#the ingredients they put in this game were designed in a lab. and they successfully prodded at me

[transflynnscifo]

jesuduf fduhfsdhcsifdfadj fdhgfdhdsygfhdsufgdh

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO FUCKING BEGIN. i need to sit on them for a bit. for a lot. i cant formulate my thoughts id be here forever if i tried to string my thoughts into long-winded sentences. holy shit man

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

12 to 1 Chapter 10

Ciel led Lu and Add back inside the house. Add successfully convinced the two of them to not only get him the Kingdom Hearts game but also get him an energy drink on their way home.

“Since the siblings are getting into holiday spirit, let’s make some gingerbread cookies, yeah?” Ciel suggested, gathering bowls and spoons and other baking dishes.

Lu grinned, “Yeah! We can make them into little men and bite their heads off while they scream for mercy!”

Ciel smiled warmly at her, “Yep!” He looked at Add, “Finish your drink before we finish making cookies.”

Add nodded. It was nice of Ciel to clear out the downstairs for cookie making so that he could drink his drink without getting into trouble. He looked from Ciel to Lu and back again, “Wait… gingerbread cookies are little men?”

“Haven’t you had gingerbread cookies before?” Lu’s eyes were wide in astonishment.

“No?” Add wasn’t really sure why that was important. Whether he’d had gingerbread cookies before shouldn’t affect his question any. Nor should it affect whether or not it was answered.

“But Ciel makes them every year!”

“Add only eats the chocolate cookies,” Ciel reminded Lu calmly.

Lu looked up at Ciel. She tipped her head to the side curiously, “Oh yeah. How come?”

Add shrugged, “I don’t like anything else.” He didn’t even know Ciel made any kind of cookies other than chocolate and chocolate chip but okay. It didn’t surprise him that Ciel could make other kinds of cookies but just because someone could do something doesn’t mean they do.

“But you haven’t had gingerbread cookies,” Lu argued.

“So?”

“What else haven’t you had?”

“I only eat chocolate cookies.”

“So, you haven’t even had anything?” Lu stared at him. “How come?”

“Lu-” Ciel attempted to cut into the argument but Add cut him off.

“I told you. I don’t like anything else.”

“But you haven’t had anything else.”

“I don’t want to have anything else,” Add snapped impatiently.

Lu pouted, “How come you try the new stuff Rena makes but not Ciel?”

“Rena’s stuff is different. She makes me try it.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Yes, she does. The rule is I have to have one bite before I can get something else to eat.” It was a really annoying rule, but a rule all the same. Besides, he was used to it now so it wasn’t as much of a hassle as it was at first.

“That applies to Ciel’s stuff too!” Lu insisted.

“It does not.” Add argued.

“It does.”

“Does not.”

“Does.”

“Not according to Rena.”

“It does according to me!”

“You’re not the boss of me!”

“Lu. Add,” Ciel had to tap both of their heads to get their attention. When they looked up at him he directed them to gathering ingredients like they hadn’t been arguing just moments before, “How about you each grab me half of the ingredients on the list? That’s eight things each.” He handed Lu her list and Add his.

Add looked over his list. He needed to grab unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, packed light brown sugar, unsulfured molasses, an egg, confectioners’ sugar, dried egg white powder, and some water. He stared at the list in confusion, “What the fuck is confectioners’ sugar? Why do you need an egg and dried egg white powder? I thought all brown sugar was packaged. And isn’t vegetable shortening just fake butter? Why do you need both that and butter? Why does the butter have to be unsalted?”

“Hold on. One question at a time,” Ciel laughed. “Confectioners’ sugar is sugar that’s been finely powdered. It’s used for making icing and candy. The egg is for the cookies while the dried egg white powder is for the icing we’re going to put on them. Packed brown sugar isn’t the same as packaged brown sugar. Packed brown sugar is when you press it down into itself. The main difference between vegetable shortening and butter is the flavor, or lack thereof in shortening’s case. And we have unsalted butter because salt is part of the recipe for the cookies.”

