ESTIMATION OF THE ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C) REQUIREMENT OF AMBULATORY PATIENTS

Abstract

The daily requirement of the normal person for ascorbic acid is difficult to determine accurately, and the minimal and optimal quantities needed remain a subject of some controversy at the present time. It is generally accepted, however, that the deficiency of vitamin C which is of so frequent occurrence in infections and in conditions associated with heightened metabolism is due to an increased need for ascorbic acid by the body and not merely to a deficient supply in the diet. It seemed to us that it should be possible to compare grossly the requirements in health and in disease without detailed metabolic experiments. The object of this study was to evolve a method by which the ascorbic acid requirements of ambulatory patients attending an outpatient clinic could be estimated. Our interest in the problem was stimulated by finding a vitamin C deficiency to be extremely frequent in persons with bronchial