We recently attended the gala award dinner honoring the 90 year old
Abram Hoffer, M.D., the founder of Orthomolecular Medicine, which uses
nutritional supplements rather than drugs. It was a touching and
moving tribute to a great pioneer and scientist. Dr. Hoffer
graciously allowed us to introduce ourselves and speak with him
briefly, and I can report to you that he is charming, pleasant, and
full of youthful energy.
Niacin for Schizophrenia
Hoffer is well known for his research investigating the use of high
dose niacin as a treatment for schizophrenia. In the 1940's Hoffer
noticed the association of mental illness with a niacin deficiency
disease called pellagra, and he speculated that some people might need
higher niacin intake to avoid mental illness. Hoffer was a trained
researcher and psychiatrist, so he tested niacin in clinical trials
and found it to be quite effective. Over his lifetime, he has treated
4,000 schizophrenics with his protocol of three grams of niacin per
day, with an 80% recovery rate, compared to only 20% recovery with
conventional anti-psychotic drugs. Hoffer's original paper on niacin
was published in Lancet in 1962. Since then, Hoffer has written many
books including his autobiography which I recommend to you:
"Adventures in Psychiatry: The Scientific Memoirs of Dr. Abram
Hoffer". We also attended the three day medical meeting in Toronto
2007 following Hoffer's award dinner and here are a few highlights for
you.
Revival in IV Vitamin C for Cancer
The original 1976 Cameron-Pauling Clinical Trials of Vitamin C
treatment for cancer showed that terminal cancer patients who received
vitamin C lived 4 times longer than those who didn't. In spite of
these encouraging results, Vitamin C research was halted because of
negative studies at the Mayo Clinic in 1979. Some say the Mayo Clinic
studies were intentionally designed to fail and discredit vitamin C.
However in spite of the Mayo Clinic studies, there has been a revival
of interest in vitamin C. Jeane Drisko, MD , Professor of
Orthomolecular Medicine at University of Kansas is conducting a
clinical trial of IV vitamin C for ovarian cancer reporting favorable
results. In Montreal, John Hoffer, MD reported 3 well-documented
cases of advanced cancers, confirmed by pathology biopsy, where
patients had unexpectedly long survival times after treatment with IV
vitamin C. Mark Levine, MD from the NIH, presented work showing IV
Vitamin C makes hydrogen peroxide which kills cancer cells. I predict
that at some time in the future, IV Vitamin C will eventually be
accepted by mainstream medicine.
What is OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
This is a fairly common mental disorder which affects kids and adults
who suffer from obsessive thoughts such as phobias, or fears (such as
fear of contamination), and in order to deal with these thoughts they
have repeating behaviors called compulsions such as handwashing,
counting, hoarding, etc. Kids who are interrupted from their
compulsive activities can become violent. The standard treatment is
the SSRI antidepressants, which may work initially; however, these
drugs have a well known list of adverse side effects, and a black box
warning from the FDA warning that SSRI drugs can cause suicide and
self harm in children.
James Greenblatt MD , a Harvard Psychiatrist presented his experience
with the orthomolecular treatment of OCD in kids. Greenblatt reported
dramatic recoveries in kids with OCD using nutritional supplements
such as 5-HTP, Inositol (18 grams per day), digestive enzymes and
probiotics. These children recovered dramatically with disappearance
of their OCD symptoms of hoarding, repeating activities, handwashing,
phobias and social withdrawal. This was a very encouraging report
which offers real hope for these kids, and is orthomolecular medicine
at its best.
To obtain a listing of othomolecular practitioners in your area, call
the International Society of Orthomolecular Medicine: (416) 733-2117
or email them at cen...@orthomed.org. Or, call my office 954 983 1443
for the same list.
Jeffrey Dach is a board certified MD who practices bio-identical
hormone replacement for men and women, including natural thyroid and
nutritional medicine. His office is located at 4700 Sheridan in
Hollywood. 954 983 1443. Call for free seminar schedule, and subscribe
to e-newsletter at:
(c) 2007 TrueMedMD all rights reserved
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