Misplaced Pages

Orthomolecular psychiatry: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 19:30, 12 January 2008 editWLU (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers52,243 edits →Criticisms: retitled, added citation← Previous edit Latest revision as of 14:12, 12 September 2024 edit undoCitation bot (talk | contribs)Bots5,418,085 edits Removed parameters. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Neko-chan | #UCB_webform 466/500 
(503 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{for|the journal formerly titled ''Orthomolecular Psychiatry''|Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine}}
⚫ '''Orthomolecular psychiatry''' is a branch of ] whose proponents claim that ]s and other treatments can be effective in treating ]. The approach uses individualized testing and diagnosis to establish an ] for each patient's specific ]s, and tailors the treatment accordingly using a combination of nutrients, dietary changes and ]s to enhance quality of life and reduce symptoms.


⚫ '''Orthomolecular psychiatry''' is the use of ] for ]. Orthomolecular psychiatry has been rejected by evidence-based medicine and has been called quackery. The approach uses unorthodox forms of individualized testing and diagnosis to attempt to establish an ] for each patient's specific ]s, and claims to tailor the treatment accordingly, using a combination of nutrients, dietary changes and ]s that are claimed to enhance quality of life and functionality as well as to reduce or eliminate symptoms and the use of ] drugs. Scientific studies have shown mixed results; although there are some promising results from ], some forms of orthomolecular psychiatry are ineffective.
The origins of orthomolecular psychiatry date to the 1920s, and the work of ] in the 1950s established the orthodoxy of the field. In 1973, a task force of the ] examined and rejected the practice and it has been considered an ] since that time. The methods and conclusions of used by the APA to reject orthomolecular psychiatry have been challenged, rejected and strongly criticized by proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry for being politically motivated and scientifically unfounded. Current scientific research supports some of the theories advanced by orthomolecular psychiatrists.


== History == ==History==
Orthomolecular psychiatry began with ] and ] in the 1950s and was continued by ],<ref name=CarlPheifferBio>{{cite web |last=Saul |first=AW |author2=Jolliffe M |author3=Hoffer A |title=Bibliography of the Publications of Carl Pfeiffer, MD, PhD |url= http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_pfeiffer_ed.html |publisher=doctoryourself.com |access-date=2007-04-19}}</ref> although proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry say that the ideas behind their approach can be traced back to the 1920s and '30s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Reiter |first=PJ |title=Behandlung von Dementia Praecox mit metallsalzen. Mangan. Z |journal= Neur |volume=108 |pages=464–80 |year=1927 |doi=10.1007/bf02863975}} as cited in {{cite journal |last1=Pfeiffer |first1=C |last2=LaMola |first2=S |title=Zinc and Manganese in the Schizophrenias |journal= Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry |volume=12 |issue=3 |year=1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kay Lily E |title=The molecular vision of life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the rise of the new biology |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-19-511143-9}}</ref> Orthomolecular psychiatry's goal of weaning patients from conventional neuroleptic drugs<ref name=Edelman/> follows "Pfeiffer's Law", "For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect".<ref>{{cite book |last=Barney |first=Paul |title=Doctor's guide to natural medicine |publisher=Woodland |location=Pleasant Grove, Utah |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-885670-84-7}}</ref> In 1968, ] first used the term ''orthomolecular''.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pauling L |title=Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease |journal=] |volume=160 |issue=3825 |pages=265–71 |year=1968 |pmid=5641253 |url=http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/MM/B/B/J/Q/_/mmbbjq.pdf |doi=10.1126/science.160.3825.265 |bibcode=1968Sci...160..265P|s2cid=20153555 }}</ref><ref name=Pauling2>{{cite book |author2=Hawkins, D |last=Pauling |first=Linus |author-link=Linus Pauling |title=Orthomolecular psychiatry: treatment of schizophrenia |publisher=W.H. Freeman |location=San Francisco |year= 1973 |isbn=978-0-7167-0898-8 |page=697}}</ref>


Hoffer's therapies focused on using ], among other nutrients, to treat what he diagnosed as acute ] based on an unaccepted test. In 1973, a task force of the ] examined niacin monotherapy of patient populations with chronic schizophrenia and ] and rejected the practice along with the reliability of Hoffer's diagnostic approach.<ref name=Menolascino>{{cite journal |vauthors=Menolascino FJ, Donaldson JY, Gallagher TF, Golden CJ, Wilson JE |title=Orthomolecular therapy: its history and applicability to psychiatric disorders |journal=Child Psychiatry Hum Dev |volume= 18 |issue=3 |pages=133–50 |year=1988 |pmid=2898324 |doi=10.1007/BF00709727|s2cid=38354755 }}</ref>
The origins of orthomolecular psychiatry can be traced to as early as 1927.<ref>Reiter PJ: Behandlung von Dementia Praecox mit metallsalzen. Mangan. Z. Neur., 108:464-480, 1927 As quoted in Carl C. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., M.D. and Scott LaMola, B.S. Zinc and Manganese in the Schizophrenias, Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1983</ref> Orthomolecular psychiatry ''per se'' is, however, generally accepted to have begun in the 1950s with the work of ] and Humphry Osmond in Canada. Later proponents include ], ]<ref></ref> and ].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pauling L |title=Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease |journal=Science |volume=160 |issue=825 |pages=265–71 |year=1968 |pmid=5641253 |doi=| url = http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/MM/B/B/J/Q/_/mmbbjq.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Pauling2">{{cite book |coauthors=Hawkins, D | last = Pauling | first = L | authorlink = Linus Pauling |title=Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia |publisher=Freeman |location= San Francisco |year= 1973 |pages= 697|isbn=??}}</ref>


The earliest assertions by proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry were rejected in 1973 by a panel of the ],<ref name="Pauling">{{cite journal |author=Pauling L, Wyatt RJ, Klein DF, Lipton MA |title=On the orthomolecular environment of the mind: orthomolecular theory |journal=The American journal of psychiatry |volume=131 |issue=11 |pages=1251-67 |year=1974 |pmid=4608217 |doi=}}</ref> which instead used its own broader defined, different methodologies which included many patients who were subsequently recognized in conventional psychiatry to have had different psychiatric conditions.<ref name="Beersheva"/> Orthomolecular psychiatry subsequently found scant support in mainstream psychiatry and is currently considered an invalid form of treatment.<ref name=QW>{{cite web | url = http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html | title = Orthomolecular Therapy | last = Barrett M.D.| first = Stephen | authorlink = Stephen Barrett | publisher = ] | date = 2000-07-12 | accessdate = 2008-01-02 }}</ref> The assertions by proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry were rejected in 1973 by a panel of the ].<ref name=Menolascino/><ref name=Pauling>{{cite journal |vauthors=Pauling L, Wyatt RJ, Klein DF, Lipton MA |title=On the orthomolecular environment of the mind: orthomolecular theory |journal=American Journal of Psychiatry |volume= 131 |issue=11 |pages=1251–67 |year=1974 |pmid=4608217|doi=10.1176/ajp.131.11.1251|url=https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.131.11.1251}}</ref><ref name=NIMHtrial>{{cite web |title=Treatment of acute schizophrenia with vitamin therapy |url=http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00140166?show_desc=Y#desc |publisher=Clinicaltrials.gov |date=2005-08-31 |last=Lerner |first=V |access-date=2008-01-15}}</ref> However, the underpinning ideas of orthomolecular psychiatry have become popular in alternative medical circles as a means to explain conditions such as ], ], and chronic inflammatory disease. After 1975, orthomolecular psychiatry research was primarily reported in ''Orthomolecular Psychiatry'', now the '']'', a publication founded by Hoffer to counter what he considered to be a medical conspiracy against his ideas.<ref name=history>{{cite journal |author=Hoffer, Abram |title=The History of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine |journal=J Orthomol Med |url=http://www.orthomed.org/jom/jomhistory.html |access-date=2011-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520122017/http://orthomed.org/jom/jomhistory.html |archive-date=2011-05-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


