|
Other common
name(s): megavitamin/megamineral therapy, nutritional
medicine
Scientific/medical
name(s): none
Description
Orthomolecular medicine is the use of high doses of vitamins,
minerals, or hormones to prevent and treat a wide variety of
conditions. The doses are well above the recommended daily allowance
(RDA) and may be used along with special diets and conventional
treatment.
Overview
Available scientific evidence does not support the use of
orthomolecular therapy for most of the conditions for which it is
promoted. However, vitamins, minerals, and other supplements have been
and continue to be studied to determine whether they can help or
prevent many types of illness. Although some supplements have been
shown to help certain conditions, a few have unexpectedly proven to be
harmful. At this time, eating nutritious foods is the best proven
strategy to get the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are needed
for good health.
How is it promoted for use?
Orthomolecular medicine is promoted to help people with
depression, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric illnesses;
Parkinson’s disease; shingles; irritable bowel syndrome;
alcoholism; colds; heart disease; hay fever; pneumonia; bruises; acne;
eczema; bug bites; cold sores; chronic fatigue syndrome; and many other
health problems. Supporters believe poor nutrition and refined foods
are at the root of many of these illnesses. Proponents of this therapy
believe that conventional medicine is foreign to the body and
potentially harmful. They prefer vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other
substances they consider to be "natural."
What does it involve?
Depending on the diagnosis, high doses of vitamin C, niacin,
or other vitamins and minerals may be recommended. These are usually
taken by mouth. The patient may be put on a diet free of refined sugar
and white flour. The diet may follow other specific guidelines. In some
cases, the practitioner may perform hair analysis, blood tests, or
urine tests to learn the levels of certain minerals or vitamins in the
person’s body.
What is the history behind it?
The concept of orthomolecular medicine dates back to the early
1950s. Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, PhD, coined the term in 1968.
Proponents believe that taking large doses of vitamins or nutrients
could correct "biochemical abnormalities" and thereby reverse a wide
variety of conditions such as alcoholism, allergies, arthritis, asthma,
cancer, depression, epilepsy, heart disease, high blood pressure,
hyperactivity, migraine headaches, mental retardation, and
schizophrenia.
What is the evidence?
So far, most studies have shown that taking supplements is not
as effective in cancer prevention as eating the foods that contain the
vitamins or minerals. This may be because foods have helpful nutrients
other than those being studied, because nutrients have different
effects when combined than when consumed individually, or because of
other factors.
In some cases, supplements are effective in correcting
deficiencies. It has long been known, for instance, that iron
supplements can help iron-deficiency anemia and that vitamin C
supplements can correct scurvy. Both are examples of diseases caused by
a deficiency of a vitamin or mineral. A few vitamins and minerals have
been shown to have physical effects beyond correcting deficiencies. For
example, supplements of nicotinic acid (a form of niacin, or vitamin
B3) have been shown to help lower cholesterol levels in some people and
have become part of standard medical treatment.
Research is still going on to learn more about the use of
supplements to treat or prevent specific health conditions, including
cancer.
Some studies have looked at the role of several antioxidants,
alone or in combination, in the prevention and treatment of cancer and
other diseases. Antioxidants are compounds that block the action of
activated oxygen molecules called free radicals, which can damage
cells. They are thought to reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
Examples of antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene (a
precursor of vitamin A). Certain trace minerals such as selenium,
copper, and zinc also act as antioxidants. Other studies have looked at
minerals in the body such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
The antioxidants vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene,
selenium, and zinc were given to French men and women over a 7-year
period. Others were given a placebo over that same time period. The men
who took the supplement combination seemed to have slightly lower
cancer risk than those who took the placebo. However, the men began the
study with lower levels of antioxidants in their bodies, especially
levels of beta carotene and vitamins C and E. This may partly explain
why they benefited more. The women who took the supplement had the same
cancer risk as those who took the placebo.
A large clinical trial looked at whether beta carotene and
retinol (a form of vitamin A) could help reduce cancer and deaths in
people who were at high risk of lung cancer because of smoking or
asbestos exposure. In 1996, the researchers found that the group
receiving the vitamins had a higher risk of lung cancer, heart disease,
and death. The study was stopped right away. Researchers continued to
follow the groups to determine whether these effects continued beyond
the study. The risk of heart disease dropped back to a normal level
very quickly, but cancer risk stayed higher for several years.
One 2005 study looked at whether supplements might help
prevent side effects of cancer treatment. Canadian researchers gave
"natural" vitamin E and beta carotene to people undergoing radiation
therapy for head and neck cancers. The researchers found that those who
received the vitamins had fewer side effects from treatment. However,
later on, those individuals had more recurrences of their cancer. This
finding supports older information suggesting that antioxidant
supplements taken during cancer treatment may decrease the
treatment’s effectiveness.