Add stared at Ciel in surprise. While he had expected answers, he had not expected the half-demon to recite them from memory. He shrugged and set to work gathering the ingredients on his list.

Ciel did most of the actual making of the cookies, but finally the dough was rolled out and ready to be turned into little men. Ciel gave Add and Lu each a cookie cutter. He sat at the table next to Lu, his forearms resting on the table, to watch the two kids working on their cookies.

About halfway through cutting the dough Lu turned to Add, “Bet you can’t make a little man without using the cutter.”

“Sure, I can,” Add glared at her.

“Do it then,” Lu grinned.

Add smirked, “Only if you do.”

“Coward,” Lu stuck her tongue out.

“Nah,” Add shook his head. He cut out another cookie and set it exactly one inch to the left of the one he did before. He wasn’t sure why they needed to be one inch apart, but Ciel said it was important. Dynamo had places set for each of the cookies on the cookie sheet. “You’re the one that’s refusing to. I said I could do it.”

“Fine. We’ll both do it. Whoever’s is the prettiest wins a special prize.”

“What kinda special prize?” Add asked curiously.

“I don’t know yet,” Lu shrugged. “We’ll just make our little men and then we’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe the winner gets to decide what flavor the Christmas cake is gonna be,” Add suggested.

“That’s not a prize. We’re both gonna pick chocolate,” Lu argued.

“Well… maybe pick something other than chocolate.”

“Then you can’t pick chocolate either.”

“That’s not fair,” Add complained. “I don’t know what’s good besides chocolate.”

“That sucks.” Lu shrugged indifferently, “The prize is deciding the flavor of the Christmas cake but neither of us can pick chocolate.”

“That’s not fair!” Add stomped his foot.

“There’s plenty of other good flavors, Add. I can help you pick,” Ciel offered calmly.

Add sulked. What was the point of picking the flavor if he couldn’t pick the only flavor he liked? Either way, he refused to lose to Lu. He studied the cookies the cookie cutter had made and carefully shaped the dough with his fingers. It was cold and had a texture he did not like but he pushed those details to the back of his mind.

“We have to decorate it with the icing and stuff too,” Lu added. She pounded her fist into her cookie in frustration a couple times, making Add jump. She glanced at him, “Sorry. This is hard.”

Add stuck his tongue out. He looked down at his own cookie and shrugged, “I don’t mind it. My hands just feel really gross.” Once he was satisfied with his cookie he immediately went into the kitchen to wash his hands.

Eve walked past the kitchen on the way to the stairs down to her lab. Add noticed and grinned, “Eve!” He hurried after her, the cookies nearly completely forgotten.

Eve waited for him halfway down the stairs, half turned back toward the top, “Hello, Add.”

“Hi!” He hurried down the stairs until he was on the same step as her, “You’re going to your lab right?”

Eve nodded but she didn’t move.

Add didn’t notice and grinned up at her, “I’m coming too!”

Eve sighed. She didn’t say anything but continued down the stairs.

Again, Add didn’t notice and happily followed her down the rest of the stairs into her lab. He had yet to be in her lab. Whenever he did help her it was always in her room, or at the table upstairs. Her lab was a box shaped room with multiple tables. The entire wall to the right of the door was all shelves filled with various materials and partially finished projects.

That was where Add went first. Every shelf was meticulously organized, with labels and containers to keep like pieces together. He whistled. She had all sorts of stuff and he didn’t even know until now. He looked around for Eve. She was sitting at a table on the other side of the room with various sheets of paper gathered around her. He hopped onto Dynamo and zipped across the room, stopping just before the table, “Whatcha doing?”

“I’m working,” Eve answered simply without looking up.

Add looked around at the papers. They looked like designs but he hadn’t seen any of them before. He glanced at Eve, “How come you have all of these but no new friends?”

Eve looked at him, her eyes widened slightly in surprise but her expression quickly cleared. She explained calmly, “I am unwilling to create more Nasods than I can take care of and currently that means that I won’t be building any more.”

