Ralph L. Samson wrote:
>> In response to Dr. David Haviland,
> Although my expertise is in electronics, computers, mathematics and
> physics, I believe my analytical ability, developed in these fields, is
> broad enough to be useful in other areas. My ideas are based in part on
> analysis of experience with insect bites and Vitamin C.
> The first bite occurred at night, shortly after I had gone to bed.
> The sting was in the palm of the hand. The palm turned red and ached for
> about three days. There were no other symptoms. About three weeks later,
> I was stung in the late afternoon by yellow jackets chasing my wife, who
> ran past me. They found me an easier target. I was stung on the thigh.
> I didn't feel any real sting. Several minutes later, the palms of both
> hands turned red. Perhaps 10 minutes later, I felt uneasy and went to
> a nearby doctor. He immediately gave me injections to prevent my going
> into shock. He said my blood pressure was dropping drastically and I
> could have died. After I recovered he arranged for me to see an allergy
> specialist. I went there for tests at two times, a week apart. The
> first tests said I was allergic to at least two insects. A couple of
> hours before the second set of tests, I took 1000 mg of Vitamin C.
> These tests were negative. The allergist described the recommended
> treatment of desensitization which would last up to five years. I
> said I would have to think about it. Analyzing all the results, I
> concluded that when I had taken Vitamin C not too many hours before,
> I got a safe reaction. Another interesting event was my palms
> turning red after the second bite. I concluded this was because
> the immune system couldn't determine where the bite had occurred,
> so it responded where it remembered it had happened before. I
> concluded that Vitamin C available in plasma enabled the immune
> system to recognize where the attack had occurred. I decided to
> forego the long treatment and instead be sure to take Vitamin C
> before being exposed to another bite. To do this, I take Vitamin
> C either three or four times a day, so that the maximum time
> between doses is about 8 hours. I did get another bite. This
> was on the back of the hand, which is more dangerous since there
> are fairly large veins nearby. The area about the size of a
> silver dollar swelled some and ached, but there were no other
> adverse effects.
> I concluded that maintaining a level in plasma of Vitamin
> C would be protective of a bite or anything resembling one. Of
> course, if one knows when an event is going to occur, like a
> vaccination, one only needs to take the C enough time before to
> establish a reasonable level.
> In response to your comment about inhibiting antibody
> production, I believe Vitamin C restricts the agents stimulating
> the antibody production and thus controls where the antibodies
> are produced. It is restricting the agents that prevents any
> unwanted side effects.
> Note that all this would argue against oral vaccines since
> they are strategically more difficult for the immune system to
> handle. Utilizing my strategy in a vaccination program would
> be relatively inexpensive.
> Regards, Ralph
>Vitamin C? Why don't you guys read the papers by Marc Levine. There is
more to the immune system than antibodies. Vitamin C has functions in
the immune system and Dr. Levine elucidates some possibilities.
Rick S.
