(Thanks, D. :)

Reader Douglas writes:

***************************************************************************

Re: NH365: 'Doctor discovers septic patients h....

Any infection requires Vitamin C.

This was written a while back, so is dated but relates to your excellent catch of this brave MD using vitamin C in critically ill patients.

Observations on Death by Ebola

Apparently Ebola is now (09/01/2014) as contagious as the common cold - or so some sources would have us believe. It was recently announced that the Ebola virus attacks cells in the same way as does HIV, which lends to some curious thoughts. Some talk about laboratory manipulation while others speculate about its natural mutation rate. The threat propounded from some sources claim that it is spreading like the common flu. The death rate is said to be somewhere around 60 percent at best estimates.

What is the cause of death?

The end-stage of Ebola is massive hemorrhage internally and externally resulting in death. It is possible that the virus attacks megakaryocytes and either suppresses their ability to reproduce or in some other way blocks their ability to fragment their cytoplasm. The end result would be loss of platelets where any trauma would cause bleeding. While possible, this is unlikely as the Ebola end-stage results in bleeding from bone, liver, spleen - all organs and even from the mouth and eyes.

"PATHOLOGY. In adults studied at autopsy, the most conspicuous finding is the presence of generalized hemorrhage. The perifollicular lesions and ecchymoses noted clinically are conspicuous. In addition, extravasations of blood are found in the pericardial or pleural cavities, walls of the intestinal tract, bladder, renal pelvis, and so forth."

This statement was taken from Harrison's, Principles of Internal Medicine, Chapter 74, Page 381, 1966. No, the topic was not Ebola or any other so-called hemorrhagic viral disease. The disease referenced was what doctors know as Scurvy, but it is better known as extreme Vitamin C deficiency. Research has shown infections and especially viruses deplete the body of Vitamin C. Ebola is far better at this than most viruses and it is probably not the virus that kills the patient but end stage Vitamin C deficiency.

In the news, African natives were warned about eating fruit bats and certain non-human primates (monkeys) because they are carriers of Ebola. Although fruit bats, certain monkeys and humans cannot synthesize their own Vitamin C, the fruit bats and certain non-human primates main diet consists of fruits and greens. While they can carry Ebola, they do not die from the infection because their diet has enough Vitamin C to quell the end stage death until a natural immunity can be established.

And then there are reports that dogs are digging up the graves of Ebola victims and eating them. It was also reported that dogs were eating the Ebola corpses that were littering the streets, but the dogs are not dying from Ebola. Dogs are strict carnivores and do not eat fruits or greens. Unlike humans, fruit bats and certain non-human primates, dogs do have a gene that produces an enzyme called L-gulonolactone oxidase which is critical for the last step of Vitamin C biosynthesis (glucose to Vitamin C). In other words, dogs can synthesize their own Vitamin C. Humans, fruit bats, certain non-human primates, among others, lack the enzymes necessary to make Vitamin C - and it therefore required in the diet - every day - because it is a water soluble vitamin that is not stored like the fat soluble vitamins.

Amazingly, it appears the key to the Ebola lock may be a simple vitamin.

Douglas.

***************************************************************************