“Well that’s no fun,” Add muttered under his breath.

“I suppose,” Eve shrugged. “However, it’s less fun for something to happen to them because I can’t protect them.”

“I can help!”

“Thank you for the offer, but that is my responsibility.”

Add sulked. He stuck his tongue out at her, “Okay…” He quickly got bored and returned to looking around. She had an alchemy lab and a corner of her lab was filled with all sorts of weird magical stuff. He glanced back at her, “Why all the magic stuff?”

“I lend my lab to Aisha occasionally. She’s developing her own form of magic.”

Add frowned. That seemed dumb. Why bother making her own form of magic when there were already too many versions of it anyway? He wandered back to the alchemy lab and looked it over. It appeared to be operating almost independently. “What’s it doing?” He reached out to touch it.

“Please don’t touch anything in here,” Eve told him before she answered his question. “It’s analyzing various chemicals for their properties and potential uses.”

“Huh.” Add pulled his hand away but continued to watch it. After a few moments he got bored again and wandered back over to the shelves. There was a soft whirring noise coming from one that caught his attention almost immediately. Dynamo located it as something on one of the top shelves near the back. He stood on Dynamo and made sure to be very gentle moving stuff around so he could find it. Eve would no doubt be angry with him if he broke something, by accident or not.

“Add.”

“Yeah?” Add turned to look at Eve.

“I thought I-”

“Oh shit!” Add dropped off Dynamo quickly and shoved his hands into his pockets, “You said not to touch anything!” He was so focused on finding the source of the noise that he completely forgot about that. He shuffled his feet, hoping she wouldn’t get mad at him.

Eve sighed, “Try to remember please.”

Add nodded vigorously, “I will!” He trotted back up to the table where she sat and sat on Dynamo next to her. “Are you making more designs?”

Eve remained silent for a moment, “I might. Currently I’m looking over some of the older ones to ensure they are brought up to date.”

Add laid his head on the table and watched her for what felt like a few hours at least but when he checked the time on Dynamo only ten minutes had passed. He groaned, got up, and wandered around again. There was a closet in the opposite corner of Aisha’s weird magic stuff so he wandered over to it and opened the door.

“Add, stay out of there.”

Add looked at Eve curiously, “What is it?”

“The water heater closet,” Eve answered.

Add looked into the closet. All he saw was another wall. Maybe there was a door somewhere. He had yet to see the water heater. Surely there was a more effective way to control the water temperatures than hiding an extra closet in Eve’s lab. He wandered into the closet and found another door. Before he could open it, however, Eve called from the first doorway, “Add, come here.”

“But-”

“Now, please.”

Add dragged his feet but followed her out of the closet. Eve made sure the door closed behind him. He sulked under the table Eve sat at, “I’m so bored.”

“I’m not keeping you here,” Eve was very calm.

“You’re not usually so boring,” Add muttered.

“It’s not my job to entertain you, Add. If this is so boring for you, then you are free to find something else to do. You have no one to blame but yourself should you choose not to.”

Add didn’t move, but when time continued to crawl at a snail’s pace, he looked around for something to do. He crawled out from under the table and left Eve’s lab to find Snowball. He found her watching the snow fall in his window. Add gathered her favorite toys and took her back to Eve’s lab.

“Please keep the cat off the shelves,” Eve told him the moment she saw Snowball.

Add nodded, “I will.” He set the cat down in the empty space in the middle of the room and played with her there.

[talldarkandroguesome]

16th of Second Seed, Turdas

The Council’s questioning was even more extreme then ever. I suppose having to be meek yesterday, they redoubled their ire before today’s session began.

I did not allow the Council to beat me down or put words into my mouth, no matter how hard they tried.

In the end, there was little I could do to defend myself. I was not allowed to make any statements on my behalf, only to answer the questions posed to me.

The session was offered an extension to continue for the day. Not once, but thrice. Each time the vote was to continue. Each time it passed successfully.

It was late in the evening by the time they finally drew their questions to a close.

There was a brief discussion before I was allowed to leave.

