Orthomolecular Treatment for Schizophrenia [Paperback]

Abram Hoffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 1999 | Series: Good Health Guides

Orthomolecular medicine can be effective in the treatment of schizophrenia, a mental disorder often treated with drugs. Deficiency often plays a major role in the onset of this condition. Thus, nutritional supplementation is integral to Dr. Hoffers approach to schizophrenia. This short, concise guide explains how the disorder is diagnosed, what causes it and how to effectively treat it without drugs.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

THE MAGIC OF ORTHOMOLECULAR TREATMENT - Orthomolecular treatment of schizophrenia is a comprehensive approach that includes megavitamin therapy, nutrition, and counseling of both patient and family members. This guide, written by a cofounder of orthomolecular psychiatry, outlines the strategies you will need to get an informed diagnosis, proper treatment, and appropriate, flexible follow-up for the schizophrenic patient.

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879839104
• ISBN-13: 978-0879839109
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #717,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Disorders & Diseases > Nervous System
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Alternative Medicine > Vitamins
  • #19 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Nutrition > Vitamins & Supplements

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars recovery for schizophrenics, July 7, 2001

By 

"healthconscious" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orthomolecular Treatment for Schizophrenia (Paperback)

This was the first and only encouraging book of the many books I read when my son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. It was a simple little booklet, but it immediately gave me hope. All the "mainstream" psychiatrists we consulted said that my son would just have to learn to live with his condition, psychiatric drugs to the point of stupor and hospitalizations. WRONG! This is a great introduction to Dr. Abram Hoffer's work. He has been successfully treating mental illnesses and even ADD, OCD, etc. with a nutritional and vitamin approach since the mid-1960's. Because of this booklet we were actually inspired to fly all the way to Victoria, Canada to see Dr. Hoffer. We're so glad we did. Dr. Hoffer brought my son back to the point where he is now working every day, perfectly lucid and intelligent and will be resuming his interrupted education this fall. Read ALL of Dr. Hoffer's books. Each one has exceedingly valuable information for everyone, not just those with mental illness. He is a great humanitarian who gives hope where others offer none.

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoffer's Successful Therapy for Schizophrenia using Niacin, August 8, 2004

By 

Andrew W. Saul (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orthomolecular Treatment for Schizophrenia (Paperback)

The fundamental bias in both medicine and dietetics rises darkly from the swamp when you even hint of a therapeutic validity for megavitamin doses. Why such resistance to such a useful nutritional tool? Perhaps because niacin therapy is really, really cheap?

Fortunately there are physicians like Dr. Hoffer who still look to the patient, and not the test tube, for their answers. A patient's therapeutic response is the highest of all guiding principles in medicine. If it works, do it.

"Pellagra" is the classic niacin deficiency disease. It was once common in the rural South where the poor had little else to eat except tryptophan-poor foods like milled corn. The symptoms are the "Three D's": diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia. More specific pellagra symptoms include weakness, anorexia, lassitude, indigestion, skin eruptions, skin scaling, neuritis, nervous system destruction, confusion, apathy, disorientation, and insanity.

Does this sound a bit like schizophrenia?

A few physicians thought so, too. In studying mental illness, tryptophan and niacin deficits, and pellagra, some doctors noticed that psychotics and other mentally ill persons frequently have assorted pellagra-like symptoms in addition to their nervous problems. From about 1900 to the mid 1930's, perhaps up to half of persons in psychiatric hospitals had pellagra. It makes one wonder: could many forms of mental illness actually be caused by a deficiency of niacin?

In the 1950's, an insightful young psychiatrist named Abram Hoffer began clinical trials to find out. He used very high doses of niacin, with very good results. But the success, convenience and relentless advertising of later (c. 1960) "wonder drugs" diminished niacin's popularity. Then, the American Psychiatric Association unscientifically trashed megavitamin therapy in the early 1970's. So now we have growing legions of nutritionally challenged, mentally-malnourished Americans who don't know, or care, that they are... because they are happily (and legally, and profitably) drugged into mood-altered la-la land! It is disquieting to see the Rolling Stones as prophets, yet an arsenal of "Mother's Little Helper" psychotropic pharmaceuticals are used by millions daily, even while doctors and dieticians condemn megavitamin therapeutics.

The many negative side effects and dangers of these drugs are now restoring interest in niacin. Even the new somas du jour, Paxil and Prozac, have serious failings. A quick read in the Physicians' Desk Reference (or PDR, available at any library) will illustrate this.

Niacin toxicity does exist, but is rare. Dr. Hoffer found that even 40,000 mg daily is not toxic but estimated that over 200,000 mg/day is fatal. The most psychotic person you are ever likely to meet could probably not hold more than 10,000 mg/day, and most of us would never exceed 1,000 mg daily. Medical physicians frequently give patients 2,000 to 5,000 milligrams of niacin to lower serum cholesterol. The safety margin is very large. There is not even one death from niacin per year. You cannot say that about any drug, not even aspirin. Check CDC or Poison Control Center statistics, the Merck Manual, and the PDR and see for yourself.

It is a lack of niacin that is the real public health problem. The US Daily Reference Intake is only 14-16 mg, and about half of all Americans will not get even that much from their awful diets. Niacin's special importance is indicated in that the US DRI for niacin is much higher than those for other B-vitamins, and that's just for everyday, healthy people.

Dr. Hoffer gave schizophrenics far, far higher doses, and it worked. I would go so far as to advise reading everything Dr. Hoffer has ever written. (...)

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A more balanced review, April 15, 2005

By 

Steve - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orthomolecular Treatment for Schizophrenia (Paperback)

Dr. Hoffer is a brilliant and extensively published author in both journals and books. His writing is very clear and he doesn't hide complexities. This book is no exception. My only complaint is that his writing does not divide topics very well for easy digestion. His mind is full of facts, and he types what he thinks.

The primary orthomolecular approach to schizophrenia is niacin or niacinamide (vitamin B3) in > 2 g/d doeses. In double-blind trials, 3 grams of niacin daily resulted in a doubling in recovery rate and a 50% reduction in hospitalization. Later double-blind trials did not reproduce the positive results, but Hoffer contends these trials were poorly designed. Subsequent research has been too meager to quote.

There are several complexities to niacin therapy. It must be at least 3,000 mg per day in divided doses. It must not be "time release" forms made by pharmaceutical companies that are dangerous and the root cause of the irrational fears of niacin. There are several forms of niacin. Make sure you follow Dr. Hoffer's guidelines. It's most effective if the patient's schizophrenia is a fairly recent development. Ignoring these issues is probably why some studies are negative.

Please keep in mind there are websites dedicated to trashing megavitamin therapy. They modify other's writings from 1998, change the wording a little, and pretend it's their own recent writing. They then copy and paste the same negative plagerism under several of Hoffer's books. On their web site they reference journal articles "disproving" megavitamin therapy but when you take a closer look at the journal articles, they are often not related to the issue at hand.

Doesn't it seem strange they have to go back all the way to 1973 to find a legitimate and relevant negative reference? That's over 30 years ago. Dr. Hoffer has done a lot of research since then. At 88 he's still mentally active, publishing, and treating patients. His research in the 1950's that showed niacin improves schizoprenia was the first double-blind study in psychiatry. Dr. Hoffer has been trying to make psychiatry a science for a long time, but the influence of money has been a much tougher opponent than ignorance and Frued.

Here's a 2003 interview of Dr. Hoffer:
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2003/jan2003_report_hoffer_01.html