== Diagnosis == ==Diagnosis==
Proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry claim to have identified the causes of some psychiatric syndromes, in particular of those that cause ]; testing for these causes guides diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic measures and therapies commonly employed include individual biochemical workup, ], identifying ], dietary changes, ], ], and other pharmacologic nutrients.<ref name = Edelman/> Proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry claim to have identified the causes of some psychiatric syndromes, in particular those that cause ]; according to orthomolecular proponents, testing for these causes guides diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic measures and therapies commonly employed include "individual biochemical workup", ], identifying suggested ], dietary changes, ], ]s, and other so-called "pharmacologic nutrients".<ref name=Edelman>{{cite book |author= Edelman Eva |title=Natural Healing for Schizophrenia: And Other Common Mental Disorders |publisher=Borage Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-9650976-7-3}}</ref> These diagnoses have not been accepted by mainstream medicine.<ref name=QW/>

==Treatment==
Treatment generally involves the administration of the 'right' substances (''ortho'' meaning ''right'' in ]); generally this involves administration of high doses of ]s, ]s and other substances already produced or required by the body. Orthomolecular psychiatrists do not categorically refuse to prescribe psychotropic medications; antipsychotics are often used to stabilize a patient, and anti-epileptics, dilantin in particular, are occasionally used to treat histadelia.<ref name = Edelman/> Not infrequently, the improvements orthomolecular psychiatrists can adduce are sufficient to allow patients to reduce, but not eliminate, their reliance on conventional psychotropics.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}

Orthomolecular methods have been claimed as effective in treating ],<ref name = Warren>{{cite book |author=Warren, Tom |title=Beating Alzheimer's: a step towards unlocking the mysteries of brain diseases |publisher=Avery Pub. Group |location=Wayne, N.J |year=1991 |pages= |isbn=0-89529-488-5 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> ],<ref name = Warren/> ],<ref>{{cite journal| url = http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1999/abstracts/1999-v14n01-p028.shtml | title = The adverse effects of manganese deficiency on reproduction and health: A literature review | first = Tuula | last = Tuormaa | journal = J Orthomolecular Med | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | year = 1996 | accessdate = 2007-12-18}}</ref> ], ],<ref name = Edelman/> ] and some of its sub-types.<ref name = ABCHoffer>{{cite book |author=Hoffer, Abram |title=Dr. Hoffer's ABC of Natural Nutrition for Children: With Learning Disabilities, Behavioral Disorders, and Mental State Dysfunctions |publisher=Quarry press |location= |year=1999 |pages= |isbn=1550821857 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>


==Specific conditions== ==Specific conditions==
Orthomolecularists claim that the causes of psychotic disorders include ], ], ] in the presence of normal thyroid values, ] intoxications including those allegedly due to ], as well as several hypothesised conditions they call ''pyroluria'', ''histadelia'' and ''histapenia''.<ref name=Edelman/>
===Schizophrenia===


===Pyroluria===
According to orthomolecular psychiatry, the causes of psychotic disorders include ], histadelia (elevated histamine and basophiles), histapenia with high serum copper (low histamine with high copper), ], ], ] in the presence of normal thyroid values, ] intoxications, as well as other rarer conditions.<ref name = Edelman>{{cite book |author=Eva Edelman |title=Natural Healing for Schizophrenia: And Other Common Mental Disorders |publisher=Borage Books |location= |date=2001 |pages= |isbn=0-9650976-7-6 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> <!-- This clearly belongs in the psychotic disorders -->
''Pyroluria'' (or ''malvaria'' from the term ''mauve factor'') involves hypothetical excessive levels of ]s in the body resulting from improper hemoglobin synthesis.<ref name=LaPerchia>{{Cite journal| pmid = 2963502| year = 1987| last1 = Laperchia | first1 = P.| title = Behavioral disorders, learning disabilities and megavitamin therapy| volume = 22| issue = 87| pages = 729–738| journal = Adolescence}}</ref> ] believed that pyroluria is a form of ] ], similar to ] where both ]s and ]s are excreted in the ] to an excessive degree.<ref name=NH>{{cite web |title=Pyroluria |publisher=nutritional-healing.com |url=http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/articles-content.php?heading=Pyroluria |access-date=2008-02-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226083527/http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/articles-content.php?heading=Pyroluria |archive-date=2008-02-26 }}</ref> and orthomolecular psychiatrists have alleged that pyroluria is related to diagnoses of ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Urinary Pyrrole">{{cite journal |author1=Jackson James A |author2-link=Hugh D Riordan |author2=Riordan Hugh D |author3=Neathery Sharon |author4=Riordan Neil H |url=http://www.orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1997/pdf/1997-v12n02-p096.pdf |title=Urinary pyrrole in health and disease |journal=The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine |volume=12 |issue=2nd Quarter |year=1997 |pages=96–8 |access-date=2008-02-17}}</ref> Pfeiffer's methods have not been rigorously tested,<ref name=Skertic>{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Skertic |title=For some, a question of balancing nutrients |publisher=SunTimes.com |date=April 21, 2002}} Available at Retrieved on 2008-02-17</ref> and pyrroles are not considered to be related to schizophrenia. Studies have either failed to detect hemopyrrole and kryptopyrrole in the urine of normal controls and schizophrenics, or found no correlation between these chemicals and mental illness.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Holman, Paul |url=http://www.acnem.org/journal/pdf_files/14-1_july_1995/14-1_pyridoxine-vitamin_b6.pdf |title=Pyridoxine - Vitamin B-6 |journal=Journal of Australian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine |volume=14 |issue=1 |date=July 1995 |pages=5–16 |access-date=2007-04-19 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070508011442/http://www.acnem.org/journal/pdf_files/14-1_july_1995/14-1_pyridoxine-vitamin_b6.pdf |archive-date = 2007-05-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| pmid = 696910| year = 1978| last1 = Cruz| first1 = R| last2 = Vogel| first2 = WH| title = Pyroluria: a poor marker in chronic schizophrenia| volume = 135| issue = 10| pages = 1239–40| journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry| doi = 10.1176/ajp.135.10.1239 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| pmid = 627053| year = 1978| last1 = Gendler| first1 = PL| last2 = Duhan| first2 = HA| last3 = Rapoport| first3 = H| title = Hemopyrrole and kryptopyrrole are absent from the urine of schizophrenics and normal persons| volume = 24| issue = 2| pages = 230–3| journal = Clinical Chemistry| doi = 10.1093/clinchem/24.2.230}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| pmid = 1120177| year = 1975| last1 = Jacobson| first1 = SJ| last2 = Rapoport| first2 = H| last3 = Ellman| first3 = GL| title = The nonoccurrence of hemo- and kryptopyrrole in urine of schizophrenics| volume = 10| issue = 1| pages = 91–3| journal = Biological Psychiatry}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| pmid = 7428279| year = 1980| last1 = Gorchein| first1 = A| title = Urine concentration of 3-ethyl-5-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-delta 3-pyrrolin-2-one ('mauve factor') is not causally related to schizophrenia or to acute intermittent porphyria| volume = 58| issue = 6| pages = 469–76| journal = Clinical Science| doi=10.1042/cs0580469}}</ref><ref name="pmid10197889">{{Cite journal| pmid = 10197889| year = 1999| last1 = Vaughan | first1 = K.| last2 = McConaghy | first2 = N.| title = Megavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia: a randomised, controlled trial| volume = 33| issue = 1| pages = 84–88| journal = The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry| doi = 10.1046/j.1440-1614.1999.00527.x| s2cid = 38857700}}</ref> Few, if any, medical experts regard the condition as genuine, and few or no articles on pyroluria are found in modern medical literature;<ref>{{cite web |last=National Library for Health |title=What is pyroluria, is it an accepted clinical entity and what are the treatment? |date=2005-10-05 |url=http://www.clinicalanswers.nhs.uk/index.cfm?question=1208 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070211000315/http://www.clinicalanswers.nhs.uk/index.cfm?question=1208 |archive-date = 2007-02-11}}</ref> the approach is described as "snake oil" by pediatrician and author Julian Haber.<ref name=Skertic/>