Then I was informed that voting and judgement would be made the next day. Sentencing, if necessary, to follow.

I do not know how to feel. Have I done all that I can to prove my honest work towards the goal set before me? What will I do if the order is for my execution? Surely Almalexia is aware that I lack my soul. Would she do something to see that I could not be brought back? Would she allow the priests to use the spells designated for funerary services to keep my from returning to the living? Might I simply cease to be?

There are too many unknowns, too many awful chances.

As soon as I was home, I sought my son. He was passed out asleep in the parlor on the cushions. Avon informed me that he had been playing games with Khes and started to fall asleep, but refused to go to his bed until I came home.

I scooped him up in my arms and carried him gently to bed.

Avon had been called away to Mother’s. They clearly had some sort of plan to work on. Hopefully some sort of argument to cement my freedom.

I went to the cellar and grabbed a large bottle of fortified wine and returned to my chambers. I went into my small lab, pulling out the various reagents and recipes for my potent poisons and most powerful cures.

I must have drank more quickly than I realized, for I tripped over one of the stools and knocked over a bunch of glass vials, luckily stoppered. In my grief, I simply laid down upon the bench of my alchemy table.

Tel came in and, in true Tel fashion, stood there like a lost guard and demanded to know if I was alright.

I told them I was working on boosting my immunity, that I refused to let Uncle get me. Tel just stared at me confused. So I explained, either Uncle’s fellows or Urtisa were behind all these attempts. They were trying to kill me. That they had likely paid off witnesses. Even if they weren’t working together, they were aiming for the same goal. There was a competition for my life going on! All wanted me dead.

Tel told me I was making no sense.

I was frustrated. Tel never understood the game. I told them as much. Told them how I have been seen as a House failure from the start. They only wanted an excuse, no matter how fragile, to erase me. I was worth most dead.

So Tel acts like a three year old Nord and wants me to recap the entire series of plots and plans and feuds of our House and my family.

I listed off everyone I knew wanted me dead, those I suspected. Half the bloody city, in truth. I explained the tortures that were likely to await me. The fate each group wished me to see.

Tel asked what I was doing.

I explained I was working on new medicines, making new poisons, mixing all the newest poisons into a single dose for my own resistance.

Horrified, Tel asked if I was taking poison.

I said, of course. After all, how can you build the immunity without?

Tel cast some fetching cured poison spell or another on me. Not only did it destroy all my hard work, it also sobered me up! I turned on them, screaming about how they had ruined hours of careful research and precise measurements. Not to mention the rare ingredients. All those hard to put together formulas.

Standing proudly before me Tel said they were not going to let me die on their watch.

I stared at them, half fuming, half incredulous. I told them in a voice that barely masked my rage, the floor hissing as cold stone met with the heat that was radiating off me, that I was building my immunity.

They tried to turn it back around me me, like I had been the one to make the mistake by not explaining it to them. As if I was to know that they could not draw conclusion from context.

Tel just stared at me, as if unsure what to do.

The energy I had dispersed, tired from anger and the previous effects of the drain from the poison, even though cured, I let myself fall to the floor. I picked up the empty bottle of wine and looked pitifully at its empty state. I told Tel I was too sober for all of this.

Tel leaned down at me and said that though they knew little of alchemy, they were pretty sure I should not be mixing them together.

I shook my head and told Tel that I was well informed on the altered affect of alcohol on these various poisons and their interactions. I had to be.

Tel simply crouched down and asked if there was anything they could do to help.

I asked Tel to get me into the bed and we worked together to move me into my silken sheets and the warm thick mattress. I pulled Tel down into the bed with me and immediately fell asleep.

I awoke this morning with a feeling of dread, all alone in my chambers. May the Three have mercy on my fate as I go to face judgement.

