Dr. Edgar Miller, left, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Lee Ho, center, president of the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology; and Choi Sung-won, president of Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical Co., speak at the fourth International Symposium on Vitamin C at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kwon Ji-youn



Dr. Edgar Miller of Johns Hopkins University said that vitamin C is an essential micronutrient for human health, referring to a randomized trials study in which 1,407 participants saw their blood pressure drop after taking vitamin C supplements.





"In observational studies, increased vitamin C intake, vitamin C supplementation and higher blood concentrations of vitamin C are associated with lower blood pressure and lower risk of cardiovascular disease," he said during an international symposium at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul, Tuesday.



Miller noted that a meta-analysis of clinical trials saw that there was a significant, but modest reduction in blood pressure with oral vitamin C supplementation doses that can only be achieved through supplementation.



He advised that future trials be adequately powered and utilize high quality blood pressure measures to increase precision.



"The effect was more evident in younger patients," he concluded. "And there was no effect of vitamin C supplementation on mortality."



At the fourth International Symposium on Vitamin C, Miller, along with Dr. Fiona Harrison of Vanderbilt University and Dr. Lee Wang-jae of Seoul National University, among others, addressed an audience of experts in medicine, pharmacology and health products on topics under the theme "Vitamin C and Wellness for Aging Society."



"Our symposiums have looked at vitamin C from several different perspectives, from its effect on the immune system to its role in cancer treatment," said Choi Sung-won, president of Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical, which sponsored the event.



"This year's symposium was rather meaningful in that it discussed the effects of the nutrient on aging, which is becoming more of an issue here in Korea," Choi added.



Harrison, an assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt, added to Miller's argument that vitamin C plays a significant role in preventing the onset of Alzheimer's disease as a person ages.



"Our lab conducted a number of tests on mice to observe the effects of vitamin C on aging and on Alzheimer's," Harrison said. "Intake of vitamin C and E together, or even vitamin C alone, enhanced the water maze performance of the mice, and vitamin C levels increased in the liver."



A deficiency of vitamin C leads to cognitive decline and the buildup of amyloids, which in turn influences the onset of Alzheimer's, according to Harrison. She added that dietary vitamin C supplementation is more important for humans, as mice are able to synthesize the ascorbic acid while humans are not.



Dr. Takahiko Shimizu of the Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan followed up with a more comprehensive review of the protective effects of vitamin C on age-related diseases in mice.



"We saw in our studies that vitamin C treatment attenuated the unloading-induced bone loss in mice," Takahiko said. "Such bone loss causes an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause osteoporosis."



He explained that superoxide dismutase (SOD1) deficiency can also cause osteoporosis, and that this can accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's.



"The antioxidant effect of vitamin C treatment reduces the incidence of osteoporosis and Alzheimer's," he concluded.



The second session of the forum focused on the effects of vitamin C on cancer treatment. Lee spoke extensively on the anti-cancer effects of vitamin C in human breast cancer cells, while Dr. Choi Jong-soon of Kosin University outlined the clinical findings of the effects of vitamin C on cancer treatment.



"The injection of vitamin C in patients suffering from lung cancer, liver cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma also showed an improvement in condition," Choi said. "It is predicted that high levels of vitamin C intake, along with cancer treatment, will prove to be more effective."



Yeom Chang-hwan, chairman of the Korean Association for Vitamin Research, also emphasized that ascorbic acid alleviates toxicity of chemotherapy without interfering with the anticancer efficacy. He stressed that it also improves the quality of patients' lives and helps them overcome fatigue.



The third session highlighted the effects of the nutrient on skin aging. Dr. Cho Ae-ri of Duksung Women's University explained that vitamin C permeates rapidly through the skin in spite of its low lipophilicity.



"This could be due to its enhancing effect on the hydration capacity of skin and the solubilizing action on the protein domain of the stratum corneum," she added. "This rate can be improved by optimizing topical formulation."



Dr. Lee Hyeon-gyu of Hanyang University took this explanation a step further and said that vitamin C is an excellent candidate for nanoencapsulation, which isolates vitamins from the deteriorating effects of oxygen. Dr. Hwang Jae-kwan discussed the inhibitory effects of vitamin C on intrinsic aging in human dermal fibroblasts.

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