Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an antioxidant Vitamin. Historically, it is most famous for its ability to prevent the deficiency disease known as scurvy. We all know the story of the British sailors who improved when given oranges and lemons. (James Lind: A Treatise of the Scurvy, 1753).
More recently, high dose Vitamin C has been of interest as a possible supplement for use in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Linus Pauling developed a theory of the preventive role of Vitamin C in heart disease. (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1990; 87:9388).
A variety of other claims have also been made for Vitamin C. For example, in 1992, The Journal of Epidemiology reported that people with high blood levels of Vitamin C live 6 years longer than those who have lower levels.
However, a recent study of patients with coronary disease reported that high doses of antioxidant Vitamins did not reverse coronary artery narrowing or improve cholesterol levels and actually reduced the beneficial effects of drugs on HDL ("good") cholesterol. (N Engl J Med, 2001; 345:1583).