What is Orthomolecular Medicine

"Our physical bodies are made up of water, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and similar substances. Therefore, it's logical to expect that if something is wrong with our bodies, proper manipulation of the elements of which they are made will be a major factor in reestablishing health."   -Jonathan Wright, M.D.

Employing vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to create optimum nutritional content and balance in the body, orthomolecular medicine targets a wide range of conditions, including depression, hypertension, schizophrenia, cancer, and other mental and physiological disorders.

The term "orthomolecular" has been coined to describe an approach to medicine that uses naturally occurring substances normally present in the body. "Ortho" means correct or normal, and orthomolecular physicians recognize that in many cases of physiological and psychological disorders health can be reestablished by properly correcting, or normalizing, the balance of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other similar substances within the body.

Continued research has found that malnutrition and improper nutrition could place a person at risk, directly causing or contributing to the development of disease and psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, health can be impaired, due, in part, to the consumption of refined, empty-calorie foods such as white bread and pastries and the over-consumption of sugar. Decreased intake of dietary fiber, bran, minerals, and complex carbohydrates are also a factor in patients with certain forms of mental illness, along with a loss of vitamins and an increase in dietary fat.  Today, with all advances made in this field,  many physicians still disregard the value of proper nutrition in relation to health. The prevalent notion is that a balanced diet will provide all the nutrition one needs. What is overlooked, however, is the fact that the majority of the world’s food supply is processed and grown in nutritionally depleted soil. Orthomolecular physicians recognize these factors, as well as the fact that biochemical individuality can also play a crucial role in health.

Although the government minimum, or recommended daily allowances (RDA), for nutrients may prevent severe deficiency disease, orthomolecular physicians say that these levels do not provide for optimal health, and people may need many more times the RDA levels. For example, studies of guinea pigs show a twenty fold variation in their requirement for vitamin C. Similar studies have been done with humans.  Here are the summarized principles of the orthomolecular medicine:

• Nutrition comes first in medical diagnosis and treatment, and nutrient-related disorders are usually curable once nutritional balance is achieved.
• Biochemical individuality is the norm in medical practice; therefore universal RDA values are unreliable nutrient guides. Many people require an intake of certain nutrients far beyond the RDA suggested range (often called a megadose), due to their genetic disposition and/or the environment in which they live.
• Drug treatment is used only for specific indications and always mindful of the potential dangers and adverse effects.
• Environmental pollution and food adulteration are an inescapable fact of modern life and are a medical priority.
• Blood tests do not necessarily reflect tissue levels of nutrients.
• Hope is the indispensable ally of the physician and the absolute right of the patient.

“The total number of fatalities from overdoses of major pharmaceutical drugs for the eight-year reporting period from 1983 to 1990 equals 2,556, whereas the total number of fatalities resulting from high doses of vitamin supplements during the same period is zero."

The basis of orthomolecular medicine lies in creating a healthier diet. Junk foods, refined sugar, and food additives are eliminated. Every effort is made to eat nutritious, whole foods, high in fiber and low in fat. Depending on the condition to be treated, various vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are supplemented. The types and amounts of the nutrients are determined by various tests one of which is: symptomotology test. The recommended dosage has often been called a megadose because amounts of nutrients taken are often far greater than the levels needed to prevent deficiency. As a result, orthomolecular medicine has also been called megavitamin therapy.

Orthomolecular physicians are aware of the problems associated with megavitamin therapy, and if symptoms arise, the dosage of the offending vitamin is reduced. In some cases these reactions are carefully observed as an indication that the body has been saturated with the vitamin. When this occurs, the dose is lowered until the symptoms disappear and the body is supplied with optimal levels of the nutrient. An example is the method of administering vitamin C to bowel tolerance for the common cold, flu’s, and other conditions.

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