Recently in Orthomolecular psychiatry Category

Gaia Health
February 13, 2013

Most antidepressants cause a change in the electrical pulse of the heart, which changes the rhythm of the heart beat. It’s called an extended QT interval—and it can result in sudden death with no warning of any kind: BMJ study.

Eyes and Teardrops graphic by Joana Roja

by Heidi Stevenson

The antidepressant citalopram—brand names Celexa and Cipramil—has joined a growing list of drugs that can cause sudden death by stopping the heart. The study, published in the BMJ[1], found that the drug causes lengthening in the QT interval, a part of the heart beat cycle.

Several drugs are noted for this issue. The most famous is methadone, noted for sudden death in some individuals, especially when dosage is increased too rapidly. There are no symptoms indicating a risk. A perfectly normal person will literally drop dead.

Vitamin Supplement Safety Confirmed by America's Largest Database

(OMNS Jan 30, 2013) The new annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers shows zero deaths from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from vitamin A, niacin, vitamin B-6, vitamin D, or vitamin E.

Two people are alleged to have died from vitamin supplements in the year 2011, according to AAPCC's interpretation of the most recent information collected by the U.S. National Poison Data System. One death was allegedly because of vitamin C; the other supposedly because of "Other B-Vitamins." As the AAPCC report specifically indicates no deaths from niacin (B-3) or pyridoxine (B-6), that leaves folic acid, thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), biotin, and B-12 as the remaining B-vitamins that could be implicated. However, the safety record of these vitamins is extraordinarily good; no fatalities have been confirmed for any of them. Vitamin C is also an extraordinarily safe nutrient. No deaths have ever been confirmed from supplementation with vitamin C.

Would you take Seroquel if you knew you’d be risking your eyes? Nancy tells her story of Seroquel withdrawal, of the devastating toll it’s taken on her life … of how it stole her sight. This is the truth of a drug now given out so casually that it’s used as a sleep aid, like a prescription Sominex.

by Nancy Rubenstein Del Giudice

The topic of this article is Seroquel withdrawal: the process of withdrawal and the consequences of having taken this particular chemical for over ten years. In my case, essentially since it came on the market in 1997. In the thunder of stories breaking loose regarding psych drug withdrawal, I am hearing next to nothing about Seroquel and I feel a moral obligation to offer up my story for the common good. Be forewarned; it ain’t pretty.

In 2009, I discovered, as countless people have, that I had been massively misled. I learned that over a decade of suffering (including the loss of my children over suicidality) was not, in fact, suffering from an actual disease, but instead, the “side effects” of the drugs purported to treat it. The story of this betrayal by the medical community may be one for another time. Let me stick to the subject of Seroquel, and cut directly to the chase.

There is unfortunately a large emphasis in current vitamin D research that overstates the benefits of vitamin D supplementation on the conclusions of studies conducted on UV exposure from the sun. Such disparities in reporting have obviously increased the supplement market for this valuable nutrient, however vitamin D from sunlight exposure and supplementation may not be interchangeable in terms of effectiveness.

Vitamin D would be essential if it did nothing else. But researchers have discovered that it’s active in many tissues and cells besides bone and controls an enormous number of genes, including some associated with cancers, autoimmune disease, and infection. Hardly a month goes by without news about the risks of vitamin D deficiency or about a potential role for the vitamin in warding off diseases, including breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, and even schizophrenia. In June 2008, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that low blood levels of vitamin D were associated with a doubled risk of death overall and from cardiovascular causes in women and men (average age 62) referred to a cardiac center for coronary angiography. At a scientific meeting in May 2008, Canadian researchers reported that vitamin D deficiency was linked to poorer outcomes in women with breast cancer. And a large study of aging in the Netherlands published in the May 2008 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry found a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and depression in women and men ages 65 to 95.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 16, 2012

An alert from Europe to the rest of the world

by Gert Schuitemaker, PhD

Introduction: "It can't happen here" qualifies for top placement on the all-time list of famous last words. The United States still has, for now, over-the-counter access to nutritional supplements. But no one who reads newspapers, watches televised news, or leafs through a magazine can miss the preponderance of negative reporting on vitamins. As OMNS continues to counter such misinformation (this issue is the 145th), we take a look at the real "risks" of dietary supplements. Readers may wish to keep in mind what Dr. Abram Hoffer famously said: "All attacks on supplement safety are really attacks on supplement efficacy." If supplements are vilified, they can be made prescription. If they are prescription, costs will go up and access will vanish. - Andrew W. Saul, Editor

(OMNS Oct 16, 2012) A recent study explains that the risk of mortality from taking food supplements is far lower than other risks like smoking, pharmaceutical adverse drug reactions, cancer, and even dying from a lightning strike. [1] This important new information is relevant to recent food regulations in the European Union (EU) that are supposed to make commercially sold food supplements safer. The study shows the belief that food supplements are dangerous is mistaken.

