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The role of vitamin C in the treatment of pain: new insights
In this article Carr & McCall (2017) list evidence for vitamin C administration in the treatment of pain and propose a novel analgesic mechanism for vitamin C supported by studies showing a decrease in need for opioid analgesics in surgical and cancer patients administered with high dose vitamin C. While epidemiological evidence has associated suboptimal vitamin C status and spinal pain, there is also clinical evidence: for example a number of studies have demonstrated that vitamin C administration to patients with chronic regional pain syndrome reduces their symptoms; also acute herpetic and post-herpetic neuralgia (nerve pain following herpes) are also diminished after taking high dose vitamin C; in addition high dose vitamin C has been shown to decrease cancer-related pain and thereby improve patient quality of life. While a number of mechanisms have been proposed for its analgesic properties, Carr and McCall (2017) suggest vitamin C’s role as a cofactor for the biosynthesis of amidated opioid peptides. Even if the mechanism is not very clear yet, vitamin C appears to be a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for acute and chronic pain relief in specific patient groups. [NPID: pain, vitamin C, cancer, spinal pain, herpetic, neuralgia, herpes, nerve function, opioid peptides]
Year: 2017