Hoffer and Osmond developed and used the "Hoffer-Osmond Diagnostic test" of perception, their biochemical research as available in the 1950s and 1960s, and length of illness, acute vs. chronic, to identify, differentiate and monitor schizophrenic patients' progress, with more specific classifications in schizophrenia for orthomolecular treatment than the then accepted, broader classifications of the schizophrenizas.<!-- USED CURRENTLY? SHOULD THIS BE DISCUSSED IN HISTORY, THEN MENTIONED HERE AS JUST THE HOD? --><!-- The use of the ] to evaluate patients is also being explored.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ness-foundation.org.uk/Niacin-Abnormalities.htm | title = Niacin Abnormalities | publisher = The Ness Foundation}}; {{dlw| url = http://www.ness-foundation.org.uk/Niacin-Abnormalities.html |date=20050309011253}}</ref> GIVEN THAT THIS IS A 2005 CACHE PAGE, IT'S DUBIOUS TO USE 'IS' - RESULTS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE NOW--> Many orthomolecular physicians still prescribe an initial course of ]s for ] patients with the long-term goal returning patients to health, and avoiding antipsychotics due to their ]. Orthomolecular psychiatry's goal of weaning patients from conventional neuroleptic drugs<ref name = Edelman/> follows '] Law', "For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect".<ref>{{cite book |author=Paul Barney |title=Doctor's Guide to Natural Medicine: The Complete and Easy-To-Use Natural Health Reference from a Medical Doctor's Perspective |publisher=Woodland Publishing |location=Pleasant Grove, UT |year= |pages= |isbn=1-885670-84-2 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>

Megavitamin and dietary therapy to treat schizophrenia was tested in 1999 and found to be effective at increasing serum levels of vitamins, but did not show any impact on symptoms of schizophrenia.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Vaughan K, McConaghy N |title=Megavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia: a randomised, controlled trial |journal=Aust N Z J Psychiatry |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=84–8 |year=1999 |pmid=10197889 |doi=}}</ref>

===Bipolar disorder===
]s have been demonstrated to assist in treating ],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Stoll AL, Locke CA, Marangell LB, Severus WE |title=Omega-3 fatty acids and bipolar disorder: a review |journal=Prostaglandins Leukot. Essent. Fatty Acids |volume=60 |issue=5-6 |pages=329–37 |year=1999 |pmid=10471117 |doi=}}</ref> in keeping with orthomolecular psychiatry's assertion that foods can be used to treat mental illness. Omega fatty acids also show promise or use in treating many other conditions.<ref name = Kidd>{{cite journal |author=Kidd PM |title=Omega-3 DHA and EPA for cognition, behavior, and mood: clinical findings and structural-functional synergies with cell membrane phospholipids |journal=Altern Med Rev |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=207–27 |year=2007 |pmid=18072818 |doi=}}</ref>

===Depression===

The orthomolecular treatment of depression generally consists of treating histadelia, which can cause depression without psychosis, with methionine, or augmenting other aminoacid imbalances.

] and coenzyme ] have been found to be effective in treating some forms of depression, as Pfeiffer and others report.<ref name = Pfeiffer>{{cite book |author=Pfeiffer, Carl C. |title=Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry |publisher=Healing Art Press |location= |year= |pages= |isbn=0-89281-226-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Kagan BL, Sultzer DL, Rosenlicht N, Gerner RH |title=Oral S-adenosylmethionine in depression: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial |journal=Am J Psychiatry |volume=147 |issue=5 |pages=591–5 |year=1990 |pmid=2183633 |doi=| url = http://www.ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/147/5/591| accessdate = 2007-02-16 }}
</ref><ref>{{ cite journal |author=Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Falk WE, ''et al'' |title=The antidepressant potential of oral S-adenosyl-l-methionine |journal=Acta Psychiatr Scand |volume=81 |issue=5 |pages=432–6 |year=1990 |pmid=2113347 |doi=}}</ref> One paper in the ] reported that methionine in the form of S-adenosylmethionine was as effective as conventional antidepressants, and linked depression to a disorder of ],<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite journal |author=Reynolds EH, Carney MW, Toone BK |title=Methylation and mood |journal=Lancet |volume=2 |issue=8396 |pages=196–8 |year=1984 |pmid=6146753 |doi=}}</ref> one of Pfeiffer's theses.<ref name = Edelman/>

The amino acid ], a precursor of ], is also used to treat some forms of depression; very significant differences were found between plasma tryptophan levels in patients suffering from depression and healthy controls.<ref name="Breverman">{{cite book |coauthors=Breverman MD ER | last = Pfeiffer MD PhD | first = Carl | authorlink = Carl Pfeiffer |title=The Healing Nutrients Within |publisher=Basic Health Publications |location= San Francisco |year= 2003|pages= 448|isbn=1591200377}} </ref> There are reports that tryptophan is effective in the treatment of mania.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Chouinard G et al |title=A controlled clinical trial of L-tryptophan in acute mania. |journal=Biol Psychiatry |volume=20|issue=5 |pages=546-57 |year=1985|pmid=10471117 |doi=}}</ref> Mainstream psychiatry often treats depression with ]s.

