raunert, M.: J. Urol. 32:630, 1938.7: McCormick, W. J.: "The Changing Incidence andMo rtality of Disease in Relation to Chang ed Trendsin Nutrition." Med. Rec., p. 533, September 1947.8. Lee, R. and Hanson, W. A.: "Protomorphology."P. 167. Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research,Milwaukee 3, Wis., 1947.9. Rosenberg, H. R.: "Chemistry and Physiology ofthe Vitamins." P. 330, Interscience Publishers, Inc.,

New York, 1942.10. 61st Annual Report of University of WisconsinAgricultural Experimental Station, page 38.11. Frommel, Favre & Aron: Hely. Physiol. Acta 5:1-5, 1947.12. Roy & Guha, Nature, 1946, 158, 238.13. Ztschr. Vitamin forsch. 1946, 17, 84-88.14. Nutrition Abst. & Rev. No. 3187, p. 636, January1948.15. Nutrition Abst. & Rev. No. 3214, 321 5, p. 641, Jan-uary 1947.16. Fenn & Cobb: J. Gen. Phvsiol. 17:629.

THE STATEMENTS HEREIN MAY NOT AGREE WITH CURRENTLY ACCEPTED MEDICAL OPINION.NEVERTHELESS THE PUBLISHER BELIEVES THEM SOUND.

Edited by Royal Lee D e c e m b e r , 1 9 4 8Printe d in U. S. A.