Irwin Stone: Orthomolecular Innovator and Educator

Taking The Cure Irwin Stone: Orthomolecular Innovator and Educator Andrew W. Saul1 1907 – 1984 “Irwin Stone was totally in love with Pauling, it probably omits any reference ascorbic acid. On behalf of all human- to Irwin Stone altogether. For it was Irwin ity, I thank the stars that he was.” Stone who put Linus Pauling onto vitamin –Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D. C in the first place. It is odd that, in discussions about vi- Beyond “Vitamin” tamin C, the word “stone” typically comes Over forty years ago, Stone postulated up for the wrong reason. There is one that we humans have inherited a genetic infamous stone that has never existed and trait to need but not manufacture ascor- another Stone that existed without prop- bic acid. “Irwin Stone,” writes Robert F. erly being honored. I refer, respectively, to Cathcart, M.D., “pointed out the potential the world-renowned but entirely mythical of vitamin C in the treatment of many vitamin C-caused kidney stone and, more diseases, the inability of humans to syn- importantly, to the great orthomolecular thesize ascorbate, and the resultant con- biochemist, Irwin Stone. dition hypoascorbemia... Stone described When you pick up a health or nutri- the genetic defect whereby the higher tion book and need to quickly know if it primates lost the ability to synthesize is any good or not, just look for these two ascorbate. This defect is caused by a mu- key words: Stone, and Pauling. If a book tated defective gene for the liver enzyme, has negative things to say about Linus L-gulonolactone oxidase.”1 This innate dependency may be made up for in diet, 1. Contributing Editor, The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, 23 Greenridge Crescent, Hamlin, New York 14464 but not easily. Says Stone: “The present [email protected] RDA for ascorbate is at least 300 times 230 Irwin Stone: Orthomolecular Innovator and Educator less per unit body weight than the amount achieve his goal if he would take vitamin of ascorbate produced endogenously each C in megadoses. Dr. Pauling tried it out, day by other mammals.”2 was convinced because he felt so much Irwin Stone repeatedly stated that better, and lived another 30 years.”5 ignoring this fact is fatal. A prime example Stone’s classic 1972 book, The Heal- is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) ing Factor: Vitamin C Against Disease,6 or Crib Death, which, Stone writes, “has contains over fifty pages of scientific refer- been shown by the Australian workers, ences, making it one of the first, and still A. Kalokerinos and G. Dettman, to be a one of the best, reviews of megascorbate manifestation of infantile scurvy, due to therapeutics. It is doubtful that many the fact that all infants, born of mothers skeptics have been as thorough as Stone who depended solely on their diet as their has in checking vitamin C literature. His only source of ascorbate, are born with book and published articles summarize the Chronic Subclinical Scurvy syndrome the successful vitamin C treatment of after nine months of intrauterine scurvy. infections (bacterial and viral), allergies, SIDS can be prevented by increasing the asthma, poisoning, ulcers, the effects infant’s intake of ascorbate. This has been of smoking, and eye diseases including known and published since 1977. Yet 8,000 glaucoma. Ascorbate’s role in treating to 10,000 babies die of SIDS each year cancer, heart disease, diabetes, fractures, because the doctors and others involved bladder and kidney diseases, tetanus, with the management of these babies shock, wounds, and pregnancy complica- permit this annual slaughter to take place tions is also discussed in the book that the because they have become so complacent National Health Federation said “may be with scurvy that they refuse to even try the most important book on health ever this harmless treatment.”2,3 written.”7 Stone Meets Pauling Industry and Controversy Bernard Rimland, Ph.D., writes: “In Alan Cott M.D. provides a biographi- April 1966 Irwin Stone met Linus Pauling, cal sketch of Stone: who found him to be extraordinarily well- “Dr. Irwin Stone, a biochemist and informed and convincing. Pauling credits chemical engineer, born in 1907, was edu- this meeting with Stone as the starting cated in the public schools of New York point of his own interest in vitamin C.”4 City, and the College of the City of New Abram Hoffer, who was present at the York. He considers as part of his educa- meeting, adds: “Dr. Stone had assembled tion his employment from 1924-1934 at a large collection of vitamin C papers. He the Pease Laboratories, a then well-known hated the term “vitamin C” and preferred biological and chemical consulting labora- the more correct term ascorbic acid. Dr. tory, first