==Treatment centers==
Currently, orthomoleculary psychiatry continues to be investigated by a small number of researchers. The ] is dedicated to the research and use of orthomolecular psychiatry in the treatment of ], ], ], and violent criminal behavior.

⚫ == Relationship to mainstream psychiatry ==
⚫ Orthomolecular psychiatry is has been rejected by the mainstream medical community, as has the use of dietary interventions to treat psychological health.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Miller M |title=Diet and psychological health |journal=Altern Ther Health Med |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=40–8 |year=1996 |pmid=8795935 |doi=}}</ref> Critics have noted that the claims advanced by its proponents are considered unsubstantiated, and even false, by conventional psychiatry. Authoritative bodies such as the National Institute of Mental Health<ref name = QW>{{cite web | url = http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html | title = Orthomolecular Therapy | last = Barrett M.D.| first = Stephen | authorlink = Stephen Barrett | publisher = ] |date=2000-07-12 | accessdate = 2008-01-02 }}</ref> and American Academy of Pediatrics<ref>{{cite web | url = http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/5/707 | title = Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation in Down's Syndrome | first = Forrest C. | last = Bennett | accessdate = 2007-02-13}}</ref> have criticized orthomolecular treatments as ineffective and potentially toxic.

⚫ A 1973 task force of the American Psychiatric Association charged with investigating orthomolecular claims, but instead focused on niacin monotherapeutically<ref name="Pauling"/> (the earliest version of treatment, ca. 1952) for a different kind of patient population, unanimously concluded:
<blockquote>This review and critique has carefully examined the literature produced by megavitamin proponents and by those who have attempted to replicate their basic and clinical work. It concludes in this regard that the credibility of the megavitamin proponents is low. Their credibility is further diminished by a consistent refusal over the past decade to perform controlled experiments and to report their new results in a scientifically acceptable fashion.

⚫ Under these circumstances this Task Force considers the massive publicity which they promulgate via radio, the lay press and popular books, using catch phrases which are really misnomers like "megavitamin therapy" and "orthomolecular treatment," to be deplorable.<ref>{{citation | author = Lipton M et al. | title = Task Force Report on Megavitamin and Orthomolecular Therapy in Psychiatry | location = ] | year = 1973 | publisher = ]}}; as cited in {{cite web | url = http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html | title = Orthomolecular Therapy | last = Barrett M.D.| first = Stephen | authorlink = Stephen Barrett | publisher = ] | date = 2000-07-12 | accessdate = 2008-01-02 }}</ref></blockquote>

A study of the effectiveness of an orthomolecular treatment for acute schizophrenia began in 2005, attempting to adequately address the failings of previous APA studies to use an appropriate treatment group and intervention. <blockquote>Controlled studies using the orthomolecular approach have been few. Those that were done were performed in chronic schizophrenia or in populations that included bipolar and schizoaffective patients. Both of these diagnostic groups are not today considered to benefit from the orthomolecular approach. Moreover, some negative studies of high-dose niacin were done in patients who were not otherwise given general counseling for good diet.";<ref name="Beersheva">{{cite web | title = Treatment of Acute Schizophrenia With Vitamin Therapy | url = http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00140166;jsessionid=B752ABAB3127A0E34C6EEFF5F0D3ABCE?order=46 | source = Beersheva Mental Health Center | year = 2005}}</ref> compared with a basic, modern orthomolecular regimen.</blockquote>

Proponents consider the 1973 APA task force report error laden with sweeping, scientifically unfounded conclusions,<ref name="Pauling"/> highly politicized, and that its studies failed to use similar methods, materials and subjects as the original work.<ref name = MVT>{{cite web | url = http://www.iahf.com/orthomolecular/reply_to_apa_tfr_7.pdf | title = Megavitamin Therapy In Reply To Task Force Report on Megavitamin and Orthomolecular Therapy in Psychiatry | source = Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation | year = 1976}}</ref> The APA report's criticism alleges inadequate controlled trials because ] quit running additional blinded tests that he had come to view as unethical for his patients, especially since the results of his previous double blinded tests went unheeded.<ref>{{cite book | first = Abram | last = Hoffer | title = Adventures in Psychiatry: The Scientific Memoirs of Dr. Abram Hoffer | publisher = KOS Publishing | location = Toronto | year = 2005}} </ref> The APA's assertion is made despite Hoffer's claim to have run the first double blind controlled test in psychiatry, on megavitamin therapies, with a total four double blinded tests, up to 19 years before the APA task force report, as well as being supported by two independent double blinded tests
<ref name = witten>{{cite journal |author=Wittenborn JR, Weber ES, Brown M |title=Niacin in the long-term treatment of schizophrenia |journal=Arch. Gen. Psychiatry |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=308-15 |year=1973 |pmid=4569673 |doi=}}</ref> and an extensive biochemical research program.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://www.orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1999/pdf/1999-v14n01-p049.pdf | first = A | last = Hoffers | coauthors = Osmond, H. | title = The adrenochrome hypothesis | journal = Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine | volume = 14 | issue = 1 | year = 1999}}</ref> One of the APA report's five authors, psychologist JR Wittenborn, reacting to Hoffer's specific criticisms, later re-analyzed his original double blind study<ref name = witten/> favorably with respect to orthomolecular psychiatry, obtaining the same result as Hoffer,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wittenborn JR |title=A search for responders to niacin supplementation |journal=Arch. Gen. Psychiatry |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=547-52 |year=1974 |pmid=4607587 |doi=}}</ref> and never received NIMH or APA support again.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.doctoryourself.com/hoffer_paradigm.html | first = Abram | last = Hoffer | title = The Vitamin Paradigm Wars, Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients | year = 1996}}</ref> According to Hoffer, APA task force co-author Thomas Ban was well known for his tranquilizer studies and that Ban previously stated that much of his income derived from grants from companies and other sources interested in selling tranquilizers.<ref name = MVT/> APA task force co-author, then NIMH member ], prior to the serving on the panel, had stated forcibly that if every psychiatrist in the USA believed that megavitamin therapy helped schizophrenic patients, he would not believe it.<ref name = MVT/> Mosher later resigned from the American Psychiatric Association in total disgust for reasons unrelated to orthomolecular psychiatry,<ref> Loren R. Mosher, M.D. to Rodrigo Munoz, M.D., President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Letter of Resignation from the American Psychiatric Association, 4 December 1998</ref> and referred to the organization as a "drug company patsy."<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63107-2004Jul19.html | last = Bernstein | first = Adam | title = Contrarian Psychiatrist Loren Mosher, 70 (obituary}| publisher = ] |date=2004-07-20 | accessdate = 2007-12-18}}</ref>

