Bioidentical Hormones 101

Chapter 32

Selenium Part Three—Mega-Dose Vitamin Therapy in the ICU

Decades ago, when Linus Pauling and Abram Hoffer first proposed Mega-Dose Vitamin Therapy as a serious treatment, mainstream medicine and the news media promptly discredited this idea as quackery. To this day, the media faithfully bombards us with the message that vitamins and minerals are useless, harmful or even killing us.(1-6) When one considers the lowly vitamin pill as an economic rival to pharmaceutical drugs, and the dependence of the media on drug company advertising, the motivation to discredit mega-dose vitamins becomes all too obvious. Seemingly oblivious to this negative message, physicians quietly go about their business using Mega-Dose Vitamin Therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU) with considerable success. Recent reports of this have been appearing in medical journals, finally vindicating Linus Pauling and Abram Hoffer as yes, of course, they were right all along.(7-9)

Septic Shock—a Preterminal Event

Forty years ago, during my training days working in the intensive care unit, the onset of septic shock was a grave sign, and usually a preterminal event. In spite of the best treatment with high powered antibiotics and high dose hydrocortisone, these severely ill patients invariably succumbed. Survival was so rare, it was declared a miracle. While treatments have improved since the old days, septic shock still carries a fifty percent mortality rate.

Intravenous (I.V.) Selenium For Septic Shock in the ICU

In 1999, Dr Angstwurm showed that many critically ill patients have low selenium levels. Selenium is a component of glutathione peroxidase, the key selenoprotein anti-oxidant. In 2007, Dr Angstwurm recruited 249 septic shock patients from eleven intensive care units in Germany, and gave them intravenous (IV) selenium over a 14 day protocol. Results showed mortality reduced to 39% for the selenium treated group, compared to fifty percent mortality otherwise. An impressive result, considering the high mortality rate and futility of most other treatments.(10-11) In 2008, Dr Carlos studied septic shock patients and found that selenium levels could be used to predict clinical course. Those with the highest selenium levels had the best outcome, and the lowest selenium levels had the worst.(12)

A Basket of Mega-Dose Vitamins

If one antioxidant, selenium, was beneficial in the ICU setting, then perhaps a basket of antioxidants would be even more so. In 2008, Dr Giladi of Vanderbilt tested this hypothesis with a shopping cart of antioxidants. Intravenous Vitamin C, E and Selenium was given over a 7 day protocol to 2,200 ICU trauma patients, and compared to placebo. Dr Giladi reported a 28% mortality reduction for the Mega-Dose Vitamin group.(13) A second report on the same patient study group February 2010 showed that the Mega-Dose Vitamin group also benefited from a 53% reduction in abdominal wall infections, and 38% reduction in respiratory failure.(14)