'Tantalizing' Results For A Test Of Vitamin C For Sepsis
Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 5:36 am
'Tantalizing' Results For A Test Of Vitamin C For Sepsis
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/01/766029397/mixed-results-for-a-test-of-vitamin-c-for-sepsis
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/01/766029397/mixed-results-for-a-test-of-vitamin-c-for-sepsis
Scientists from around the world have jumped on this claim to support or refute it because, if it worked, it would save millions of lives. The biggest study published to date now comes to a vexing conclusion. If you read the study summary, vitamin C didn't help the patients. But if you dig deep into the paper, you will find that the people who got the treatment were much more likely to survive.
Here's the twist. The researchers also looked at 46 other "secondary" endpoints. And one in particular stands out: 28 days following treatment, 25 of the 84 patients treated with vitamin C died, compared with 38 of the 83 patients given the placebo. That's a big difference, with the mortality rate dropping from 46% to 30%.
If death had been the primary endpoint of the study, this result would have been highly significant. The conclusion would strongly support the hypothesis that vitamin C is an effective treatment of sepsis.