== Current research ==
===Food allergies===


A 2006 literature review noted that studies had found that the frequency of schizophrenia in patients with celiac disease to be significantly above average; one study found schizophrenia to occur in patients with celiac disease 3.2 times as often as in the general population.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Eaton W et al |title=Coeliac disease and schizophrenia: population based case control study with linkage of Danish national registers. |journal=BMJ |volume=328 |pages=438-9 |year=2004 |pmid=14976100 |doi=}}</ref> The review reported that some studies suggest that removal of gluten from the diet of a subset of schizophrenic patients may reduce symptoms in a subset of patients, but that others have seen no effect from dietary changes. It noted that the sample sizes in the studies that found no improvement were very small, so that if only a relatively small subset of schizophrenics do improve, the odds of these studies, one of which was otherwise flawed, not including any of these less common cases was between 48% and 75%. The review attributed the hesitancy with which these positive results have been been received to the fact that many of them had been reported by a group lead by the same researcher, FC Dohan. Dohan reported in one study of 102 patients that 62% of the patients in a locked ward could be discharged to an unlocked ward within 7 days compared to only 36% on a high cereal diet.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Dohan FC, et al.|title=
Relapsed schizophrenics: more rapid improvement on a milk- and cereal-free diet. |journal=Br J Psychiatry|volume=115|issue=5|pages=595-6 |year=1969 |pmid=5820122 |doi=}}</ref> Another study found that after 90 days, 37.2% of the patients on a gluten and milk-free diet had been discharged from the locked ward compared to 16.1% on a diet rich in cereals. Neither study was double blind, however secretly adding gluten unbeknownst to patients or staff was found to negate the observed different rate of recovery.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Dohan FC, et al.|title=
Relapsed schizophrenics: earlier discharge from the hospital after cereal-free, milk-free diet. |journal=Am J Psychiatry|volume=130|issue=(6)|pages=685-8|year=1973 |pmid=4739849 |doi=}}</ref> Other studies not conducted by Dohan have reported similar findings,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Singh MM, et al.|title=Study of gluten effect in schizophrenia. |journal=Arch Gen Psychiatry|volume=40|issue=(3)|pages=345-6|year=1983 |pmid=6830414 |doi=}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal |author=Rice JR, et al.|title=Another look at gluten in schizophrenia. |journal=Am J Psychiatry.|volume=135|issue=(11)|pages=1417-8|year=1978|pmid=707651|doi=}}</ref> or symptom improvement on a gluten-free diet which dramatically worsened when gluten was reintroduced.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Vlissides DN, et al.|title=
A double-blind gluten-free/gluten-load controlled trial in a secure ward population.|journal=Br J Psychiatry|volume=148|issue=(4)|pages=447-52|year=1986 |pmid=3524724 |doi=}}</ref>

Also mentioned was a 1997 article about a woman with schizophrenia and ] who experienced a remission of both illnesses when gluten was removed from her diet. ] scans before and after the adoption of a gluten-free diet change showed a remarkable resolution of the decreased blood flow to the brain's cortex, which is associated with schizophrenia.<ref>{{cite journal |author=De Santis A et al |title=Schizophrenic symptoms and SPECT abnormalities in a coeliac patient: regression after a gluten-free diet |journal=J Intern Med |volume=242 |pages=421–423 |year=1997 |pmid=9408073 |doi=}}</ref> The review concluded that large randomized clinical trials will be required to verify if there is a genuine causal relationship between diet and schizophrenia.<ref name = Eaton>{{cite journal |pmid = 16423158 |first = A.E. |last = Kalaydjian |coauthors = Eaton W., Cascella N. & Fasano A. | year = 2006 |title = The gluten connection: the association between schizophrenia and celiac disease |journal = Acta Psychiatr Scand |volume = 113| issue = 2 | pages = 82-90}}</ref> Removing gluten and other allergens had long been recommended by orthomolecular psychiatrists when indicated.<ref name = Edelman/><ref name = Pfeiffer/>

===Copper===
The only neurological disease that has been unambiguously proved to be caused by an accumulation of copper to toxic levels is the ] called ].<ref>{{cite journal |author=de Bie P, Muller P, Wijmenga C, Klomp LW |title=Molecular pathogenesis of Wilson and Menkes disease: correlation of mutations with molecular defects and disease phenotypes |journal=J. Med. Genet. |volume=44 |issue=11 |pages=673–88 |year=2007 |pmid=17717039}}</ref> Carl Pfeiffer proposed that a form of schizophrenia or ] he named histapenia involved the accumulation of ] without the liver damage copper toxicity causes in Wilson's disease;<ref name = Pfeiffer/> his beliefs were dismissed by the mainstream medical community. More recently there has been considerable mainstream scientific interest in the hypothesis that ] may instead involve reductions in the levels of copper in the brain.<ref name=Donnelly>{{cite journal |author=Donnelly PS, Xiao Z, Wedd AG |title=Copper and Alzheimer's disease |journal=Curr Opin Chem Biol |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=128–33 |year=2007 |pmid=17300982}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Rossi L, Squitti R, Calabrese L, Rotilio G, Rossini PM |title=Alteration of peripheral markers of copper homeostasis in Alzheimer's disease patients: implications in aetiology and therapy |journal=J Nutr Health Aging |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=408–17 |year=2007 |pmid=17657362}}</ref> These results have led to initial clinical trials of copper supplements as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pajonk FG, Kessler H, Supprian T, ''et al'' |title=Cognitive decline correlates with low plasma concentrations of copper in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease |journal=J. Alzheimers Dis. |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=23–7 |year=2005 |pmid=16155346}}</ref> The use of the copper ] ] has also been proposed.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-12-26-alz-advance_x.htm | title = Scientist is winning converts on Alzheimer's | publisher = ] | last = Wysocki | first = Bernard |date=2003-12-26 | accessdate = 2007-12-19}}</ref> This compound showed promise in initial studies,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ritchie CW, Bush AI, Mackinnon A, ''et al'' |title=Metal-protein attenuation with iodochlorhydroxyquin (clioquinol) targeting Abeta amyloid deposition and toxicity in Alzheimer disease: a pilot phase 2 clinical trial |journal=Arch. Neurol. |volume=60 |issue=12 |pages=1685–91 |year=2003 |pmid=14676042}}</ref> but a recent ] stated that firm conclusions cannot be made from these small-scale trials.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jenagaratnam L, McShane R |title=Clioquinol for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease |journal=Cochrane Database Syst Rev |volume= |issue=1 |pages=CD005380 |year=2006 |pmid=16437529}}</ref> However, if this effect is genuine, the mechanism of action of this drug is unclear, with some suggesting that clioquinol may be an ] that transports copper into the brain.<ref name=Donnelly/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Cherny RA, Atwood CS, Xilinas ME, ''et al'' |title=Treatment with a copper-zinc chelator markedly and rapidly inhibits beta-amyloid accumulation in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice |journal=Neuron |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=665–76 |year=2001 |pmid=11430801}}</ref>

A scientist specifically pursuing research in orthomolecular psychiatry has found that women who suffer from postpartum depression on average have a strongly significant higher level of plasma copper than women who haven't suffered from postpartum depression,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Crayton JW et al. |title=Elevated serum copper levels in women with a history of post-partum depression. |journal=J Trace Elem Med Biol. |volume=21|issue=1 |pages=17-21 |year=2007|pmid=17317521}}</ref> and that males with a history of violence and assault have a significantly higher median blood copper / zinc ratio.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Walsh JW et al. |title=Elevated blood copper/zinc ratios in assaultive young males. |journal=Physiol Behav. |volume=62|issue=2 |pages=327-329 |year=2007|pmid=9251975 |doi=}}</ref>