[sherristockman]

Vitamin C — A Game Changer in Treatment of Deadly Sepsis Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Each year, an estimated 1 million Americans get sepsis1,2 and up to half of them die as a result.3,4,5 Sepsis is a progressive disease process initiated by an aggressive, dysfunctional immune response to an infection in the bloodstream, which is why it's sometimes referred to as blood poisoning. While illnesses such as bronchitis, pneumonia, strep throat, kidney infection or even localized infections can turn septic, sepsis is most commonly acquired in hospital settings.6,7 Starting out with symptoms of infection, the condition can progress to septic shock, which may be lethal. Unless treated, sepsis can result in extremely low blood pressure that is unresponsive to fluid replacement, weakening of the heart and multiple-organ failure. Unfortunately, treatment can be a considerable challenge, and is becoming even more so as drug-resistant infections become more prevalent. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, sepsis is the most expensive condition being treated in U.S. hospitals, costing more than $24 billion in 2014.8 Critical Care Doctor Discovers Inexpensive Cure for Sepsis Earlier this year, news emerged about a critical care physician who claimed to have discovered a simple and inexpensive way to treat sepsis using intravenous (IV) vitamin C, thiamine (vitamin B-1) in combination with the steroid hydrocortisone9,10 — a discovery that may save tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year. Dr. Paul Marik, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in East Virginia, published a small retrospective before-after clinical study11,12,13 showing that giving septic patients this simple IV cocktail for two days reduced mortality nearly fivefold, from 40 percent to 8.5 percent. Of the 50 patients treated, only four died, but none of them actually died from sepsis; they died from their underlying disease. In all, Marik has treated more than 150 septic patients with this protocol so far, and only one has died from sepsis. More than 50 medical centers around the U.S. have also started implementing the protocol, with similarly spectacular results. This should be cause for celebration but, as usual, there are detractors and skeptics saying Marik's study is little more than fodder for hyperbole.14 Many doctors are also weary of using such a novel treatment.15 As noted by Smithsonian: "For many doctors, Marik's protocol represents a dilemma. There seem to be no ill effects. Yet, there are also no randomized clinical trials. Should they embrace an untested treatment?"16 It's an ironic question, if you consider many conventional medical treatments are still experimental at best. Flawed trials often promise more than can be delivered, and it can sometimes take years or even decades before the mistake is rectified. In this case, the chances of doing more harm than good are extremely low, so what is there to lose? Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where Marik works, has already made the protocol its standard of care for sepsis. The hospital president is considering making it standard of care in its other 12 hospitals as well. "Marik and others enthusiastic about the treatment agree with skeptics who say blind, randomized clinical trials need to be done to validate the treatment's efficacy. However, they also say that the dramatic results so far mean doctors should embrace the treatment in the meantime — an unorthodox proposition, to say the least," Smithsonian writes.17 "During an interview in his office, Marik called up Dr. Joseph Varon, a pulmonologist and researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. 'It does sound too good to be true,' Varon said over the phone. 'But my mortality rates have changed dramatically. It is unreal. Everything we have tried in the past didn't work. This works.'" How Does the Treatment Work? Vitamin C is well-known for its ability to prevent and treat infectious diseases. Previous research has shown it effectively lowers proinflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein.18,19,20 Influenza,21 encephalitis and measles22 have all been successfully treated with high-dose vitamin C. To investigate the mechanism of action for sepsis, Marik reached out to John Catravas, Ph.D., a pharmacology researcher at Old Dominion University. At Marik's request, Catravas performed an independent lab study, which confirmed the effectiveness of the treatment. Catravas cultured endothelial cells from lung tissue and then exposed them to endotoxins found in patients with sepsis. Interestingly, vitamin C acts like the steroid hydrocortisone, yet when either vitamin C or the steroid were administered in isolation, nothing happened. When administered together, however, the infection was successfully eradicated and the cells were restored to normal. The addition of thiamine is also important. Not only is thiamine required for metabolism of some of the metabolites