Three of the most prominent advocates of vitamin supplements, Dr. Frederick Klenner, Dr. Abram Hoffer, and Dr. Robert Cathcart, all report that intravenous injections of concentrated sodium ascorbate in doses of 50 to 300 g/day have remarkable curative effects. I’ve long been fascinated by their publications, but saw no path forward. I read what they wrote, but I didn’t see any way that I could put their experiences to use in my life. Now I do.

I suggested in last week’s entry that health care professionals should test the effectiveness of local vitamin injections (not intravenous) as a treatment for bug bites. This inspired thoughts from readers, one of whom turned my attention to bed sores. I’ve written many times that vitamins have proven benefits for healing wounds. If Wikipedia is to be believed, vitamin supplements are now part of the standard program of care for bed sores. Supplements, however, treat most of the sores equally and give little information about wound healing response as a function of dose.

I have always wanted to see the healing effects of vitamins for myself (no pun intended). Bed sores are an opportunity to put the science of vitamins and wound healing to the acid test, and then to optimize the treatment if it works. Most patients suffering from bed sores have several. They often have symmetrical wounds, one on each side. Instead of using supplements, doctors and nurses could inject vitamins locally into the muscles directly under the bedsores. The skeptics can inject the bed sores on one side according to Klenner’s, Hoffer’s, and Cathcart’s recommendations and leave the other side untreated. Believers can try different doses and/or frequencies on different sides. B-complex vitamins, especially niacin, can also be injected either alone or in combination with vitamin C to see whether the outcomes are better or worse. If this treatment approach is valid, large volumes of data can be assembled rapidly at low risk leading in just a few years time to optimized standard treatment protocols.

Visible skin diseases and local vitamin injections are an interesting suggestion for putting the claims of vitamin advocates to the acid test. Let’s talk to our health care providers about pulling out their syringes and getting answers.