VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID)

Overview Information

Vitamin C is a vitamin. Some animals can make their own vitamin C, but people must get this vitamin from food and other sources. Good sources of vitamin C are fresh fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits. Vitamin C can also be made in a laboratory.

Most experts recommend getting vitamin C from a diet high in fruits and vegetables rather than taking supplements. Fresh-squeezed orange juice or fresh-frozen concentrate are good sources.

Historically, vitamin C was used for preventing and treating scurvy. These days, vitamin C is used most often for preventing and treating the common cold. Some people use it for other infections including gum disease, acne and other skin conditions, bronchitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease, stomach ulcers caused by bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, tuberculosis, dysentery (an infection of the lower intestine), and skin infections that produce boils (furunculosis). It is also used for infections or inflammation of the bladder and prostate, nerve pain, and complications during pregnancy.

Some people use vitamin C for depression, thinking problems, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, physical and mental stress, fatigue including chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Parkinson's disease. It is also used to treat or prevent toxicity caused by certain drugs or metals and to treat peptic ulcers, swine flu, sudden hearing loss, gout, and tetanus.

Other uses include increasing the absorption of iron from foods. Vitamin C is also used in combination with a drug called deferoxamine to increase removal of iron from the blood. Some people use vitamin C to correct a protein imbalance in certain newborns (tyrosinemia). It is also used to prevent the transfer of HIV from mothers to babies during breastfeeding. Vitamin C is also used to help reduce the side effects of bowel preparation.

There is some thought that vitamin C might help the heart and blood vessels. It is used for heart disease, hardening of the arteries, preventing clots in veins and arteries, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, irregular heartbeat after surgery, inadequate blood flow that causes blood to pool in the legs, and to help medications used for chest pain to work longer. It is also thought that vitamin C may increase the healing of burns, ulcers, fractures, and other wounds. Vitamin C is also used to prevent long-term pain after surgery or injury.

Vitamin C is also used for glaucoma, preventing cataracts, preventing gallbladder disease, dental cavities and plaque, constipation, Lyme disease, age-related vision loss, boosting the immune system, heat stroke, hay fever and other allergy-related conditions, asthma and exercise-induced asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, infertility, diabetes, collagen disorders, arthritis and other types of joint inflammation, back pain and disc swelling, cancer, and osteoporosis and other bone conditions.

Additional uses include improving physical endurance and slowing aging, as well as counteracting the side effects of cortisone and related drugs, aiding drug withdrawal in addiction, and reducing side effects of radiation therapy.

Sometimes, people put vitamin C on their skin to protect it against the sun, pollutants, and other environmental hazards. Vitamin C is also applied to the skin to help with damage from radiation therapy.

Vitamin C is inhaled through the nose to treat hayfever.