ALSO SEE-www.healthfreedom.net

Schizophrenia is a disease marked by auditory and sometimes visual hallucinations. It is also marked by paranoid ideation. It is said to affect 1-2 percent of the world’s population, however, I think that figure is understated. The voices that the schizoprenic hears are frequently making derogatory comments about him or her. Interestingly, schizophrenics are people of very high intelligence. Many are gifted writers and artists. For example, the gifted writer Truman Capote was a schizophrenic.

In 1949, Henri Laborit, a French surgeon, was working to develop an anti-malarial compound. In his research with guinea pigs, he noticed that the new compound he had developed had powerful sedating effects. The drug was given to 38 patients suffering from psychosis and it was found to calm their psychotic behaviors. This drug which was discovered by accident was chlorpromazine, which is also known as thorazine, the first in a class of major tranquilizers. Thorazine was, by today’s standards, very crude with many side effects, including tremors, dry mouth, impotence, and weight gain. It is still used today, primarily for people showing violent behavior because it is quick and effective. In general, this is the great advantage of major tranquilizers and psychiatric medication in general: fast action and strength, which are an absolute necessity for the mental patient.  There will never be an alternative for a psychiatrist because nothing in nature will match the speed and strength of their medications.  However, natural medicines can complement and improve the effectiveness of their medicines and eliminate many of the undesirable side effects.  Treatments for psychiatric illnesses with natural medicines also stand very well on their own (orthomolecular psychiatry).

Niacin Found to be Beneficial for Schizophrenics

In 1952, the Director of Psychiatric Research for Saskatchewan province in Canada, Dr. Abraham Hoffer, began work on schizophrenia with Dr. Osmond. It should be noted that Dr. Hoffer was a biochemist before he was a medical doctor, so he didn’t adhere to a medical model. Hoffer and Osmond worked with hundreds of schizophrenics and discovered they had one thing in common: niacin deficiency. They then began giving them niacin supplements (B3). Many got better, while some others did not. They then added some other nutrients and began a supplementation program which is the standard treatment for schizophrenia in Canada today. The work of Dr. Hoffer and Dr. Osmond became the foundation work for Linus Pauling’s theory of orthomolecular medicine. When asked if his unconventional ideas got him in trouble with the medical establishment, Dr. Hoffer replied jokingly, “I was the medical establishment” (Dr. Hoffer was the Director of Psychiatric Research for Saskatchewan province, a position he held until recently). Dr. Hoffer felt that adrenochrome, a hallucinogen similar to L.S.D., secreted by the adrenal glands, caused schizophrenia. He and Dr. Osmond injected themselves with adrenochrome and had schizophrenic hallucinations which were neutralized by the niacin.  Linus Pauling coined the term orthomolecular psychiatry as a result of Dr. Hoffer's work and they collaborated on much scientific research together after Dr. Hoffer's original study.  The use of niacin with other key nutrients remains a primary treatment for schizophrenia in Canada today, 54 years later.  Dr. Hoffer is still in private practice treating schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders in Canada.

Please take note:

Never, never try to change psychiatric medication yourself. Always consult with a psychiatrist. Let your psychiatrist make any decisions about tapering off your medicines. Many schizophrenics stop taking their medicine when they feel better and are quickly back in the mental hospital. Don’t let this happen to you or your loved one. In fact, no matter how effective a biomedicine regimen is, it is my experience that a small maintenance dose of tranquilizer is frequently desirable.