The HOPE TOO study followed up on patients with diabetes or
vascular disease who had been studied in the 1990s. It found that there
was no difference in cancer or blood vessel disease in the heart
between those who received vitamin E and those who took placebo.
Unexpectedly, those who received vitamin E had increased rates of heart
failure over those who received the placebo.
Clinical trials using high doses of vitamins have been done
for people with mental illnesses. Schizophrenic patients treated with
vitamin C or vitamin B6 showed no improvement over those receiving a
placebo. Children with attention deficit disorder who received high
doses of vitamins C, B3, B5, and B6 showed no difference from those
receiving a placebo.
A 2007 review of 68 studies of vitamin supplements concluded
that people taking vitamin A and vitamin E supplements had shorter life
expectancy than those who did not take these supplements and that
vitamin C had no effect on longevity.
As studies continue, researchers are learning from these
surprising findings. For example, researchers have found that
supplement recommendations cannot be made based solely on observational
studies. Nearly all of the large observational epidemiologic studies
showed strong links between low intake of beta carotene in foods and
higher rates of cancer. However, a subsequent clinical trial found that
giving beta carotene supplements turned out to raise cancer
risk—the opposite of what was expected. Also, researchers
noted that the effects of some supplements take years to show up and
that some effects take years to wear off after the supplements are
stopped.
More nutrients are still being studied in controlled clinical
trials, such as a study in which trace minerals are given to seriously
ill patients to see whether survival is improved. One preliminary study
suggests that the antioxidant lutein may help those with macular
degeneration, a loss of vision in older people caused by poor
circulation to the retina. More research is needed to find out whether
this holds true in larger studies.
It is well known that nutrition is important to overall
health. Poor nutrition may contribute to illness; for example, obesity
is linked to diabetes and heart disease and raises the risk of some
cancers. Healthy nutrition may contribute to good outcomes from
illness. In one study, for example, women who ate low-fat diets after
treatment for estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer were less likely
to have recurrence of their cancer. However, vitamin or mineral
supplements have not been proven to cure any type of cancer. Available
scientific studies have not shown that orthomolecular medicine can help
most of the conditions for which it is recommended.
At this time, it is hard to say how each nutrient or nutrient
combination affects a person’s risk of cancer. Studies of
large groups of people have shown that those whose diets are high in
vegetables and low in animal fat, meat, and/or calories have lower
risks for some of the most common types of cancer. However, until more
is known about this, the American Cancer Society recommends eating a
variety of healthful foods—with most of them coming from
plant sources—rather than relying on supplements.
While it is best to get vitamins and minerals from foods,
supplements may be helpful for some people, such as pregnant women,
women of childbearing age, and people with restricted food intakes. If
a supplement is taken, the best choice for most people is a balanced
multivitamin/mineral supplement that contains no more than 100% of the
"Daily Value" of most nutrients.
Are there any possible problems or
complications?
These
substances may not have been thoroughly tested to find out how they
interact with medicines, foods, herbs, or supplements. Even though some
reports of interactions and harmful effects may be published, full
studies of interactions and effects are not often available. Because of
these limitations, any information on ill effects and interactions
below should be considered incomplete.
Vitamin A, vitamin D, selenium, iron, magnesium, zinc and
other supplements can cause complications if too much is taken.
Occasional deaths have been reported from iron or magnesium overdoses,
mostly in children. Overdoses of minerals may also cause vomiting,
diarrhea, hair loss, rashes, and diseases of the nails. Zinc and
molybdenum can cause the body’s copper levels to drop, which
may cause anemia and low white blood cell counts. High doses of
pyridoxine (vitamin B6) have been linked with reports of pain, numbness
in the hands and legs, and trouble walking. Vitamin A overdoses can
cause headache, drowsiness, irritability, vomiting, loss of hair and
eyebrows, and peeling of the skin. Too much vitamin D can cause poor
appetite, nausea, vomiting, weakness, itching, and permanent kidney
damage.
Some supplements can raise the risk of cancer or heart
disease. In addition, the potential interactions between supplements
and drugs and herbs should be considered. Some of these combinations
may be dangerous. Always tell your doctor and pharmacist about any
supplements and herbs you are taking.
Antioxidant supplements can interfere with chemotherapy or
radiation therapy. Patients who are in cancer treatment should consult
with a knowledgeable physician before taking vitamins, minerals, or
other supplements. Relying on this type of treatment alone and avoiding
or delaying conventional medical care for cancer may have serious
health consequences.
