HTTP Error 404.0 - Not Found The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. The directory or file specified does not exist on the Web server. The URL contains a typographical error. A custom filter or module, such as URLScan, restricts access to the file. Things you can try: Create the content on the Web server. Review the browser URL. Create a tracing rule to track failed requests for this HTTP status code and see which module is calling SetStatus. For more information about creating a tracing rule for failed requests, click here. Links and More Information This error means that the file or directory does not exist on the server. Create the file or directory and try the request again. View more information »They made their finding after looking at the incidence of kidney stones over 11 years in 23,355 men. Those who took vitamin C supplements - which typically contain 1,000 milligrammes per tablet - were at twice the risk of developing the stones compared to men who took no vitamins.
Those who took the high-dose pills most regularly were at the highest risk. But taking vitamin C as part of a multi-vitamin - which tend to contain much lower doses of the vitamin - did not raise the risk, found the researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Kidney stones are small crystals of waste matter that form and can block a part of the organ or the urinary tract, causing intense pain. They affect 10 to 20 per cent of men and three to five per cent of women. According to the Department of Health, adults need just 40mg of vitamin C a day. Its advice notes that taking high doses can cause stomach pain, flatulence and diarrhoea, but it does not mention kidney stones. While widely believed to fight off colds, recent trials have shown it has no discernable effect as a preventive agent. However, it does have a modest effect in shortening colds, if taken as a therapeutic medicine once the infection has begun. Professor Agneta Akesson, who led the Karolinska’s study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, said: “Given that there are no well-documented benefits of taking high doses of vitamin C in the form of dietary supplements, the wisest thing might be not to take them at all, especially if you have suffered kidney stones previously.”
Dr Carrie Ruxton, from the Health Supplements Information Service, said as the study only looked at men results could not be assumed to be the same for women. She added: "Since higher dose vitamin C - 500mg per day or more - is proven to reduce the duration of a cold orflu, it is worth taking these in the short-term when required. "This study looked at people who were habitually taking around 1000mg several times a week. "It is likely that short-term, sporadic use of higher dose vitamin C does not constitute a risk for kidney stones and can be helpful when people have a cold."Renal and Urology News Vitamin C Supplementation and CKD Although the healthful effects of vitamin C are well-established, there are concerns about excessive intake of this vitamin by CKD patients.A previous study in by Choi et al in the USA showed that people with a higher vitamin C intake have a lower risk of gout. There are also studies in healthy volunteers that suggest that vitamin C supplements reduce blood uric acid levels.
It is thought that vitamin C increases the excretion of uric acid in the urine. The exact mechanism is not known, however, it is thought to be something to do with the way the kidneys excrete uric acid. There is some evidence that vitamin C might also reduce production of uric acid as well but the major mechanism is thought to be through increasing excretion through the kidneys. We recruited gout patients who had blood uric acid levels greater than the treatment target level of 0.36 mmol/L (6 mg/100 mL). Of the 40 participants with gout, 20 patients taking allopurinol were given an additional 500 mg dose of vitamin C daily or had the dose of allopurinol increased, while another 20 patients were either started on allopurinol or vitamin C (500 mg/day). We analyzed blood levels of vitamin C (ascorbate), creatinine and uric acid at baseline and week eight. Our study showed that a modest vitamin C dose (500mg/d) for eight weeks did not lower urate levels to a clinically significant degree in gout patients, but did increase blood levels of ascorbate (vitamin C).
Patients were given vitamin C pills.The dose of vitamin C we gave was higher than the daily recommended intake and the blood levels of ascorbate (vitamin C) increased suggesting that patients were receiving adequate amounts.The degree of change in uric acid levels is similar to that seen in other studies. The amount of change is unlikely to have any significant clinical benefit for patients with gout. Higher doses of vitamin C could be studied, however the risks of higher doses needs to be considered. The dose we gave is already above the recommended daily dose and the blood levels reached a point where increasing them further was unlikely to have any extra effect. Cherries have been reported to lower uric acid levels in women. They have also been reported to reduce the number of gout attacks. The mechanism by which cherries exert these effects is not entirely clear. It has been suggested that cherries increase uric acid excretion via the kidneys and may lower urate production.
There are also other anti-inflammatory chemicals in cherries that may have an effect. The amount of vitamin C in cherries is probably not high enough to have any effect. The two most common reasons patients don’t reach appropriate urate levels are not taking the medicines that lower uric acid levels regularly and that the dose of the medicine is too low. The research was funded by the Health Research Council of NZ. We have plans to look at the effects of omega three fats in acute gout. There are two things you need to do when you are treating gout. Firstly, you need to treat the acute attacks as they come, secondly, in the long term you need to lower the uric acid to prevent the attacks from coming. Omega three fats work like a natural anti-inflammatory. The study, which is being led by one of my colleagues in Wellington, will look at whether we could treat those acute attacks of gout by omega three fats rather than using anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs can have quite a lot of side effects.