===Histadelia=== ===Histadelia===
''Histadelia'' is a condition hypothesised by Carl Pfeiffer<ref name=pfeiffer>{{cite journal |vauthors=Pfeiffer Carl C, etal |title=Blood histamine levels, basophil counts, and trace metals in the schizophrenias |journal=Psychopharmacol Bull |date=July 1971 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=37 |pmid=5117854}}</ref><ref name=pfeiffer2>{{cite journal |author=Pfeiffer Carl C |title=Extreme basophil counts and blood histamine levels in schizophrenic outpatients as compared to normals |journal=Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol |date=July 1972 |pages= 51–9 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pmid=4671910 |last2=Smyrl |first2=EG |last3=Iliev |first3=V}}</ref> to involve elevated serum levels of ] and ],<ref name=Edelman/> which he says can be treated with ] and vitamin B<sub>6</sub> megadoses.<ref name=nutrition>{{cite book |author=Pfeiffer Carl C |title=Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry |publisher=Healing Arts Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-89281-226-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/nutritionmentali00pfei }}</ref> Pfeiffer claims that "histadelia" can cause depression with or without psychosis, but no published clinical trials have tested the effectiveness of this therapy.<ref name=Pfeiffer>{{cite book |author=Pfeiffer, Carl C |title=Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry |publisher=Healing Art Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-89281-226-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/nutritionmentali00pfei }}</ref>


===Histapenia===
Carl Pfeiffer posited the existence of histadelia, a syndrome marked by high concentrations of histamine in the blood and "undermethylation", which he thought might cause depression and psychosis. Pfeiffer gave the amino acid methionine to people that he diagnosed with this syndrome. Although there is no published scientific evidence that methionine is effective in the treatment of these mental illnesses, research has shown that the ] ] is an effective effective in the treatment of depression.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mischoulon D, et al. |title=Role of S-adenosyl-L-methionine in the treatment of depression: a review of the evidence. |journal=Am J Clin Nutr. |volume=76|issue=(5) |pages=1158S-61S |year=2002 |pmid=12420702}}</ref>
''Histapenia'' in orthomolecular medicine is the condition of high serum copper with low histamine.


⚫ ==Relationship to mainstream psychiatry==
===Amalgam intoxication===
⚫ Orthomolecular psychiatry has been rejected by the mainstream medical community.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Miller M |title=Diet and psychological health |journal=Altern Ther Health Med |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=40–8 |year=1996 |pmid=8795935}}</ref> Critics have noted that the claims advanced by its proponents are unsubstantiated, and even false. Authoritative bodies such as the ]<ref name=QW>{{cite web |url=http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html |title=Orthomolecular Therapy |last= Barrett MD |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Barrett |publisher=] |date=2000-07-12 |access-date=2008-01-02}}</ref> and ]<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/5/707 |title=Vitamin and mineral supplementation in Down's syndrome |first=Forrest C |last=Bennett|journal=Pediatrics |date=November 1983 |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=707–713 |doi=10.1542/peds.72.5.707 |pmid=6226926 |s2cid=1888682 }}</ref> have criticized orthomolecular treatments as ineffective and toxic.


⚫ A 1973 task force of the American Psychiatric Association charged with investigating orthomolecular claims concluded:
The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine has published articles demonstrating ] between ] fillings and schizophrenia,<ref >{{cite journal | format = pdf | url = http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1999/pdf/1999-v14n04-p201.pdf | author= Sibelrud RL, et al. | year = 1999 |title = Psychometric evidence that dental amalgam mercury may be an etiological factor in schizophrenia |journal = J Orthomolecular Med |volume = 14| issue = 4 | pages = 201-209| accessdate = 2008-01-12}}</ref> bipolar disorder,<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1998/pdf/1998-v13n01-p031.pdf | format = pdf |author= Sibelrud RL, et al. | year = 1998 |title = Psychometric evidence that dental amalgam mercury may be an etiological factor in manic depression |journal = J Orthomolecular Med |volume = 13| issue = 1 | pages = 31-40| accessdate = 2008-01-12}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1997/pdf/1997-v12n03-p169.pdf | format = pdf | author= Sibelrud RL, et al. | year = 1997 |title = Evidence that mercury from silver dental fillings may Be an etiological factor in reduced nerve Conduction velocity in multiple sclerosis patients |journal = J Orthomolecular Med |volume = 12| issue = 3 | pages = 169-172| accessdate = 2008-01-12}}</ref> Perhaps coincidentally, in 1998 a dentist published on a patient of his, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis by lumbar puncture whose symptoms resolved after her amalgam fillings were replaced. The patient's neurologist subsequently concluded that she had never suffered from ].<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://www.amalgam-info.ch/beobac-e.pdf | format = pdf |author= Engel P | year = 1998 |title = Health observations before and after amalgam removal |journal = Schweiz. Monatsschrift f. Zahnmed |volume = 108| issue = 8| accessdate = 2008-01-12}}</ref><!-- ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE AND HOW RELIABLE IS THE JOURNAL? --> Another dentist has written a book describing what he claims are recoveries from multiple sclerosis after the removal of amalgam fillings.<ref>{{cite book |author=Huggins HA | title= Solving the MS Mystery: Help, Hope and Recovery |publisher= Matrix Inc. |location= year=2002 |pages= 405 |isbn= 0972461116|doi=}}</ref><!-- ALSO ANECDOTAL --> A paper on the effects of amalgam fillings on the immune system reported that they can cause ] levels to become extremely elevated,<ref>{{cite book |author=Huggins, Hal A. |title=Mercury and Other Toxic Metals in Humans: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Biocompatiblity of Materials : 1988, Colorado Springs, |publisher=Life Sciences Pr |location= |year= |pages= |isbn=0-943685-08-7 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> an anomaly by which histadelia can be diagnosed.<ref name = Edelman/> These ideas are not accepted in mainstream science, and a recent ] of four ] studies found significant statistical heterogeneity between the studies, but no significant association between amalgam fillings and multiple sclerosis.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Aminzadeh KK, Etminan M |title=Dental amalgam and multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis |journal=J Public Health Dent |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=64–6 |year=2007 |pmid=17436982}}</ref>
⚫ <blockquote>This review and critique has carefully examined the literature produced by megavitamin proponents and by those who have attempted to replicate their basic and clinical work. It concludes in this regard that the credibility of the megavitamin proponents is low. Their credibility is further diminished by a consistent refusal over the past decade to perform controlled experiments and to report their new results in a scientifically acceptable fashion. Under these circumstances this Task Force considers the massive publicity which they promulgate via radio, the lay press and popular books, using catch phrases which are really misnomers like "megavitamin therapy" and "orthomolecular treatment," to be deplorable.<ref>{{Cite book |vauthors=Lipton M, etal |title=Task force report on megavitamin and orthomolecular Therapy in psychiatry |location=Washington DC |year=1973 |publisher=]}}; as cited in {{cite web |url=http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html |title=Orthomolecular Therapy |last=Barrett MD |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Barrett |publisher=] |date=2000-07-12 |access-date=2008-01-02}}</ref></blockquote>