of vitamin C, research has also shown many patients with sepsis are vitamin deficient, and when thiamine is given, it reduces the risk of renal failure and mortality. Studies have also shown thiamine can be helpful for a long list of diseases and disorders, including mitochondrial disorders,23 heart failure,24 delirium,25 thyroid fatigue and Hashimoto's (a thyroid autoimmune disorder).26 These and other health effects may help explain why thiamine works so well in conjunction with vitamin C and hydrocortisone for sepsis. In short, the key Marik intuitively stumbled upon was the right combination of ingredients. Nationwide Trial Underway Dr. Craig Coopersmith, a leading sepsis researcher at Emory University School of Medicine, is now planning a multicenter trial to put Marik's vitamin C protocol to the test across the nation. "If this is validated, this would be the single biggest breakthrough in sepsis care in my lifetime," he told Smithsonian.27 Results from his field trial cannot come soon enough, as current best practices are ineffective at best. For example, recent research shows the standard calling for rapid and substantial infusion of IV fluids have no effect on survival rates,28 and previous guidelines calling for the use of a specific drug turned out to do more harm than good.29 In short, there are few good alternatives available, making Marik's treatment protocol all the more crucial. Sepsis kills more than breast cancer, colon cancer and AIDS combined, and here's a treatment that is not only profoundly effective, but also has no side effects, is inexpensive, readily available and simple to administer. Patients and doctors really have nothing to lose by trying it, but to make it standard of care across the U.S., more evidence is needed. Potential Contraindication While vitamin C and thiamine administration is incredibly safe, it may be contraindicated if you happen to be glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient, which is a genetic disorder.30 G6PD is an enzyme your red blood cells need to maintain membrane integrity. High-dose IV vitamin C is a strong prooxidant, and giving a prooxidant to a G6PD-deficient individual can cause their red blood cells to rupture, which could have disastrous consequences. Fortunately, G6PC deficiency is relatively uncommon, and can be tested for. People of Mediterranean and African descent are at greater risk of being G6PC deficient. Worldwide, G6PD deficiency is thought to affect 400 million individuals, and in the U.S. an estimated 1 in 10 African-American males have it.31 Vitamin C and Antibiotics — A Winning Combo Against Cancer Stem Cells Studies have also shown vitamin C can be used as an adjunct to cancer therapy. Vitamin C is selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells by generating hydrogen peroxide when administered intravenously in high doses, and recent research suggests vitamin C in combination with antibiotics helps kill cancer stem cells — cancer cells responsible for metastasis of lethal tumors. Here, researchers at the University of Salford in the U.K. used the antibiotic Doxycycline, followed by IV vitamin C and, again, it's all about the combination. It's well-known that that cancer cells can survive chemotherapy and develop resistance to the drug. The study in question was designed to determine how this occurs. They suspected the answer cold be found in metabolically flexible cancer cells — in other words, cells capable of switching from one fuel source to another. Science Daily reports:32 "The researchers say their method offers a new explanation for how to prevent cancer cells from becoming treatment-resistant and how combinations therapies can be developed to overcome drug resistance. Professor Michael Lisanti, who designed the study, explained … 'Thus, when the drug treatment reduces the availability of a particular nutrient, the flexible cancer cells can feed themselves with an alternative energy source.' This new combination approach prevents cancer cells from changing their diet (metabolically inflexible), and effectively starves them, by preventing them from using any other available types of biofuels. The team … added Doxycycline in ever increasing doses over a three-month period, to induce metabolic inflexibility. The result was to leave the cancer cells … severely attenuated and depleted, so that they would be much more susceptible to starvation, by a second metabolic "punch." First, the researchers inhibited the tumor cell mitochondria, by restricting the cancer cells only to glucose as a fuel source; then, they took away their glucose, effectively starving the cancer cells to death. 