Gale Encyclopedia of Alt Med: Orthomolecular Medicine

Definition
Orthomolecular medicine is, essentially, the prevention and treatment of disease by administering nutritional supplements in optimal amounts, to be assessed taking into account the patient’s state of health, external or environmental factors and quality of diet. The architect of orthomolecular medicine, Nobel Prize laureate, Linus Pauling coined the term in 1969. The aim of orthomolecular medicine is not merely to eliminate disease, but to aim for 'optimum health.'

Origins
Linus Carl Pauling was born in 1901 in Portland Oregon. He was a distinguished student from the beginning of his career, publishing his first scientific paper at the age of 22. In 1925, he graduated summa cum laude from the California Institute of Technology, with a Ph.D. in chemistry. He was to remain at this institute for the next 38 years.

Though by no means the first to investigate the properties of the nutrients contained in foods, or the first to consider the medical application of nutritional supplements, Linus Pauling's contribution to our understanding of how nutrients work in our bodies, and how supplements can affect our health, has not been matched, either before or since. It was not until 1966, after a long and distinguished career that he changed direction in response to a letter from Irwin Stone, and began to research the properties of micronutrients.

In 1970, he published Vitamin C and the Common Cold, which firmly established Vitamin C as a favorite and very effective remedy for colds and flu. In 1973, he founded the Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine, a non-profit research organization, with Arthur B. Robinson and Keene Dimick. The Institute later became the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine. In the years that followed, he published many research papers and books detailing his findings in the field of orthomolecular medicine, until his death in 1994.

As a result of Linus Pauling’s research, orthomolecular medicine has become a specialized branch of alternative medicine, and its realm of application has widened to include not only cancer and other degenerative diseases, but mental illness, and even schizophrenia.

Benefits
In summarizing their philosophy, practitioners of orthomolecular medicine cite Hippocrates’s watchword which was “First, do no harm.” With their policy of rectifying nutrition first and then administering supplements as the major ways in which they treat disease, they feel that they already have a huge advantage over allopathic methods such as chemotherapy, drug therapy, surgery and radiotherapy, which all have potentially disastrous effects on the human organism. Despite the fact that when taken in “mega-doses” nutritional supplements have been known to cause harm, they have a significantly lower potential for toxicity than allopathic drugs.

Orthomolecular physicians recommend that patients improve their lifestyle and eating habits to consolidate benefits felt from the supplements themselves. Many of their “discoveries” have now become more or less common knowledge, for example the fact that a combination of Vitamin C and Zinc can speed the departure of a virus – particularly a cold – by many days. Orthomolecular medicine can be of benefit to anyone for a wide range of illnesses and symptoms.

Illnesses which have been treated with orthomolecular medicine:

• Depression, anxiety and illnesses such as schizophrenia
• Raynaud’s disease, heart problems, atherosclerosis,
• Digestive disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, overweight, endometriosis
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Heavy metal toxicity, and radiation sickness
• Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis
• Infertility, reproductive disorders
• High blood pressure
• Asthma and other respiratory problems
• Eczema and other skin disorders
• Candidiasis
• Cancer, AIDS and other immune system problems
• Neural tube defects in the unborn

Description
The basic concept of orthomolecular medicine, is that according to their genetic makeup, and other factors such as environment, stress levels and levels of nutrition, each individual will have nutritional needs that are peculiar to themselves alone – no two people will be alike in this respect. Consequently, what will cause illness for one person, will produce good health in another.

Many degenerative diseases and even mental abnormalities are, therefore, quite possibly the result of biochemical imbalances. Linus Pauling’s research quite clearly demonstrated that all illness and disease can be treated, at least to some extent, with nutritional supplements, such as vitamins, amino acids, trace minerals, electrolytes and fatty acids.

Theoretically, fresh food that is of high quality should provide all the nutrients necessary for good health. However, the depletion of nutrients in soil as a result of over-use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers and intensive farming practices, has resulted in a gradual decline in the levels of nutrients in produce. Orthomolecular practitioners, therefore, recommend that tests should be conducted to assess nutritional status so that possible areas of insufficiency may be addressed with the use of supplements.

Orthomolecular psychiatric therapy
This is the treatment of diseases of the mind by providing optimum nutrients, thus enhancing the “chemistry of the brain.” This has been found to be very effective in the treatment of mental illness, even schizophrenia, which until now the allopathic profession has had very little success with.

For those in the allopathic medical profession who are sceptical, practitioners remind them that when nicotinic acid was introduced, it cured hundreds of thousands of pellagra patients of psychoses in addition to the physical symptoms of this disease. Vitamin C has been used successfully to treat some mental symptoms, in particular depression. Many other micronutrients have been found to influence brain function, among them:

• Thiamine
• Pyridoxone
• Folic acid
• Tryptophan
• L(+) –Glutamic acid,
• Cyanocobalamin

Preparations
Nowadays, nutritional supplements are big business, and can be obtained almost anywhere, even in the supermarket. It is advisable to obtain supplements from an establishment that specializes in this area, and to ensure that products are fresh, and potent.

A reputable health store will have staff on hand to advise customers about what is suitable for them and how supplements should be taken.

Precautions
If taken incorrectly, nutritional supplements can have a detrimental effect on the health. Instructions should always be followed, and if in doubt, a nutritionally-oriented practitioner should be consulted. The FDA has drawn up maximum and minimum recommended doses for the guidance of the public. However, orthomolecular practitioners point out that these levels are intended for normal healthy individuals, and sometimes doses far in excess of the RDA (recommended daily allowance) are required to bring a sick person back to health.

It is wise for a patient not to try to prescribe supplements for him/herself, but to consult a qualified practitioner, for safer and more beneficial results. It should be noted that blood tests do not always give an accurate picture of nutritional status, and most orthomolecular practitioners recommend titration of doses to suit the patient.

Side effects
Orthomolecular medicine, while generally safe, can be dangerous if safe doses of nutritional supplements are not observed. Some supplements, notably the oil-based ones such as Vitamins A, D, and E, can build up and cause undesirable consequences. Too much Vitamin A, for example can cause very dry skin, among other things. Vitamin D can cause calcification of soft tissue if taken in excessive amounts, and all these items can cause liver damage if taken to excess.

Research & general acceptance
Since the beginning of this century, both nutrition and its “offshoot,” orthomolecular medicine, have been extensively researched. To the extent that both the United States and British governments, and many others, have special departments which, among other things, determine safe doses of all supplements. Orthomolecular medicine is possibly the branch of alternative therapies that has been the subject of most scientific research, and has certainly been validated by that research. Therefore, it is the one branch of alternative medicine that it is very difficult for allopathic medicine to call into question.

Linus Pauling was undoubtedly one of the most distinguished scientists of the 20th Century, and left over 400,000 research papers and other scientific documents to record his findings. Orthomolecular medicine research is based strongly on the other scientific fields such as biochemistry, physiology, immunology, endocrinology, pharmacology, toxicology and others.

Training & certification
Among those qualified to advise on treatment with nutritional supplements are board-certified physicians, licensed nutritionists, naturopaths and chiropractors. Although specialists in orthomolecular medicine tend to be highly qualified, it is advisable to check the credentials of any therapist or physician before consultation. This can be done through one of the organizations below.