==Aging== ==References==
{{Reflist|3}}
The orthomolecular approach may be effective in the treatment of age-related brain deterioration.<ref name="pmid18046879">{{cite journal |author=Janson M |title=Orthomolecular medicine: the therapeutic use of dietary supplements for anti-aging |journal=Clin Interv Aging |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=261–5 |year=2006 |pmid=18046879 |doi=}}</ref>


⚫ ==Bibliography==
==Notable patients==
* {{cite book |last1=Braverman |first1=Eric R |first2=Carl Curt |last2=Pfeiffer |first3=Kenneth |last3=Blum |first4=Richard |last4=Smayda |title=The healing nutrients within: facts, findings, and new research on amino acids |edition=3rd |publisher=Basic Health |location=North Bergen, New Jersey |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-59120-037-6}}
] reports that actress ] credits orthomolecular psychiatry with helping her overcome bipolar disorder.<ref>{{cite book | first = Abram | last = Hoffer | title = Masks of Madness: Orthomolecular Treatment of Mental Illness | publisher = Quarry Press | isbn= 1550822608 | year = 2001}} </ref> ] attributed his recovery from schizophrenia to orthomolecular psychiatry and advocated its adoption by mainstream medicine, but later disavowed his statements.<ref name = Edelman/>
⚫ * {{cite book |last1=Pauling |first1=Linus |last2=Hawkins |first2=D. |author-link=Linus Pauling |title=Orthomolecular psychiatry: treatment of schizophrenia |publisher=W.H. Freeman |location=San Francisco |year=1973 |page=697 |isbn=978-0-7167-0898-8}}
⚫ * {{cite book |last=Pfeiffer |first=Carl J |author-link=Carl Pfeiffer (pharmacologist) |title=Nutrition and mental illness: An orthomolecular approach to balancing body chemistry |publisher=Healing Arts |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-89281-226-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/nutritionmentali00pfei }}
⚫ * {{cite book |last=Werbach |first=Melvyn R |title=Nutritional influences on mental illness: a sourcebook of clinical research |publisher=Third Line |location=Tarzana, California |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-9618550-8-6}}


== References == ==External links==
⚫ *
{{reflist|2}}

⚫ == Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |author=Braverman, Eric R. |title=The Healing Nutrients Within: Facts, Findings, and New Research on Amino Acids |publisher=Basic Health Publications |location= |year= 2003|pages= |isbn=1-59120-037-7 |oclc= |doi=}}<!-- 2003 VERSION IS A SINGLE AUTHOR -->
⚫ *{{cite book |coauthors=Hawkins, D MD| last = Pauling PhD | first = Linus | authorlink = Linus Pauling |title=Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia |publisher=Freeman |location= San Francisco |year= 1973 |pages= 697}}
⚫ *{{cite book |author=Pfeiffer, Carl J. | authorlink = Carl Pfeiffer (pharmacologist) |title=Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry |publisher=Healing Art Press |location= |year= |pages= |isbn=0-89281-226-5 |oclc= |doi=}}
⚫ * {{cite book |author=Werbach, Melvyn R. |title=Nutritional influences on mental illness: a sourcebook of clinical research |publisher=Third Line Press |location=Tarzana, Calif |year=1999 |pages= |isbn=0-9618550-8-8 |oclc= |doi=}}

== External links ==

⚫ *
* , orthomolecular treatment center whose predecessor was founded by ]
*


] ]
] ]
] ]

]

Latest revision as of 14:12, 12 September 2024

For the journal formerly titled Orthomolecular Psychiatry, see Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.

Orthomolecular psychiatry is the use of orthomolecular medicine for mental illness. Orthomolecular psychiatry has been rejected by evidence-based medicine and has been called quackery. The approach uses unorthodox forms of individualized testing and diagnosis to attempt to establish an etiology for each patient's specific symptoms, and claims to tailor the treatment accordingly, using a combination of nutrients, dietary changes and medications that are claimed to enhance quality of life and functionality as well as to reduce or eliminate symptoms and the use of xenobiotic drugs. Scientific studies have shown mixed results; although there are some promising results from nutritional psychiatry, some forms of orthomolecular psychiatry are ineffective.

History

Orthomolecular psychiatry began with Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond in the 1950s and was continued by Carl Pfeiffer, although proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry say that the ideas behind their approach can be traced back to the 1920s and '30s. Orthomolecular psychiatry's goal of weaning patients from conventional neuroleptic drugs follows "Pfeiffer's Law", "For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect". In 1968, Linus Pauling first used the term orthomolecular.

Hoffer's therapies focused on using niacin, among other nutrients, to treat what he diagnosed as acute schizophrenia based on an unaccepted test. In 1973, a task force of the American Psychiatric Association examined niacin monotherapy of patient populations with chronic schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and rejected the practice along with the reliability of Hoffer's diagnostic approach.

The assertions by proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry were rejected in 1973 by a panel of the American Psychiatric Association. However, the underpinning ideas of orthomolecular psychiatry have become popular in alternative medical circles as a means to explain conditions such as autism, heavy metal toxicity, and chronic inflammatory disease. After 1975, orthomolecular psychiatry research was primarily reported in Orthomolecular Psychiatry, now the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, a publication founded by Hoffer to counter what he considered to be a medical conspiracy against his ideas.

Diagnosis

Proponents of orthomolecular psychiatry claim to have identified the causes of some psychiatric syndromes, in particular those that cause psychosis; according to orthomolecular proponents, testing for these causes guides diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic measures and therapies commonly employed include "individual biochemical workup", fasting, identifying suggested allergies, dietary changes, megavitamin therapy, amino acids, and other so-called "pharmacologic nutrients". These diagnoses have not been accepted by mainstream medicine.

Specific conditions

Orthomolecularists claim that the causes of psychotic disorders include food allergy, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism in the presence of normal thyroid values, heavy metal intoxications including those allegedly due to dental fillings, as well as several hypothesised conditions they call pyroluria, histadelia and histapenia.

Pyroluria

Pyroluria (or malvaria from the term mauve factor) involves hypothetical excessive levels of pyrroles in the body resulting from improper hemoglobin synthesis. Carl Pfeiffer believed that pyroluria is a form of schizophrenic porphyria, similar to acute intermittent porphyria where both pyrroles and porphyrins are excreted in the human urine to an excessive degree. and orthomolecular psychiatrists have alleged that pyroluria is related to diagnoses of ADHD, alcoholism, autism, depression, down syndrome, manic-depression, schizophrenia, celiac disease, epilepsy, and psychosis. Pfeiffer's methods have not been rigorously tested, and pyrroles are not considered to be related to schizophrenia. Studies have either failed to detect hemopyrrole and kryptopyrrole in the urine of normal controls and schizophrenics, or found no correlation between these chemicals and mental illness. Few, if any, medical experts regard the condition as genuine, and few or no articles on pyroluria are found in modern medical literature; the approach is described as "snake oil" by pediatrician and author Julian Haber.

