Kids Research Express

Aspirin and Vitamin C by Dr. Leo Galland Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) has been around for over a hundred years and can be a useful drug for treating pain. Millions of people take low dose aspirin every day in an effort to prevent heart attacks or strokes. But aspirin can erode the lining of the stomach or intestines, causing internal bleeding, even at low doses. Research on Aspirin and Vitamin C Research studies done in Germany demonstrate that aspirin interferes with absorption of vitamin C and regular use of aspirin can deplete the gastrointestinal lining of vitamin C. German researchers have shown that taking vitamin C along with aspirin can decrease the amount of stomach damage that aspirin produces in healthy humans and in patients with inflammation of the stomach caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that causes ulcers. No dietary supplement is guaranteed to prevent aspirin-induced gastrointestinal damage. If you are taking aspirin, ask your doct...

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid, a well-known vitamin is important in the formation and maintenance of collagen, the protein that supports many body structures and plays a major role in the formation of bones and teeth. It also enhances the absorption of iron from foods of vegetable origin. Scurvy is the classic manifestation of severe ascorbic acid deficiency. Its symptoms are due to loss of the cementing action of collagen and include hemorrhages, loosening of teeth, and cellular changes in the long bones of children. Assertions that massive doses of ascorbic acid prevent colds and influenza have not been borne out by carefully controlled experiments. In other experiments, however, ascorbic acid has been shown to prevent the formation of nitrosamines—compounds found to produce tumors in laboratory animals and possibly also in humans. Although unused ascorbic acid is quickly excreted in the urine, large and prolonged doses can result in the formation of bladder and kidney stones, interfere...