Sepsis Is A Global Killer. Can Vitamin C Be The Cure?

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2020

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Every day, approximately 30,000 people die globally of sepsis. The condition comes about when your immune system overreacts to an infection, leading potentially to organ failure and death. There is no cure. But then in 2017, a doctor proposed a novel treatment for sepsis, a mixture that included Vitamin C, arguing it saved the lives of most of his patients. NPR's Richard Harris has been reporting on this treatment and how it's divided scientists from around the world. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at [email protected].

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to shortwave from NPR.
0:05.6	Maddie, in the house with Richard Harris, yet another one of my favorite science correspondence.
0:11.4	We must be all your favorite talking.
0:13.1	I mean, you're all special.
0:13.9	That's what my mother always said.
0:15.1	You're all my favorite.
0:16.8	Richard, you have some serious business to discuss today.
0:19.9	Indeed I do.
0:20.5	Yes.
0:21.0	I'm going to talk to you about sepsis.
0:22.9	Right.
0:23.4	So for anybody who might not know, sepsis is actually caused by the body's reaction to an infection.
0:30.3	Basically, the immune system overreacts, causing this huge inflammatory response.
0:36.3	Blood vessels get all leaky, which messes up how blood flows throughout the body.
0:40.7	In severe cases, septic shock can set in, and that's when your blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels,
0:47.3	sometimes leading to multiple organ failure and death.
0:51.2	Doctors treat that initial infection, and they can try to manage the dangerous symptoms of sepsis,
0:56.7	but there's no cure for it.
0:58.7	That's right.
0:59.3	As a result, it is the single most expensive condition in U.S. hospitals.
1:04.2	Best estimate is that it strikes 1.7 million people a year in the United States and kills more than
1:09.9	a quarter of a million.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.