Alternative Medicine in Psychiatry

"Vitamin C is the safest substance available to the physician."
- Frederick Klenner, M.D.

"Professor Pauling as always is ahead of his time. The latest research on vitamin C substantiates his twenty-five years of advocacy and investigation on the benefits of vitamin C." J. Daniel Kanofsky, MD, MPH, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Introduction

The drug companies have been blasted in a series of articles (1-5) for excessive greed. They have been accused of "disease mongering". This is an attempt to make more money off of their drugs. They are trying to expand their drug markets. It is a marketing scheme.

Pauling

"I have reached the conclusion, through arguments summarized in the following paragraphs, that another general method of treatment, which may be called orthomolecular therapy, may be found to be of great value, and may turn out to be the best method of treatment for many patients." Linus Pauling (1968)

The above quote is from his brilliant article in the journal Science (6).

"Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease." - Linus Pauling (6)

Pauling's work was severely attacked by the APA (American Psychiatric Association). However, it was endorsed by Roger Williams, Abram Hoffer, Humphrey Osmond, and others (7, 8, 15, 16).

Hoffer & Osmond

Osmond is now deceased, unfortunately. Hoffer has been publishing since the Fifties(19, 21, 22)! They both felt that a toxic amine caused schizophrenia. In 1952 Osmond & Smythies proposed that the amine was DMPEA, a doubly methylated version of dopamine (20). The APA task force failed to disprove this theory. In fact much research later supported it (23, 24, 25).

My Own Theories

My own theories are similar. My view is that DMPEA causes amino acids to flood the brain cells in schizophrenia and possibly other neuropsychiatric diseases (26-29). In particular tryptophan appears to be the worst offender. But what is the treatment? My view is that a low tryptophan diet is needed. Also I feel that flavonoids may be useful as they are methyl acceptors. Hoffer & Osmond recommended that methyl acceptors be used because abnoraml methylation is going on. It creates DMPEA.

Flavonoids can inhibit COMT, a key enzyme that metabolizes dopamine, because they are polyphenols.

Conclusions

Hoffer & Osmond blamed schizophrenia on the "M-substance", which was supposed to be similar to mescaline. Indeed DMPEA has a structure very similar to mescaline (TMPEA). Unfortunately Friedhoff and van Winkle are both deceased. Van Winkle never gave up on DMPEA. She wrote about it until her death.

Tryptophan is in animal products, legumes, and other plant foods high in protein. Flavonids are in fruits and vegetables. I favor a diet high in plant foods, which is a high fiber diet. Animal foods are not that good anyway because they contain cholesterol and saturated fats.

Do not abuse drugs. Drug abuse can lead to death. Certain vitamin supplements are useful. Hoffer recommends niacin.

References

1. Disease mongering - a challenge for everyone involved in healthcare James W Dear and David J Webb. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2007 August; 64(2): 122-124. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2006.02830.x. PMCID: PMC2000629.

2. Applbaum K. Pharmaceutical marketing and the invention of the medical consumer. PLoS Med. 2006;3:e189.

3. Heath I. Combating disease mongering: daunting but nonetheless essential. PLoS Med. 2006;3:e146.

4. Kumar CJ, Deoker A, Kumar A, Kumar A, Hegde BM. Awareness and attitudes about disease mongering among medical and pharmaceutical students. PLoS Med. 2006;3:e213.

5. Lexchin J. Bigger and better: how Pfizer redefined erectile dysfunction. PLoS Med. 2006;3:e132.

6. Pauling, L.: Orthomolecular psychiatry. Science 160: 265-271, 1968.

7. VanderKamp, H: A: biochemical abnormality in schizophrenia involving ascorbic acid- Int J Neuropsychiatry 2:204206, 1966.

8.Herjanic, M., Moss-Herjanic, B.L. Ascorbic acid test in psychiatric patients. J Schizophrenia 1: 257-260, 1967.

9. Pauling, L., Robinson, A.B_ Oxley S.S., et a]: Results of a loading test of ascorbic acid, niacinamide, and pyridoxine in schizophrenic subjects and controls, in Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia. Edited by Hawkins, D., Pauling, L San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1973, pp 18-34.

10. Sydenstricker, V.P., Cleckley, H.M.: The effect of nicotinic acid in stupor, lethargy and various other psychiatric disorders. Am I Psychiatry 98:83-92,1941.

11. Cleckley, H.M., Sydenstricker, V,P., Geeslin, LE-: Nicotinic acid in treatment of atypical psychotic states associated with malnutrition. JAMA 112:2107-2110, 1939.

12. Orsenberg, LE., Lilljeqvist, A.C., Hsia, Y.E.: Methylmalonic aciduria: metabolic block localization and vitamin B12 dependency. Science 162: 805-807, 1968.

13. Williams, R.J.: Biochemical Individuality. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1957.

14. Pauling, L., Itano, ILA., Singer, S.J., et al: Sickle cell anemia a molecular disease. Science I 10: 543-548, 1949.

15. Hawkins, D., Pauling, L (eds): Orthomolecular Psychiatry; Treatment of Schizophrenia. San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1973.

16. Stone, L: The Healing Factor: Vitamin C Against Disease. New York. Grosset and Dunlap, 1972.

17. Pauling, L: Evolution and the need for ascorbic acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 67:1643-1648, 1970.

18. Edwin, I., Holten, K., Norum, K.R., et al: Vitamin B12 hypovitaminosis in mental diseases. Acta Med Scand 177:689-699, 1965.

19. Hoffer, Abram & Osmond, Humphry (1952) Paper to Dementia Praecox Committee, Scottish Rites Masons, New York. Given at the Canada Room, The Waldorf Astoria, New York. (Hoffer and Osmond's first report on the adrenochrome hypothesis.)

20. Osmond, H & Smythies, J (1952) Schizophrenia: a new approach. Journal of Mental Science. 98(411):309-315, April.

21. Hoffer A, Osmond H & Smythies J (1954) Schizophrenia: a new approach. II. Results of a year's research. J Ment Science 100(418):29-45.

22. Hoffer A & Osmond H (1955) Schizophrenia - an autonomic disease. Presented to Soc Biol Psychiatry, Chicago, June. J Nerv & Ment Dis 122: 448-452.

23. Friedhoff AJ, Van Winkle E. Isolation and characterization of a compound from the urine of schizophrenics. Nature 1962; 194: 897-898.

24. Schweitzer JW, Friedhoff AJ. The metabolism of alpha-14C-3,4-dimethoxyphenethylamine. Biochem Pharmac 1966; 15: 2097-2103.

25. Van Winkle, E. The toxic mind: the biology of mental illness and violence. Medical Hypotheses 2000; 55(4): 356-368.

26. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680090/cuban_research_on_schizophrenia.html

27. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680380/the_virus_theory_for_schizophrenia.html

28. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1676885/new_ideas_in_psychiatry.html

29. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1649109/mitochondrial_dysfunction_in_mental.html