Gastro‐intestinal Bleeding: The Role of Vitamin C

SUMMARY During a three‐year period, 93 patients selected at random, who were admitted to hospital with either hæmatemesis or melrena, had a detailed dietary history taken; these dietary factors were compared with a group of hospital patients (matched by age and sex) with non‐gastro‐intestinal diseases. The 93 patients with gastro‐duodenal bleeding were further subdivided on the basis of radiological studies, using barium, endoscopy or laparotomy into 37 patients with duodenal ulcer, 12 patients with gastric ulcer, nine patients with hiatus hernia, four patients with gastric carcinoma, and 31 patients in whom the site or source of bleeding remained undetermined. Thirty‐four of the 93 patients with gastro‐duodenal bleeding had a vitamin C intake of under 50 mg per day, whereas only 14 of the control group had a similarly low intake. In the group of those with bleeding, a history of excessive intake of analgesics was obtained in 17 patients, only three of whom had a low vitamin C intake. This preliminary study indicates that vitamin C deficiency may be an important factor in the genesis of gastro‐intestinal hremorrhage, particularly in the group in which no cause for the bleeding is found.