Vitamin C, also known as Ascorbic Acid, has the structural formula C6H8O6. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient believed to have very important benefits to the human body and it enables the body to make efficient use of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. It is needed by the body to repair bones, teeth, and cartilage; heal wounds and scars; help the body absorb iron from certain substances, and promote a healthy immune system. Vitamin C is also needed to form collagen, which is a protein used to make skin tissue, blood vessels, ligaments, and tendons. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning it protects the body’s cells against oxidation and the destructive effects of free radicals within the body. It is also believed that vitamin C helps to prevent …show more content…
In May 1747, Dr James Lind, a Scottish physician, carried out the first ever clinical trial on twelve sailors suffering from scurvy aboard the British ship H.M.S. Salisbury. A clinical trial is an experiment performed on human beings to test out a drug or medical treatment. During this trial Dr Lind compared several treatments and noted that the use of citrus fruits brought the most effective treatment to the sailors tested. In 1757, after years of observing the preventative and curative qualities of citrus fruits and lemon juices, Dr Lind wrote a treatise recommending the regular consumption of citrus fruits and lemon juice by British sailors. Although Dr James Lind did not know the underlying reason why these fruits helped cure or potentially prevented the symptoms of scurvy, his observations lead to many sailors being saved from succumbing to scurvy. In 1795, British Navy physician, Gilbert Blane, persuaded the Admiralty to propose regulations for the universal use of citrus fruit juice as a daily ration for all sailors on board British naval vessels. After 1800, once the supply of lemon juice became more abundant, the general issue of daily rations to sailors took away the power which scurvy had held over the British
The study was based on the Oslo study, which stated that the current treatments of mercurial ointment were of no benefit, and that going untreated was more beneficial for the patient in the end (Brandt, 1978). Participants were given full physical exams, radiographs, and lumbar punctures that were conducted by the United States Public Health Services (Brandt, 1978). To guarantee that the men would show up for the lumbar puncture, researchers sent a letter to the participant titled, “Last Chance for Special Free Treatment,” (Brandt, 1978). Research continued, and in 1945, penicillin became approved to treat syphilis (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The USPHS could have incorporated this treatment into their study, but chose to prevent the men from getting treatment, and never informed the p...
Vitamin C is a necessary vitamin for the body to carry out its functions properly. It is also known as ascorbic acid. It is a water-soluble nutrient that is found in some foods. It acts as an antioxidant in the body which helps to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals, which are formed when our bodies convert the food we eat into energy. The body needs vitamin C to make collagen which is the protein required in wounds, healing. Moreover, vitamin C promotes the absorption of iron from fruits and vegetables and helps in promoting the immune system. Vitamin C is also important to protect our body from cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and skin wrinkling. We can obtain vitamin C from food and other sources.
Vitamin A helps a lot in the maintenance of a healthy skin, mucus membrane, teeth and other soft tissues of the body.
Point of view: Web. 14 February 2016. The article provides specific examples of illnesses and diseases which have been cured by animal testing that both humans and animals have benefitted from. This supports my topic of animal experiments being used for medical advancements. Pointing out that law often requires that products be tested before being sold to the public, George and Wagner additionally help prove my claim that product testing is a purpose of animal experimentation.
Vitamin D is one of the essential nutrients that we need in our bodies and what makes us healthy. Vitamin D's functions in the body by digesting calcium, which both calcium and vitamin D can keep bones and strong and healthy, and constrain the release of parathyroid hormone. This hormone consumes bone tissue, which provides the bones thin and fragile. Also, vitamin D can enact as a role in muscle formation and the immune system, which the immune system can prevent illnesses and fight off infections. Therefore, adding vitamin D to a diet can reduce the risk of falling in among the elderly. There are three sources where you can acquire vitamin D: sun exposure, diet, and supplements. Skin exposure to ultraviolet (UV) sunlight is one of the common sources that you can obtain vitamin D, but it varies in different factors of the season including less sunshine in winter months, the time of the day, the amount of cloud cover and air pollution, and where you live. There are a variety of foods that also contain
Even though pickling was used to preserve food in the ancient times and was needed in terms of survival, over the decades it has evolved into a form of art for various cultures (Kitchen Garden Harvest 1). In the past pickles have been very beneficial. As mentioned before in 1492 when traveling to the new world on the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, many crew passengers suffered from a disease called scurvy, which occurs when a lack of vitamin C is present. Amerigo Vespucci, who was Christopher Columbus’ ship stocker, loaded pickles embedded with vitamin C on to the ship because they believed that eating them would prevent the spread of scurvy (Science of Pickles 1). Here, they were able to stop this disease and this allowed for our past generation to advance by completely wiping out this disease. The phrase “in a pickle” which is figurative language for being stuck in a bad situation, was actually created by Shakespeare and used in various plays of his such as The Tempest (Science of Pickles 1). In 850 BC, Aristotle talked about the healing benefits that cured cucumbers caused (Pickle History Timeline
James Lind, a Scottish Surgeon, played a significant role in the understanding that experimental studies could be used to test theorems of affected mortality. Born in Edinburgh, his previous apprenticeship at the Edinburgh College of Surgeons lead him into his own practice of discovering the remedy for scurvy as it was killing more soldiers of the Royal Navy than enemy action (Milne, 2004). Lind’s epidemiological study presented that the use of citrus fruits had the ability to treat scurvy. Epidemiological studies can be established as either observational or experimental. While observational studies are considered natural experiments, James Lind used an experimental study to consider a true outcome (Htway, 2016). His conducted observation to deal with the treatment of scurvy, a disease cause by deficiency of Vitamin C, proposed him to use subjects who currently had similar cases of scurvy. Symptoms resulting from the deficiency included the swelling of gums and continual damage to open wounds.
Food science has led to find cures for diseases such as scurvy. Scurvy is a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C, characterized by swollen bleeding gums and the opening of previously healed wounds, which particularly affected poorly nourished sailors until the end of the 18th century. This disease was very common among sailors because in the 18th century they didn’t have refrigerators, so their diets lacked perishable foods while sailing the sea. Today, if you come across this problem you can just eat a vitamin C tablet. This is just one of the many examples food science has promoted a balanced diet by the study of nutrients in our food.
Vitamin, any of the organic compounds required by the body in small amounts for metabolism, to protect health, and for proper growth in children. Vitamins also assist in the formation of hormones, blood cells, nervous-system chemicals, and genetic material. The various vitamins are not chemically related, and most differ in their physiological actions. They generally act as catalysts, combining with proteins to create metabolically active enzymes that in turn produce hundreds of important chemical reactions throughout the body. Without vitamins, many of these reactions would slow down or cease. The intricate ways in which vitamins act on the body, however, are still far from clear.
Vitamin E in all its forms, functions predominantly as an antioxidant by protecting cells from free radicals in the body. Vitamin E works as an antioxidant by donating a hydrogen atom from a hydroxyl group to a free radical within the body. Vitamin E also plays a role in immune system function and protects cell membranes and regulation of gene expression. Vitamin E has been studied to uncover other medical usages, including prevention or treatment of many health conditions [1].
Vitamin C also known as ascorbic acid is needed for growth and maintenance of healthy tissues, especially skin, blood vessels, bones, gums, teeth. Vitamin C aids in resistance against infection and healing of wounds. It also helps the body absorb iron from food. Vitamin C can be found in green vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes and citrus fruits such as oranges and lemon. A lack of vitamin C can cause scurvy, iron deficiency and poor wound healing. A healthy diet should include a high amount of vitamin C because the human body cannot produce its own vitamin C.
The first clinical trial of a novel therapy was conducted unintentionally by the Renaissance surgeon Ambroise Parè in 1537. He used a concoction of turpentine, rose oil and egg yolk to prevent the infection of battlefield wounds, noting that the new treatment was much more effective than the traditional formula. The first trial using properly randomized treatment and control groups was carried out in 1948 by the Medical Research Council, and involved the use of streptomycin to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. This trial also featured blind assessment (2).
When one hears the three words: vitamins, nutrients, and minerals, they think of one thing-being healthy and noticing what your intake is daily. Nutrition is all about vitamins and nutrients. Firstly, vitamins are an organic compound required by the body in small amounts of metabolism, to protect health, and for proper growth of children. Vitamins also assist in the formation of hormones, blood cells, nervous systems chemicals, and genetic material. There are 13 well-identified vitamins. Some examples of the 13 well-identified vitamins are: A, D, E, and K-fat contained foods, B, C-consumed immediately. A well known and commonly used in commercials for orange juice vitamin is vitamin C. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is important in the synthesis and maintenance of connective tissues. The lack of vitamin C will result in a sickness called scurvy. Scurvy harms the gums, mucous membranes, and the skin. Another well-known vitamin and is also used to commercial to give more information about this beverage is the vitamin in milk. The vitamin in milk is vitamin D. If you do not drink milk and obtain this vitamin, your bones and teeth will become soft and weak. Lacking one or more of the 13 well-identified vitamins will cause sickness and weakness to your body. Secondly, nutrients are how the body assimilates certain compounds. Nutrients are classified in 5 major groups: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. One of the five nutrients is carbohydrate. The carbohydrate group principally consists of sugar, starch, dextrin, cellulose, and glycogen. In more basic terms, carbohydrates are sugars needed by human and other living organisms. Some types of foods that contain carbohydrates would be candies, ice cream, fruit juice, soda, chocolate bars etc. Lastly, vitamins are connected to minerals. Minerals are also a very important part of a healthy person. There are 11 major groups of minerals. They are: calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, and zinc. All these terms look very familiar if one has taken chemistry. These are the elements of our world. One of the more common minerals that most people have heard of is calcium. Calcium also helps with the structure and strength of teeth and bones. Vitamins and minerals work together to help humans maintain a healthy body. For example, vitamin D works with calcium to help for and maintain the strength of teeth and bones.
Nowadays, healthy is the number one individual and also governmental concern. As the saying goes, ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is clearly show that eat nutritious food such as fruits and vegetables can provide a good health and can prevent us from harmful diseases. As we know, vegetables provided various types of vitamins needed by the body for instance pumpkin contains a lot of vitamin A, tomatoes contain vitamin C and spinach contains folate. Pumpkin is one of nature’s riches sources of alpha-carotene, a carotenoid that converts to retinol which is a form of vitamin A. The amount of vitamin A that contain in the pumpkin per serving (116g) is 171%, vitamin C 17%, calcium 2% and iron 5% (Pumpkin raw, 2014). There are a lot of benefits when consuming vitamin A, for example this vitamin promotes healthy vision, bone growth, reproduction and help boosts our immune system. Apart from that, a diet high in vitamin A may lower the risk of many types of cancer. Besides, some vegetables also contain a lot of vitamin C such as tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli. The function of vitamin C is it helps heal the wounds and keep away the body from bacterial infection. According to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, they discovered that vitamin C can kill drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria (Libov, 2013, para. 3). Besides that, vitamin C
The nutrients we get from eating fruits and vegetables are also very important in our daily diet. When we eat anything we get nutrients from it, but the question is are we eating too much? Too much of a good thing can be bad! The different vitamins have many different purposes, vitamin A keeps the eyes and skin healthy and helps protect against infections. Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps your teeth and gums healthy.