Humphry Osmond, MD, 1917-2004
Linus Pauling wrote: “In 1967, I happened to read a number of papers published by two psychiatrists in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dr. Abram Hoffer and Dr. Humphry Osmond. (T)here was something extraordinary about their work. They were giving very large amounts of niacin to the schizophrenic patients, as much as 17 000 milligrams per day, which is 1000 times the RDA. I was astonished that niacin and ascorbate, with the striking physiological property, when given in very small amounts, of preventing death from pellagra and scurvy, should be so lacking in toxicity that 1000 times the effective daily intake could be taken by a person without harm. This meant that these substances were quite different from drugs, which are usually given to patients in amounts not much smaller than the lethal dosages.
I thought that these substances, normally present in the human body, and required for good health and life, deserved a name to distinguish them from ordinary Pharmaceuticals, and I decided to call them ‘orthomolecular’ substances.” (Linus Pauling in His Own Words: Selections from his Writings, Speeches and Interviews, edited by Barbara Marinacci. NY: Simon and Shuster, 1995.)
Dr. Humphry Osmond’s remarkable medical career included decades of distinguished psychiatric practice and a prodigious output of writing and research. He is widely recognized as a pioneer investigator into the chemistry of consciousness. Along with Dr. John Smythies, Osmond developed the theory that schizophrenics suffer due to endogenous production of an adrenalin-based hallucinogen. This led to the Hoffer-Osmond Adreno-chrome Hypothesis in the early 1950s, the very origin of orthomolecular medicine. The popular press may today remember Humphry Osmond for coining the term “psychedelic,” but countless thousands of grateful patients will remember him as the co-discoverer of niacin therapy for schizophrenia. A bibliography of Dr. Osmond’s work is posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_osmond.html
Memoriam By Abram Hoffer
William Kaufman, MD, PhD, 1910-2000
“I noted that niacinamide (alone or combined with other vitamins) in a thousand patient-years of use has caused no adverse side effects.”
Dr. William Kaufman was among the very first physicians to therapeutically employ megadoses of vitamin B3 (niacin, or niacinamide). He prescribed as much as 5,000 mg of niacinamide daily, in many divided doses, to dramatically improve and restore range of joint motion in arthritic patients. This groundbreaking work remains important to this day. In his 1949 book, The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction, Kaufman published the details of his niacinamide arthritis treatment, which also incorporated the use of vitamin C, thiamin, and riboflavin, all in large doses. He kept meticulous patient records that repeatedly verified the safety and effectiveness of megavitamin therapy.
Over 50 years ago, Kaufman showed remarkable foresight half a century into the future of orthomolecular medicine, describing how the lack of a just a single nutrient can cause diverse diseases, including what is now known as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Charlotte Kaufman lovingly writes of her husband, “He was always ready to help someone else. He truly was a healer and a problem solver. He played the piano; he loved Mozart. He wrote poems, plays, essays, and subscribed to about 30 medical journals, which he read. He practiced medicine in his own way, without regard to fads or fashion. He seemed to know intuitively what the clinical answers were, but he was a thoughtful person who did not make decisions lightly. He was an independent thinker who was constantly studying and learning, not just from the printed word, but from his patients. He really listened to his patients. His main objective was to help people live healthy lives.”
Dr. Kaufman’s bibliography is posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_kaufman.html
Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, PhD, 1908-1988
“For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.” — Pfeiffer’s Law
Carl C. Pfeiffer made his first contribution in 1974, contributing 22 papers by the time he died in 1988. He made major contributions to the understanding of trace element and mineral metabolism in the schizophrenias; made a rational division of the schizophrenias into three biochemical groups, and discussed amino acids in medicine. His contributions were of the greatest value. Carl Pfeiffer was one of the original members of the Committee on Therapy of the American Schizophrenia Association.
“If there’s a drug that can alter the brain’s biochemistry, there’s usually a combination of nutrients that can achieve the same thing without side-effects,” said Dr. Pfeiffer, founding director of the Brain Bio Center in Princeton, New Jersey (1973). Dr. Pfeiffer spent most of his life researching for the causes and cure of mental illness. He found that biochemical imbalances in the body were the blame for many psychological problems. His study on more than 20,000 schizophrenic patients enabled him to divide schizophrenia into 3 biochemical groupings called histapenia, histadelia and pyroluric 2, 3.
Lendon Smith, MD, a supporter of the Pfeiffer approach, wrote: “Carl C. Pfeiffer, in his book, Nutrition and Mental Illness, listed well-known causes of schizophrenia… He said, ‘All of these are chemically-induced metabolic disorders, which suggests the strong possibility that the “true” schizophrenias left in the “wastebasket” might also be due to biochemical abnormalities.’” http://www.smithsez.com/Hypertension.html
Dr. Pfeiffers other books include Mental and Elemental Nutrients, The Healing Nutrients, Dr. Pfeiffers Total Nutrition, Nutritional Science and Cookery, and Neurobiology of the Trace Metals Zinc and Copper. His contributions to orthomolecular medicine live on through his writings, the clinics he inspired, and the annual Society of Ortho-molecular Medicine lecture that bears his name. A bibliography of Dr. Pfeiffers work is posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_pfeiffer_ed.html
Wilfrid Shute, MD, 1907-1982 Evan Shute, MD, 1905-1978
“We didn’t make vitamin E so versatile. God did. Ignore its mercy at your peril.”
— Dr. Evan Shute
In 1933 Drs. Wilfred and Evan Shute were some of the first doctors to use large doses of vitamin E to treat heart disease. At that time, antioxidants and free radicals were rather obscure concepts in the chemistry of oxidation, far removed from issues of health and disease. Also at that time, using vitamins to treat serious diseases such as heart disease and diabetes was considered by the medical establishment as misguided at best and outright fraud at worst. Yet thanks to the observant practitioners such as the Shutes who were more interested in what helped their patients most, medical researchers became motivated to study it scientifically. The results would speak for themselves.
For decades, vitamin E was lampooned as a “cure in search of a disease.” In 1985, Linus Pauling wrote: “The failure of the medical establishment during the last forty years to recognize the value of vitamin E in controlling heart disease is responsible for a tremendous amount of unnecessary suffering and for many early deaths. The interesting story of the efforts to suppress the Shute discoveries about vitamin E illustrates the shocking bias of organized medicine against nutritional measures for achieving improved health.” Dr. Pauling would most likely have appreciated this comment from a recent Harvard Health Letter: “A consistent body of research indicates that vitamin E may protect people against heart disease…The data generally indicate that taking doses ranging from 100 to 800IU per day may lower the risk of heart disease by 30%-40%.” Over half a century ago, the Shute brothers and colleagues showed that, with even higher doses than those, and with an insistence on the use of natural vitamin E, the results are better still.
Today’s growing appreciation of the role of D-alpha tocopherol in preventing and reversing cardiovascular disease is due primarily to the Shute brothers.