as assistant bacteriologist, then Stone first used the word megavitamin as assistant to the chief chemist, and then and the word hypoascorbemia. He consid- finishing his tenure as Chief Chemist. In ered scurvy not a deficiency disease but 1934 he was offered the opportunity of a metabolic error. I urged him to publish setting up and directing an enzyme and his review of ascorbic acid which he did fermentation research laboratory for the several years later. Irwin heard Dr. Pauling Wallerstein Company, a large manufac- state that he wished he could live another turer of industrial enzymes... He employed 25 years because science was making so ascorbic acid to stabilize foodstuffs many interesting discoveries. Dr. Stone against the undesirable and deteriorating wrote to him and told him he could effects of exposure to air and oxidation. 231 Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 20, No. 4, 2005 Three patent applications were filed in “Outside of Rapid City, South Dakota, 1935 and the patents were granted in 1939 we had a very serious automobile accident and 1940. Thus, Dr. Stone obtained the when a drunk driving on the wrong side first patents on an industrial application of the road drove her car at 80 miles an of ascorbic acid. By the late 1950s, Dr. hour into a head-on collision with ours. Stone’s research on the genetics of scurvy Both my wife and I were seriously injured had progressed to a point where it could and the only reason we survived was the be said that scurvy was not a dietary dis- fact that we had been regularly taking turbance, but was a potentially fatal prob- daily megadoses of ascorbate for decades. lem in medical genetics. Ascorbic acid We never went into the deep shock that thus did not behave like trace vitamin C kills most accident victims and I was but was a stress-responsive liver metabo- able to experimentally verify ascorbate’s lite produced endogenously in large daily great healing power and survival value by amounts in the livers of most mammals, taking about fifty to sixty grams a day of but not in humans. Between 1965 and ascorbate during our hospitalization. My 1967 he produced four papers describing wife recovered quickly and acted as my a human birth defect existing in 100% of “nurse.” I went through five serious op- the population due to a defective gene erations without any surgical shock and in the human gene pool, the potentially my multiple bone injuries healed so fast fatal genetic liver enzyme disease, which that we were able to leave the hospital he named “Hypoascorbemia”, as the cause in less than three months, take a 2,000 of scurvy. He had difficulty publishing his mile train trip home, and I was back hypoascorbemia work because the ideas at work running my lab in two months were so advanced and contrary to the more. I left the hospital under my own existing theories of the etiology of scurvy. steam, on crutches, walking on legs that . In his professional career, 1924-1984, he the doctors originally predicted I would has published over 120 scientific papers not be able to stand on for at least a year. and was issued 26 U.S. patents and count- My larynx was damaged by part of the less foreign patents.”8 steering wheel inflicting a deep throat Bernard Rimland adds: wound, and the doctors despaired that “In the 1950s it became clear to Stone I would ever talk again. With the help that humans would benefit from ingest- of large doses of ascorbate, this problem ing much larger amounts of ascorbate slowly resolved and I was able to assume than the medical and nutritional estab- the public speaking duties of the president lishments considered adequate. After he of a scientific society with a voice of a retired from his paid employment and slightly different timbre.”9 moved to San Jose in 1971, he devoted the Perhaps there is some slight under- rest of his life to studying and publicizing statement in Dr. Stone’s account. His son the need for multi-gram daily consump- Steven, a retired patent attorney, adds: tion of vitamin C by humans. Irwin Stone “My parents drove to visit Mt. Rush- received many awards and honors dur- more. They never got to see the monu- ing his lifetime, including two honorary ment. On the road to Mt. Rushmore, as doctorates.”4 they were going over a slight rise, they were hit head on by a drunk driver with School of Very Hard Knocks such force that every one of my father’s Irwin Stone’s most intense learning limbs, except his right arm, was broken. experience with vitamin C literally saved He also had massive internal injuries. his life. He tells the story himself: Someone performed an emergency tra- 232 Irwin Stone: Orthomolecular Innovator and Educator cheotomy on him by sticking a piece of cantly to his health.

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