measured by the time they developed signs of scurvy. These studies both reported that all obvious symptoms of scurvy could be completely reversed by supplementation of only 10 mg a day. People in sepsis or septic shock may have micronutrient deficiencies, including low levels of vitamin C. Medical uses Vitamin C has a definitive role in treating scurvy, which is a disease caused by vitaminC deficiency. Beyond that, a role for vitaminC as prevention or treatment for various diseases is disputed, with reviews reporting conflicting results. A 2012 Cochrane review reported no effect of vitaminC supplementation on overall mortality. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Scurvy The disease scurvy is caused by vitaminC deficiency and can be prevented and treated with vitaminC-containing foods or dietary supplements. It takes at least a month of little to no vitaminC before symptoms occur. Early symptoms are malaise and lethargy, progressing to shortness of breath, bone pain, bleeding gums, susceptibility to bruising, poor wound healing, and finally fever, convulsions and eventual death. Until quite late in the disease the damage is reversible, as healthy collagen replaces the defective collagen with vitaminC repletion. Treatment can be oral supplementation of the vitamin or by intramuscular or intravenous injection. Scurvy was known to Hippocrates in the classical era. The disease was shown to be prevented by citrus fruits in an early controlled trial by a Royal Navy surgeon, James Lind, in 1747, on board HMS Salisbury. From 1796 onward, lemon juice was issued to all Royal Navy crewmen. Common cold Research on vitaminC in the common cold has been divided into effects on prevention, duration, and severity. A Cochrane review which looked at at least 200 mg/day concluded that vitaminC taken on a regular basis was not effective in prevention of the common cold. Restricting analysis to trials that used at least 1000 mg/day also saw no prevention benefit. However, taking vitaminC on a regular basis did reduce the average duration by 8% in adults and 14% in children, and also reduced severity of colds. A subset of trials in adults reported that supplementation reduced the incidence of colds by half in marathon runners, skiers, or soldiers in subarctic conditions. Another subset of trials looked at therapeutic use, meaning that vitaminC was not started unless the people started to feel the beginnings of a cold. In these, vitaminC did not affect duration