Histadelia

Histadelia is a condition hypothesised by Carl Pfeiffer to involve elevated serum levels of histamine and basophils, which he says can be treated with methionine and vitamin B6 megadoses. Pfeiffer claims that "histadelia" can cause depression with or without psychosis, but no published clinical trials have tested the effectiveness of this therapy.

Histapenia

Histapenia in orthomolecular medicine is the condition of high serum copper with low histamine.

Relationship to mainstream psychiatry

Orthomolecular psychiatry has been rejected by the mainstream medical community. Critics have noted that the claims advanced by its proponents are unsubstantiated, and even false. Authoritative bodies such as the National Institute of Mental Health and American Academy of Pediatrics have criticized orthomolecular treatments as ineffective and toxic.

A 1973 task force of the American Psychiatric Association charged with investigating orthomolecular claims concluded:

This review and critique has carefully examined the literature produced by megavitamin proponents and by those who have attempted to replicate their basic and clinical work. It concludes in this regard that the credibility of the megavitamin proponents is low. Their credibility is further diminished by a consistent refusal over the past decade to perform controlled experiments and to report their new results in a scientifically acceptable fashion. Under these circumstances this Task Force considers the massive publicity which they promulgate via radio, the lay press and popular books, using catch phrases which are really misnomers like "megavitamin therapy" and "orthomolecular treatment," to be deplorable.

References

  1. Saul, AW; Jolliffe M; Hoffer A. "Bibliography of the Publications of Carl Pfeiffer, MD, PhD". doctoryourself.com. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  2. Reiter, PJ (1927). "Behandlung von Dementia Praecox mit metallsalzen. Mangan. Z". Neur. 108: 464–80. doi:10.1007/bf02863975. as cited in Pfeiffer, C; LaMola, S (1983). "Zinc and Manganese in the Schizophrenias". Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry. 12 (3).
  3. Kay Lily E (1993). The molecular vision of life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the rise of the new biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511143-9.
  4. ^ Edelman Eva (2001). Natural Healing for Schizophrenia: And Other Common Mental Disorders. Borage Books. ISBN 978-0-9650976-7-3.
  5. Barney, Paul (1998). Doctor's guide to natural medicine. Pleasant Grove, Utah: Woodland. ISBN 978-1-885670-84-7.
  6. Pauling L (1968). "Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease" (PDF). Science. 160 (3825): 265–71. Bibcode:1968Sci...160..265P. doi:10.1126/science.160.3825.265. PMID 5641253. S2CID 20153555.
  7. Pauling, Linus; Hawkins, D (1973). Orthomolecular psychiatry: treatment of schizophrenia. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. p. 697. ISBN 978-0-7167-0898-8.
  8. ^ Menolascino FJ, Donaldson JY, Gallagher TF, Golden CJ, Wilson JE (1988). "Orthomolecular therapy: its history and applicability to psychiatric disorders". Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 18 (3): 133–50. doi:10.1007/BF00709727. PMID 2898324. S2CID 38354755.
  9. Pauling L, Wyatt RJ, Klein DF, Lipton MA (1974). "On the orthomolecular environment of the mind: orthomolecular theory". American Journal of Psychiatry. 131 (11): 1251–67. doi:10.1176/ajp.131.11.1251. PMID 4608217.
  10. Lerner, V (2005-08-31). "Treatment of acute schizophrenia with vitamin therapy". Clinicaltrials.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  11. Hoffer, Abram. "The History of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine". J Orthomol Med. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
  12. ^ Barrett MD, Stephen (2000-07-12). "Orthomolecular Therapy". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  13. Laperchia, P. (1987). "Behavioral disorders, learning disabilities and megavitamin therapy". Adolescence. 22 (87): 729–738. PMID 2963502.
  14. "Pyroluria". nutritional-healing.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  15. Jackson James A; Riordan Hugh D; Neathery Sharon; Riordan Neil H (1997). "Urinary pyrrole in health and disease" (PDF). The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. 12 (2nd Quarter): 96–8. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  16. ^ Skertic, Mark (April 21, 2002). "For some, a question of balancing nutrients". SunTimes.com. Available at the internet archive. Retrieved on 2008-02-17
  17. Holman, Paul (July 1995). "Pyridoxine - Vitamin B-6" (PDF). Journal of Australian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine. 14 (1): 5–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-05-08. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  18. Cruz, R; Vogel, WH (1978). "Pyroluria: a poor marker in chronic schizophrenia". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 135 (10): 1239–40. doi:10.1176/ajp.135.10.1239. PMID 696910.
  19. Gendler, PL; Duhan, HA; Rapoport, H (1978). "Hemopyrrole and kryptopyrrole are absent from the urine of schizophrenics and normal persons". Clinical Chemistry. 24 (2): 230–3. doi:10.1093/clinchem/24.2.230. PMID 627053.
  20. Jacobson, SJ; Rapoport, H; Ellman, GL (1975). "The nonoccurrence of hemo- and kryptopyrrole in urine of schizophrenics". Biological Psychiatry. 10 (1): 91–3. PMID 1120177.
  21. Gorchein, A (1980). "Urine concentration of 3-ethyl-5-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-delta 3-pyrrolin-2-one ('mauve factor') is not causally related to schizophrenia or to acute intermittent porphyria". Clinical Science. 58 (6): 469–76. doi:10.1042/cs0580469. PMID 7428279.
  22. Vaughan, K.; McConaghy, N. (1999). "Megavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia: a randomised, controlled trial". The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 33 (1): 84–88. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1614.1999.00527.x. PMID 10197889. S2CID 38857700.
  23. National Library for Health (2005-10-05). "What is pyroluria, is it an accepted clinical entity and what are the treatment?". Archived from the original on 2007-02-11.
  24. Pfeiffer Carl C, et al. (July 1971). "Blood histamine levels, basophil counts, and trace metals in the schizophrenias". Psychopharmacol Bull. 7 (3): 37. PMID 5117854.
  25. Pfeiffer Carl C; Smyrl, EG; Iliev, V (July 1972). "Extreme basophil counts and blood histamine levels in schizophrenic outpatients as compared to normals". Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 4 (1): 51–9. PMID 4671910.
  26. Pfeiffer Carl C (1988). Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry. Healing Arts Press. ISBN 978-0-89281-226-4.
  27. Pfeiffer, Carl C (1987). Nutrition and Mental Illness: An Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry. Healing Art Press. ISBN 978-0-89281-226-4.
  28. Miller M (1996). "Diet and psychological health". Altern Ther Health Med. 2 (5): 40–8. PMID 8795935.
  29. Bennett, Forrest C (November 1983). "Vitamin and mineral supplementation in Down's syndrome". Pediatrics. 72 (5): 707–713. doi:10.1542/peds.72.5.707. PMID 6226926. S2CID 1888682.
  30. Lipton M, et al. (1973). Task force report on megavitamin and orthomolecular Therapy in psychiatry. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.; as cited in Barrett MD, Stephen (2000-07-12). "Orthomolecular Therapy". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2008-01-02.

Bibliography

External links

Categories: