MoonDragon's Alternative Health Information
Medicinal Therapies
ORTHOMOLECULAR THERAPY

Orthomolecular therapy, also known as megavitamin therapy, involves the prescription of large doses of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to treat physical illnesses and psychiatric disorders. Practitioners believe that because each individual is biochemically unique, nutritional deficiencies affect some people more than others. They seek to restore health by using a wide variety of supplements to treat each individual at a biochemical level. The therapy, named by American scientist Dr. Linus Pauling in the 1970s, is now relatively well established in the US and, to a lesser extent, in the UK and Australia.

MAIN USES OF ORTHOMOLECULAR THERAPY

Depression, anxiety. Schizophrenia. Anemia. Heart disease, including angina. High blood pressure (hypertension). Cancer.

MoonDragon's ObGyn Womens Health Information: Depression

MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Anxiety Disorder

MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Schizophrenia

MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Anemia

MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

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MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Circulatory Problems

MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Cardiovascular Disease

MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Cancer

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HISTORY

In the 1950s, psychiatrists Dr. Abram Hoffer and Dr. Humphrey Osmond, working in Canada, began to use high doses of vitamin B-3 (niacin) to treat schizophrenia. Dr. Osmond hypothesized that schizophrenics inadequately absorb sufficient amount of certain nutrients, leading to a failure to break down substances such as epinephrine, and resulting in severe psychological instability.

High-dose vitamin therapy was popularized in the US in the 1960s by American nutritionist Adele Davis, but it was biochemist Dr. Linus Pauling who coined the term "orthomolecular" (from the Greek "ortho", or "correct"). In 1970 he published the book Vitamin C and the Common Cold, in which he advocated using megadoses of this vitamin. Despite skepticism from the conventional medical profession, Dr. Pauling went on to become involved in the controversial area of using vitamin C therapy to treat cancer. Today, this therapy is used mainly in the US. Many practitioners are also conventional medical practitioners.

Dr. Linus Pauling's research into molecular bonds, for which he won the nobel prize, led him to study the role of vitamin C in preventing common colds and boosting the immune system.

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EVIDENCE & RESEARCH

While there is little scientific evidence for the therapeutic effects of orthomolecular megadoses, studies indicate that doses higher than the RDA may be required for some supplements to be effective. A study published in The Lancet in 1992 concluded that patients who had suffered heart attacks recovered faster when given injections of high doses of magnesium sulfate. In the early 1990s, research by Dr. Pauling showed that high doses of vitamin C could help prevent atherosclerosis (a major cause of heart attacks).

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CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL OPINION

The discovery of the role of antioxidant nutrients in the body lends credence to orthomolecular theories, but side effects associated with high doses of vitamins, and the lack of research into this therapy make conventional practitioners uneasy.

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CONSULTING A PRACTITIONER

Orthomolecular therapy uses vitamins as medication and not as food supplements as in nutritional therapy. Practitioners stress the need for antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C, which are said to mop up the free-radical molecules that cause cell damage. They believe that some people may need far higher levels of certain nutrients than daily allowances (RDAs) for heart disease, cancer, and other ailments.

Practitioners take a medical history, give you a physical examination, and arrange for blood, urine, and tissue tests. Supplements prescribed are tailored to your individual requirements, and are taken several times a day at levels well above the norm: 5,000 to 20,000 mg of vitamin C per day, for example, or 25,000 IU (international units) of beta-carotene (vitamin A). Nutrients may also be given by injection or intravenous drip to speed up the process. If there are side effects, the practitioner reduces the dose until symptoms subside.

Pantothenic acid, a B-complex vitamin, viewed as a polarized light micrograph: vitamin B has been given in large doses to treat mental illness.

Vitamin C crystals viewed as a polarized light micrograph: cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy may be prescribed vitamin C.

MoonDragon's Health Therapy: Ascorbic Acid Flush

MoonDragon's Alternative Health Information: Medicinal Therapies - Nutritional Therapy

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PRECAUTIONS Do not self-prescribe; megadoses of certain vitamins can cause toxic reaction.

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MEDICINAL THERAPIES

MoonDragon's Alternative Therapy: Naturopathy

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MoonDragon's Alternative Therapy: Nutritional Therapies

MoonDragon's Alternative Therapy: Orthomolecular Therapy

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