What is Orthomolecular Medicine?
In my post "Flu shots for the elderly — a waste of time and money?" I mentioned the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. This news service provides regular health-related reports from a website called orthomolecular.org, a site dedicated to Therapeutic Nutrition Based Upon Biochemical Individuality (1). It is managed by an organization called The Center For The Improvement Of Human Functioning International. This is one of the best websites on health and nutrition that I have come across.
What is orthomolecular medicine?
The term orthomolecular medicine was introduced by the late Linus Pauling in his 1968 article Orthomolecular Psychiatry (2). Orthomolecular.org defines it like this:
"Orthomolecular medicine describes the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with optimal amounts of substances which are natural to the body."
Many diseases are manifestations of nutritional imbalances or deficiencies. Doctors practising orthomolecular medicine aim to uncover these deficiencies and correct them. Drugs may suppress symptoms in these cases, but only the correction of the underlying problem, by dietary changes or supplementation, offers any real hope for a recovery.
As Dr. Abram Hoffer puts it:
"Orthomolecular treatment does not lend itself to rapid drug-like control of symptoms, but patients get well to a degree not seen by tranquilizer therapists who believe orthomolecular therapists are prone to exaggeration. Those who′ve seen the results are astonished."
Sources
- It has an editorial board consisting of scientists and medical doctors
- Its articles are professionally written, yet understandable by the non-expert
- New articles are emailed to you as they become available, and the service is free
- Past articles are archived and also freely accessible on their website
- They don′t inundate you with a daily stream of drivel
What is orthomolecular medicine?
The term orthomolecular medicine was introduced by the late Linus Pauling in his 1968 article Orthomolecular Psychiatry (2). Orthomolecular.org defines it like this:
"Orthomolecular medicine describes the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with optimal amounts of substances which are natural to the body."
Many diseases are manifestations of nutritional imbalances or deficiencies. Doctors practising orthomolecular medicine aim to uncover these deficiencies and correct them. Drugs may suppress symptoms in these cases, but only the correction of the underlying problem, by dietary changes or supplementation, offers any real hope for a recovery.
As Dr. Abram Hoffer puts it:
"Orthomolecular treatment does not lend itself to rapid drug-like control of symptoms, but patients get well to a degree not seen by tranquilizer therapists who believe orthomolecular therapists are prone to exaggeration. Those who′ve seen the results are astonished."
Sources
- Orthomolecular.org. Therapeutic Nutrition Based Upon Biochemical Individuality.
http://www.orthomolecular.org - Pauling L. Orthomolecular Psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease. Science 1968;160:265-271.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/3825/265
Comments