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BEDSORES (Decubitus Ulcers) |
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Bedsores
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How do bedsores seem to just “happen”?
They don’t.
They are allowed to happen, and lousy hospital and nursing home food is the major
culprit. No, it’s
not the mattress. It is malnutrition. I think bedsores
might better be termed “scurvy sores,” and in centuries past,
they often were. Like bleeding gums on a large scale, they are a development of
spontaneous pinpoint hemorrhaging. Pressure of brushing the teeth, or lying
on a mattress, is enough to break blood vessels grossly weakened by a lack of
vitamin C. Look into
this for yourself and see. When you do, you will note that the symptoms of
scurvy include poor healing, weak capillaries, easy bruising, open wounds
that suppurate (discharge pus), and spontaneous bleeding and internal hemorrhage,
often from very minor trauma. Such describes the development of a bedsore. Bedsores have
been associated with necrotizing ulcerative stomatitis (severe inflammation
and destruction of soft tissue and bone). Both share a number of symptoms,
both occur in malnourished patients, and both are treatable with nutritional
supplementation. (J. A. G. Buchanan, M. Cedro, A. Mirdin, T. Joseph, S. R. Porter, T. A. Hodgson (2006) Necrotizing
stomatitis in the developed world. Clinical
and Experimental Dermatology 31 (3), 372–374.) Pellagra,
a deficiency of niacin (vitamin
B-3), causes bedsores as well. This has been known for nearly a hundred
years. (Pellagra: History, Distribution, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Treatment, etc.
by Stewart Ralph Roberts, p 104. http://books.google.com/books?id=XCxQAWDWAh4C&printsec=titlepage
) Also: The
Nursing Care of Pellagra, by Lillian Cumbee. The American Journal of Nursing, Vol.
31, No. 3 (Mar., 1931), p 272-274 The cure,
the only cure, for pellagra is niacin. Not surprisingly, niacin also helps
heal bedsores. (Dtsch Gesundheitspolit.
1951 Nov 29;6(48):1388-9. [Therapy of ulcus cruris and decubitus.] GERNAND K. PMID: 14905956) So does the
mineral zinc. Even the medically orthodox
Merck Manual says that “supplemental
vitamin C and zinc may help with healing as well.” I would recommend at
least 50 mg day, and 150 would be better, divided into three separate doses. Zinc
gluconate is readily available, cheap and well-absorbed. Vitamins
A, B-1 (thiamine), B-2 (riboflavin), and E are probably also helpful. Vitamin
A and the B-vitamins are in any multivitamin preparation. Vitamin E from capsules
may be dripped directly onto a bedsore, painlessly. The benefits are more rapid
healing, less discomfort, and reduced risk of infection and scarring. Conservative treatment is
always best, and vitamin supplementation is about as conservative as it gets.
Remember what vitamin-discoverer Dr. Roger J. Williams said: “When in doubt, use nutrition first.” Patients given optimally
large amounts of these nutrients will be more comfortable in days, and although
healing will take weeks, you can expect to see real improvement. Reconstructive
surgery is the last resort. Think about this: if a patient cannot keep their
normal skin well, how are they going to recover from a skin graft? Do not
subject a patient, especially an elderly patient to such pain and trauma if
you can possibly avoid it. And yes, you can possibly avoid it. But you will not
know if nutrition works until you try it. I have seen this with my
own eyes, so don’t try to tell me differently: hospitals are not trying
nutrition first. My aunt, an activist Registered Nurse, is campaigning to end
elder abuse. Good. Here is an excellent opportunity for you to join her. Don’t
let your loved one suffer from a bedsore. Demand oral and intravenous high-potency
multiple and B-complex vitamin therapy. Demand oral and intravenous vitamin C
as well. Let the hospital and
doctors tell you it is unsafe if they must. If they try to do so, they have
not read their own journals. Here is some of the evidence: “Most patients with chronic
skin ulcers suffered micronutrient status alterations, and borderline
malnutrition. Meals did not cover energy requirements, while oral supplements
covered basic micronutrient requirements and compensated for insufficient
oral energy and protein intakes, justifying their use in hospitalized elderly
patients.” Raffoul W, Far MS, Cayeux MC, Berger
MM. Nutritional status and food intake in nine patients with chronic low-limb
ulcers and pressure ulcers: importance of oral supplements. Nutrition. 2006
Jan;22(1):82-8. “In the group treated with
ascorbic acid there was a mean reduction in pressure-sore area of 84% after
one month compared with 42.7% in the placebo group. These findings are
statistically significant (P less than 0.005) and suggest that ascorbic acid
may accelerate the healing of pressure-sores.” (See
also: Ascorbic acid and pressure sores. Br Med J. 1971 Jun 12;2(5762):604-5.) “Only patients receiving
additional arginine, vitamin C and zinc
demonstrated a clinically significant improvement in pressure ulcer healing
(9.4+/-1.2 vs. 2.6+/-0.6; baseline and week 3, respectively.” Desneves KJ, Todorovic
BE, Cassar A, Crowe TC. Treatment with
supplementary arginine, vitamin C and zinc in
patients with pressure ulcers: a randomised
controlled trial. Clin Nutr.
2005 Dec;24(6):979-87. “(O)ral nutritional supplement(ation)
resulted in a significant reduction in wound area and an improvement in wound
condition in patients with grade III and IV pressure ulcers within three weeks.
. . Median healing of wound area was 0.34 cm2 per day, taking approximately
two days to heal 1 cm2. . . the amount of exudate
in infected ulcers (p = 0.012) and the incidence of necrotic tissue (p =
0.001) reduced significantly.” Frías Soriano
L, Lage Vázquez MA, Maristany CP, Xandri Graupera JM, Wouters-Wesseling
W, Wagenaar L. The effectiveness of oral
nutritional supplementation in the healing of pressure ulcers. J Wound Care.
2004 Sep;13(8):319-22. The RDA/DRI is not enough: “Refeeding
of pressure sore patients who often are catabolic and have increased needs
for protein and energy, should include micronutrients not only to cover
recommended dietary allowances, but sufficient to reach normal nutritional status
for the individual micronutrient.” Selvaag E, Bøhmer
T, Benkestock K. Reduced serum concentrations of riboflavine and ascorbic acid, and blood thiamine pyrophosphate
and pyridoxal-5-phosphate in geriatric patients with and without pressure
sores. J Nutr Health Aging. 2002;6(1):75-7.
(Also: Powers
JS, Zimmer J, Meurer K, Manske
E, Collins JC, Greene HL. Direct assay of vitamins B1, B2, and B6 in
hospitalized patients: relationship to level of intake. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1993 Jul-Aug;17(4):315-6.) 1,000 mg of vitamin C is not
enough: ter Riet G,
Kessels AG, Knipschild
PG. Randomized clinical trial of ascorbic acid in the treatment of pressure
ulcers. J Clin Epidemiol.
1995 Dec;48(12):1453-60. For more information on administering vitamin C by IV, and the safe
and effective use of high oral doses of all the vitamins, please use the “Search
Box” at the www.doctoryourself.com
main page. Type in “IV vitamin C.” Note: DoctorYourself
does not sell any health products, nor vitamins, nor
supplements. I have absolutely no financial connection with the health
products industry. Period.
For ordering information,
Click here . |
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