'In this scenario, vitamin C behaves as an inhibitor of glycolysis, which fuels energy production in mitochondria, the 'powerhouse' of the cell,' explained co-author Dr. Federica Sotgia." Vitamin C Is an Excellent Emergency Kit Staple Vitamin C by itself outperformed 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG, a glycolytic inhibitor33) by as much as 10 times when it came to preventing cancer cell growth. When combined with an antibiotic, the treatment is nearly 100 times more effective. Best of all, while antibiotics do have health risks (since they decimate your gut microbiome), antibiotics and vitamin C are far safer than most cancer drugs, dramatically reducing a patient's risk of adverse treatment effects. The team also identified eight additional products that can be used in lieu of vitamin C, including berberine — a natural plant compound shown to work as well as metformin for diabetes. As noted by Lisanti, "This is further evidence that vitamin C and other nontoxic compounds may have a role to play in the fight against cancer." Indeed, while I do not recommend taking high doses of vitamin C on a daily basis, I'm absolutely convinced it is a key staple that belongs in everyone's home emergency kit. In cases of acute illness, I recommend taking 2 to 3 grams of vitamin C per HOUR until you feel better. Note that most people will get loose stools with conventional oral vitamin C, which is why the vitamin C should be liposomal. This prevents the loose stools and provides blood levels similar to IV vitamin C without the expense or inconvenience. In my experience, this high dose liposomal C every hour will typically reverse acute illnesses within 24 hours or so. Just make sure it is liposomal vitamin C. I always travel with a bottle of this and regularly give it away to clinicians I see who have come down with an acute infection. For general health, it's fairly easy to get sufficient amounts of vitamin C from food, so supplements are usually not necessary. I grow acerola cherries, which are particularly high in vitamin C. Each cherry provides about 80 mg of vitamin C. I will sometimes eat up to 100 cherries a day, giving me about 8 grams of vitamin C — far above the recommended daily intake of 90 mg/day. Still, if I were to become ill, I would not hesitate to take high doses of vitamin C, including the use of IV vitamin C if the situation were sufficiently dire — although I would start with hourly high dose liposomal C as I think it would work just as well, and only progress to IV if the high dose liposomal C was not working. In the case of sepsis, I think using IV vitamin C with thiamine and hydrocortisone makes a world of sense, especially since the risks are virtually nonexistent. Common Sense Strategies to Reduce Your Risk of Sepsis With sepsis affecting more than a million Americans each year, it's important to be aware of its signs, symptoms and risks. Part of what makes it so deadly is that people typically do not suspect it, and the longer you wait to treat it, the deadlier it gets.34 Even health care workers can miss the signs and delay treatment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you're at higher risk for sepsis if you have: Chronic disease. A vast majority — 7 out of 10 — of people who develop sepsis have some kind of chronic health condition. Those with diabetes, lung, kidney or liver disease tend to be particularly susceptible to infection, which raises the risk. Weakened immune system, AIDS or cancer. Recently spent time in a hospital, nursing home or other health care facility, as exposure to infection-causing bacteria is common in these places. While health care workers have a responsibility to prevent infections that could potentially turn septic and to educate patients about warning signs of sepsis, you can lower your own risk by: • Promptly treating urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs are the second most common type of infection in the body, sending more than 8 million people to their health care providers every year in the U.S. alone,35 and one-quarter of sepsis cases are related to urinary tract infections. Conventional treatment typically involves antibiotics, but research shows 90 percent of UTIs can be successfully treated with D-Mannose, a naturally occurring sugar that's closely related to glucose. To learn more, see "D-Mannose for UTI Prevention Validated in a Clinical Trial." • Properly clean skin wounds. About 1 in 10 sepsis cases are due to skin infections, so always take the time to properly clean and care for wounds and scrapes. Wash the wound with mild soap and water to clean out dirt and debris, then cover with a sterile bandage. Diabetics should follow good foot care to avoid dangerous foot infections. • Avoid infections in hospitals. When visiting a health care facility, be sure to wash your own hands, and remind doctors and nurses to wash theirs (and/or change gloves) before touching you or any equipment being used on you. If you have to undergo a colonoscopy or other testing using a flexible medical scope, remember to call and ask how they clean their scopes and what kind of cleaning solution they use. If the answer is glutaraldehyde (brand name Cidex), find another hospital or clinic — one that uses peracetic acid. This preliminary legwork will significantly decrease your risk of contracting an infection from a contaminated scope.