Additional Resources
More information from your American Cancer
Society
The following information on complementary and alternative
therapies may also be helpful to you. These materials may be found on
our Web site (www.cancer.org)
or ordered from our toll-free number (1-800-ACS-2345).
References
Bairati I, Meyer F, Gélinas M, Fortin A, Nabid A,
Brochet F, Mercier JP, Têtu B, Harel F, Abdous B, Vigneault
E, Vass S, Del Vecchio P, Roy J. Randomized trial of antioxidant
vitamins to prevent acute adverse effects of radiation therapy in head
and neck cancer patients.
J Clin Oncol. 2005;23:5805-5813. Epub 2005 Jul 18.
Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, Gluud C.
Mortality in randomized trials of antioxidant supplements for primary
and secondary prevention: systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA.
2007;297:842-857.
Forman JP, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Curhan GC. Folate intake and
the risk of incident hypertension among US women. JAMA.
2005;293:320-329.
Galan P, Briançon S, Favier A, Bertrais S, Preziosi
P, Faurer H, Arnaud J, Arnault N, Czernichow S, Mennen L, Hercberg S.
Antioxidant status and risk of cancer in the SU.VI.MAX study: is the
effect of supplementation dependent on baseline levels? Br J Nutr.
2005;94:125-132.
Haslam RH, Dalby JT, Rademaker AW. Effects of megavitamin
therapy on children with attention deficit disorders. Pediatrics.
1984;74:103-111.
Hercberg S, Galan P, Preziosi P, Bertrais S, Mennen L, Malvy
D, Roussel AM, Favier A, Briançon S. The SU.VI.MAX Study: a
randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the health effects of
antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Arch
Intern Med. 2004;164:2335-2342.
Goodman GE, Thornquist MD, Balmes J, Cullen MR, Meyskens FL,
Omenn GS, Valanis B, Williams JH Jr. The Beta-Carotene and Retinol
Efficacy Trial: incidence of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease
mortality during 6-year follow-up after stopping beta-carotene and
retinol supplements. J
Natl Cancer Inst. 2004;96:1743-1750.
Kushi LH, Byers T, Doyle C, Bandera EV, McCullough M,
McTiernan A, Gansler T, Andrews KS, Thun MJ; American Cancer Society
2006 Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee.
American Cancer Society guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity
for cancer prevention: reducing the risk of cancer with healthy food
choices and physical activity. CA
Cancer J Clin. 2006;56:254-281.
Lawenda BD, Kelly KM, Ladas EJ, Sagar SM, Vickers A, Blumberg
JB. Should supplemental antioxidant administration be avoided during
chemotherapy and radiation therapy? J Natl Cancer Inst.
2008;100:773-783.
Lerner V, Miodownik C, Kaptsan A, Cohen H, Loewenthal U,
Kotler M. Vitamin B6 as add-on treatment in chronic schizophrenic and
schizoaffective patients: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Clin Psychiatry.
2002;63:54-58.
Lonn E, Bosch J, Yusuf S, Sheridan P, Pogue J, Arnold JM, Ross
C, Arnold A, Sleight P, Probstfield J, Dagenais GR; HOPE and HOPE-TOO
Trial Investigators. Effects of long-term vitamin E supplementation on
cardiovascular events and cancer: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA.
2005;293:1338-1347.
McGuire JK, Kulkarni MS, Baden HP. Fatal hypermagnesemia in a
child treated with megavitamin/megamineral therapy. Pediatrics.
2000;105:E18.
Merck manual. Merck Web site.
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/index.html. Accessed June 23, 2008.
Morris CC. Pediatric iron poisonings in the United States. South Med J.
2000;93:352-358.
Richer S, Stiles W, Statkute L, Pulido J, Frankowski J, Rudy
D, Pei K, Tsipursky M, Nyland J. Double-masked, placebo-controlled,
randomized trial of lutein and antioxidant supplementation in the
intervention of atrophic age-related macular degeneration: the Veterans
LAST study (Lutein Antioxidant Supplementation Trial). Optometry.
2004;75:216-230.
Taylor PR, Greenwald P. Nutritional interventions and cancer
prevention. J Clin Oncol.
2005;23:333-345.
Note: This information may not cover
all possible claims, uses, actions, precautions, side effects or
interactions. It is not intended as medical advice, and should not be
relied upon as a substitute for consultation with your doctor, who is
familiar with your medical situation.
Last Medical Review: 11/01/2008
Last Revised: 11/01/2008
|
