Watch out for vitamin C intake! A 55-year-old woman nearly died of acute renal failure from “a habit”
Publication Date: Friday, February 10, 2023
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A 55-year-old Caucasian woman has chronic kidney disease and her kidney function is not very good, but not enough to require dialysis. One day she was sent to the intensive care unit due to lethargy, mental confusion, and persistent anuria. Examinations revealed that the woman had a large amount of calcium oxalate crystals in her kidneys, which led to acute renal failure. Although emergency dialysis saved her life, she had to undergo long-term dialysis afterwards. kidney. Doctors from Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania, USA found that women who take 1,000 mg of vitamin C per day for a long time may be the culprit for the deterioration of kidney function. This study was published in the medical journal “Cureus” in December 2022. Yan Zonghai, director of the Chang Gung Clinical Toxicology Center in Linkou, Taiwan and a professor-level attending doctor of the Department of Nephrology at Chang Gung Hospital, said that in Taiwan, many people will supplement health food, among which vitamin C is a good antioxidant, which is believed to help reduce Cardiovascular disease and cancer risk, but still pay attention to the upper limit of intake, because vitamin C will produce oxalic acid after metabolism, and calcium oxalate is easy to deposit in kidney tissue. Yan Zonghai pointed out that calcium oxalate is the largest component of kidney stones, accounting for more than 90%. If the original kidney function is not good, or there is chronic kidney disease, calcium oxalate crystals are likely to cause kidney damage, accelerate the course of kidney disease, and cause patients to die prematurely. Entering the end stage of kidney disease, or even starting kidney dialysis, just like the case in the study. According to the research, the woman took a multivitamin every day, including 1000 mg of vitamin C, 500 mg of calcium, 500 mg of cranberry, 5000 units of vitamin D, digestive enzymes, and other multivitamins with unknown ingredients. It is difficult for the researchers to estimate how much vitamin C she took in total every day and how long she took it, but they can only confirm that it is at least 1,000 mg per day for a long time. With no other known cause, the researchers concluded that chronic high doses of vitamin C were the most likely cause of his acute kidney failure.
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The 88-year-old man’s weight and appetite have seriously decreased. It is not because of cancer and tumors, but because he lacks a nutrient. Yan Zonghai said that according to the dietary nutrient intake upper limit set by Taiwan’s National Health Administration, the maximum intake of vitamin C per day is 2000mg, which includes diet and health food. If you take too many supplements, you may overdose. Therefore, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration also stipulates that the content of vitamin C health food should not exceed 1000 mg. Therefore, if a commercially available health food advertises that a single tablet contains 1000mg of vitamin C, it is not against the regulations. However, everyone must read the label on the outer packaging clearly and take an appropriate amount. Do not supplement more than 1000mg, lest the total daily intake exceed 2000mg, which will cause harm to the body. . If you want to take vitamin C safely, Yan Zonghai recommends that you give priority to taking it from vegetables and fruits, and it is the least likely to overdose. For patients who have had kidney stones, Yan Zonghai said that this is most common in men who drink too little water and like to eat strong flavors. He recommends adopting a “low oxalate diet”, that is, consciously avoiding excessive intake of foods such as spinach and tea. Foods with high oxalic acid content, such as cocoa, chocolate, cola, stone fruit, etc., should also pay special attention to the supplement of vitamin C, which must not exceed 1000 mg per day.
