US Pharm. 2010;35(12):102
Health care professionals treating patients with sepsis may soon have a new tool against this life-threatening illness. Karel Tyml, PhD, and his colleagues at The University of Western Ontario and Lawson Health Research Institute report that vitamin C can prevent the onset of sepsis as well as reverse the disease.In sepsis, which is caused by a bacterial infection that can begin anywhere in the body, a patient's immune system becomes hyperactive and disrupts normal processes in the blood. The result is small blood clots that block blood flow to vital organs, which can lead to organ failure. Babies, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are most likely to get sepsis, although healthy people can also become deathly ill from the disease.
