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Vitamin C and the Prevention of Respiratory Infections-1974

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Abstract

Vitamin C stands out among vitamins. Between the time of Columbus and the mid-1800s, it is estimated that 2 million sailors died of scurvy. Vitamin C was the first vitamin synthesized, and the discovery of its synthesis was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1937. The US RDA for vitamin C is only 75–90 mg per day and annual worldwide sales exceed a billion dollars. In a book in 1971, Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling proposed people taking 1–2 g of vitamin C daily and proposed its use for colds. Does that have credence?

Coulehan JL, Reisinger KS, et al. N Eng J Med. Jan 3, 1974. 290:6–10.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1107579?articleTools=true.

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References

  1. Brown SR. Scurvy. New York, NY: St Marin’s Press; 2005.

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  2. Coulehan JL, Eberhard S, et al. N Engl J Med. 1978;295:73–7.

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Correspondence to John Russell .

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Russell, J. (2023). Vitamin C and the Prevention of Respiratory Infections-1974. In: Russell, J., Skolnik, N.S. (eds) Top Articles in Primary Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25620-2_59

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25620-2_59

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-25619-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-25620-2

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