Can A Cocktail Of Vitamins And Cortisol Cure A Major Killer In Hospitals?

[ofonorow]

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Early article

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/11/609149556/can-a-cocktail-of-vitamins-and-steroids-cure-a-major-killer-in-hospitals

Note: Vitamin D is a "steroid," Cholesterol is a "steriod," etc. The treatment is with hydrocortisone, which is bioidentical to our natural hormone cortisol. The other "steroids" of which they speak are much more familiar to medical doctors, e.g. prednisone. However, Dr. Marik's treatment is with hydrocortisone which (t least emergency room) doctors will have to become familiar with.

[Johnwen]

[ofonorow]

Using steroids as a measure of vitamin D deficiency is entirely bogus. The first link doesn't specify which "steroids" are possibly linked to the deficiency... If any! And, since most doctors look at me sideways when I mentioned hydrocortisone, I am willing to wager a tidy sum that the "steroids" in this study were mostly the prednisones and other 'concentrated' forms of cortisol misprescribed by most docs - i.e.,in way to high a dosages.. (and not bio-identical cortisol.) Couldn't read more than the abstract in the second link.

So lets assume this isn't another targeted "hit pieces" designed to scare doctors away from "evil" steroids. And that for some reason, cortisol is antagonistic to vitamin D. Then ordinary, endogenous cortisol, i.e. STRESS should lower vitamin D levels. There should be studies of low vitamin D levels in people under chronic stress, for example.

I for one have no fear that the hydrocortisone used in Marik's sepsis protocol would have no, zero effect on Vitamin D levels, but if it did - the people should sit out in the sun for 20 minutes

And that brings to mind a more likely reason for the cause of the "severe" vitamin D deficiency: People on steroids are, almost by definition, in seriously bad shape. They majority are probably in hospitals or bed ridden, so they are not getting sunshine.

[Johnwen]

[confused1]

I guess the news still isn't out about curing septic shock. Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and a multi-billionaire, recently died of it.

[ofonorow]

Agreed confused1.

johnwen, I love that "study" you referenced. Again, "linking" low vitamin D with poor health is easy, because people in poor health generally stay indoors or in bed! And no sunshine certainly contributes to their health!

First, separate "steroids" (e.g. prednisone or prednisilone) from cortisol/hydrocortisone (or vitamin D/cholesterol for that matter - both of which are steroids.) Most doctors prescribe the prednisones (and usually for serious conditions). These drugs are not bioidentical and something like 4-5 times more concentrated than hydrocortisone/cortisol. It really doesn't matter much what adverse affects these drugs create.

The argument is whether our own natural hormone (and its bioidentical cousin hydrocortisone) causes any problem in the dosages that Dr. Marik recommends for sepsis. I think the idea it may cause a vitamin D deficiency is a STRETCH, to say the least, since most people who are in septic shock or very ill would no doubt have a vitamin D deficiency, and the deficiency is more than likely playing a role in the infection!

[OxC]

Dr. Marik has published a new paper about his Hydrocortisone/Ascorbic acid/Thiamine (HAT) therapy for sepsis. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/201810.0285/v1

This paper reviews the rationale for HAT therapy with a focus on vitamin C. Of particular interest to me, because of my special interest in the oxidized form of vitamin C (DHAA), are the following excerpts:

Dehydroascorbic acid is transported via the GLUT1 transporter into mitochondria, where it converted to ascorbic acid and acts as a potent antioxidant limiting mitochondrial oxidant injury. Considering that the mitochondrial respiratory chain is a main source of ROS in live cells and mitochondrial dysfunction plays a prominent role in sepsis pathogenesis, antioxidants targeting the intra-mitochondrial environment could be pivotal role in the treatment of sepsis.

Vitamin C suppresses activation of NF-?B by inhibiting tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF?) induced phosphorylation of inhibitory kappa-B kinase (I?B kinase)

The TNF? inhibition mechanism described above is a property of DHAA, not AA. AA has been reported to inhibit TNF? by a different mechanism, thus their combined effects may be synergistic and provide a powerful anti-inflammatory effect in sepsis.

[OxC]

In this recent video of a lecture at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Dr. Alpha Fowler discusses the results of his Phase II trial of IVC in patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome caused by sepsis: Intravenous Vitamin C: Pathway to a New Therapy to Save Lives

[ofonorow]