Washington, Aug 05: Researchers at the University of California have found that Vitamin C can, effectively ward off stomach and intestine ulcers as also incidence of gastric cancer.
The higher the level of ascorbic acid in the blood, the lower is the risk of developing gastro-intestinal trouble, suggests Dr Joel Simon, an associate professor of clinical medicine, epidemiology and bio-statistics at the University of California in his study.


Published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, and reported by News24, the study quotes the authors as saying that "Higher intakes of vitamin C might help prevent infection, and in turn, ulcers."



The researchers found that chronic infection of Helicobacter pylori was an important risk factor for both peptic ulcer problems and gastric cancer.



"We are not the first to show this. But it could be the largest study," says Simon.



The researchers used an existing set of data, the US Third National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (NHANES III). They found that almost one third of the 6,746 adults, who were whites, had antibodies against H pylori, a strand of bacteria that is believed to be the cause of most peptic ulcers.

However, minorities showed a weaker defence, which could be an outcome of less number of participants or a true biological difference.



When the blood samples were evaluated, they found that higher blood levels of ascorbic acid were linked with lower rates of H pylori infection.

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Although, they could not figure out why vitamin C worked, animal studies had previously showed that ascorbic acid inhibited the growth of the bacteria. Other factors that might affect the relationship, was age and body mass index.



The study also showed that the white subjects with the highest blood levels of ascorbic acid, as detected in blood samples, had a 25 per cent lower risk of having the infection.

"The study adds to a body of literature of the potential effect of vitamin C on decreasing H pylori infection, at least in the white population," says Dr James Everhart, chief of the epidemiology and clinical trials branch at the American National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Bureau Report