Is the vitamin deficiency that leads to heart disease the same kind ofthing?
Dr. Rath: As a matter of fact, it is the same thing. Heart disease is a form of early, or chronic, scurvy. When a person develops scurvy, their body is totally depleted of vitamin C and all bodily tissue degrades quickly. The first symptom you see is bleeding gums. And what is this bleeding? It is leaking of the blood vessel walls. As the scurvy progresses, the blood vessel walls—– not just the gums, but throughout the body——– break down and are no longer able to contain blood as it is pumped through them by the heart. Eventually the blood escapes from the blood vessels, and death results. The reason that a lack of vitamin C causes scurvy is the same as the reason that a shortage of vitamin C causes heart disease. Among the most important functions of vitamin C in the body is the production of collagen. Collagen molecules form the structure of the entire cardiovascular system. They function like the steel girders in a skyscraper – they form a supporting grid that assures the st