The Codex Alimentarius was established In 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and later the World Trade Organization (WTO) as an international standard, with guidelines and codes of practice for the sale of food products, including food supplements.[2] In the natural health community, the Codex is considered a threat to freedom of choice and purchase of food supplements because it stipulates what doses of supplements can be sold and what wording may be used in advertising and packaging.

The data is very strong and there's no toxicity associated with A compound found in cannabis could halt the spread of many forms of aggressive cancer, scientists say.

The first research to show marijuana's anti-tumor properties was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Los Angeles in 2007 demonstrating that THC may activate biological pathways that halt cancer cell division or block development of blood vessels that feed tumors. It then became a target of synthetic research into THC for drugs such as ImClone System Inc.'s Erbitux and Amgen Inc.'s Vectibix.

Researchers have now found that the compound, called cannabidiol, had the ability to 'switch off' the gene responsible for metastasis in an aggressive form of breast cancer. Importantly, this substance does not produce the psychoactive properties of the cannabis plant.

We are constantly hearing of people who have been traumatized by such situations as childhood abuse, or being in war zones, and then suffering for years afterward with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and exhibiting such problems as depression, anxiety, nightmares, insomnia, impaired relationships and inability to hold down a job. We see "shell-shocked" veterans who leap up in panic at the sound of a car backfiring or even at the sound of a load of dishes being dropped in a restaurant, as I recently saw. We are now looking at new and effective solutions.

There is an emerging new category of therapies known as "energy psychology" (EP). While it's unfamiliar to most psychologists, counselors and helping professionals, let alone members of the general public, this is changing rapidly as recent clinical research continues to build the case for its effectiveness.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 3, 2011

No Evidence, Eh?

(OMNS, Oct 3, 2011) Many of our readers have written to say that when they try to talk to their physician about using nutritional medicine, the subject is promptly dismissed. Furthermore, such dismissal is often accompanied with doctor statements such as, "I have not seen any good research showing that vitamins work therapeutically."

That your doctor has not seen the research is probably true. However, the research has been there all along. The problem is that many health practitioners are often too busy, and sometimes too complacent, to look for it.

It is time to change that. Here are some highly-reliable orthomolecular resources online, for free access.

Tired and Depressed? Chronic Pain? Brain Fog? Leg Cramps? Digestive Problems? Hair Loss? Nerve Pain? These symptoms may be a result of the medications you're taking! Surprised?

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs help millions of people with diseases and chronic conditions, but did you know that in the process, these medications can also deplete the body's natural stores of vitamins, minerals, and hormones, causing uncomfortable and unpleasant side-effects and even new diseases?

The drug-induced nutrient depletion suppresses the very nutrients that you need to keep energy levels high, fend off infections, and remain healthy. I call these medications "Drug Muggers," and it's essential to replenish what a drug mugger steals from your body in order to feel your best.

Let's first talk about taking medicine, since millions of Americans do. Taking medicine means that you are being robbed of essential nutrients because drugs have the ability to rob your body's stores of vital life-sustaining nutrients. When a drug robs your body of a nutrient you will experience another effect of that drug, something you call a "side effect." Side effects are often the reason that people don't stay compliant with their medication regimen. They become so miserable that they have to stop taking the drug, against their physician orders. If you need your medicine (or if you want to stop it) then that decision is between you and your doctor. I'm not getting in the middle of that.

(NaturalNews) It's really quite hilarious to see this unfold: Homeopathy skeptics and vicious Big Pharma attack dogs are running around the globe in ludicrous demonstrations where they consume huge doses of homeopathic remedies in public and then claim that because they don't die of an "overdose," these medicines therefore don't work.

Notice that they never consume their own medicines in large doses? Chemotherapy? Statin drugs? Blood thinners? They wouldn't dare drink those. In fact, today I'm challenging the homeopathic skeptics and other medical fundamentalists to a "drink-a-thon" test to see which medicines will kill you faster. But we'll get to that in a minute...

First, let's get to the understanding of why the idea that you could "overdose" on homeopathic remedies is ridiculous to begin with.