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{{short description|Form of alternative medicine}}
{{totallydisputed}}
{{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}}
{{Infobox pseudoscience
|image =
|image_width =
|caption =
|claims = Health effects from very high doses of vitamins.
|topics = ]s, ]s
|origyear = 1930s
|origprop =
|currentprop =
|notableprop = Frederick Klenner, ]
}}
{{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}}
'''Megavitamin therapy''' is the use of large doses of ]s, often many times greater than the ] (RDA) in the attempt to prevent or treat ]s. Megavitamin therapy is typically used in ] by practitioners who call their approach ].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zell M, Grundmann O |title=An orthomolecular approach to the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders |journal=Adv Mind Body Med |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=14–28 |date=2012 |pmid=23341413 }}</ref> Vitamins are useful in preventing and treating illnesses specifically associated with dietary vitamin shortfalls, but the conclusions of medical research are that the broad claims of disease treatment by advocates of megavitamin therapy are unsubstantiated by the available evidence.<ref name="isbn1-55009-213-8">{{cite book |vauthors=Aaronson S, etal |title=Cancer medicine 6 (Frei, Emil; Kufe, Donald W.; Holland, James F., eds) |publisher=BC Decker |location=Hamilton, Ont |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=978-1-55009-213-4 |chapter=Cancer medicine |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cancermedicine60002unse/page/76 }}</ref><ref name=References1990>{{cite journal |author1=Nutrition Committee |author2=Canadian Paediatric Society | date=1990| title = Megavitamin and megamineral therapy in childhood. Nutrition Committee, Canadian Paediatric Society | journal = CMAJ | volume = 143 | issue = 10 | pages = 1009–1013 | pmid = 1699646 | pmc = 1452516 }}</ref> It is generally accepted that doses of any vitamin greatly in excess of nutritional requirements will result either in toxicity (vitamins A and D) or in the excess simply being metabolised; thus evidence in favour of vitamin supplementation supports only doses in the normal range.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/body-excess-vitamin-b-c-might-consume-3056.html | title=What Does Your Body do to Excess Vitamin B or C That You Might Consume?| date=16 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/nutrition-vitamins-11/fat-water-nutrient | title=Vitamins & Supplements Center – Nutritional, Herbal, Dietary, and More - WebMD}}</ref><ref>Novella, S: ''Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us'', ]</ref> Critics have described some aspects of orthomolecular medicine as ] or even ].<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite journal |author=Jarvis WT |title=Food faddism, cultism, and quackery |journal=Annu. Rev. Nutr. |volume=3 |pages=35–52 |year=1983 |pmid=6315036 |doi=10.1146/annurev.nu.03.070183.000343}}</ref><ref name=Jukes1990>{{cite journal |author = Jukes TH | year =1990 | title = Nutrition Science from Vitamins to Molecular Biology | journal = Annual Review of Nutrition | pmid = 2200458 | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–20 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.nu.10.070190.000245| doi-access = free }} A short summary is in .</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite journal | author = Braganza, S.F. |author2=Ozuah, P.O. | year = 2005 | title = Fad Therapies | journal = Pediatrics in Review | volume = 26 | issue = 10 | pages = 371–376 | doi = 10.1542/pir.26-10-371 | pmid = 16199591}}</ref> Research on nutrient supplementation in general suggests that some nutritional supplements might be beneficial, and that others might be harmful;<ref>{{cite journal |title=NIH State-of-the-Science Conference Statement on Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements and Chronic Disease Prevention |journal=NIH Consens State Sci Statements |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=1–30 |year=2006 |pmid=17332802 |url=http://consensus.nih.gov/2006/2006MultivitaminMineralSOS028main.htm |access-date=2009-02-18 |archive-date=2009-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221024345/http://consensus.nih.gov/2006/2006MultivitaminMineralSOS028main.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Huang HY, Caballero B, Chang S, etal |title=The efficacy and safety of multivitamin and mineral supplement use to prevent cancer and chronic disease in adults: a systematic review for a National Institutes of Health state-of-the-science conference |journal=Ann. Intern. Med. |volume=145 |issue=5 |pages=372–385 |date=2006 |pmid=16880453 |url=http://www.annals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=reprint&pmid=16880453 |doi=10.1001/archinte.145.2.372}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud LL, Simonetti RG, Gluud C |title=Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases |journal=Cochrane Database Syst Rev |volume=2012 |issue= 3|pages=CD007176 |year=2012 |pmid=22419320 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD007176.pub2|pmc=8407395 |hdl=10138/136201 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> several specific nutritional therapies are associated with an increased likelihood of the condition they are meant to prevent.<ref name="AmJEpidem2009">{{cite journal |vauthors=Satia JA, Littman A, Slatore CG, Galanko JA, White E |year = 2009 |title = Long-term Use of {beta}-Carotene, Retinol, Lycopene, and Lutein Supplements and Lung Cancer Risk: Results From the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Study | journal = American Journal of Epidemiology | volume = 169| issue = 7| pages = 815–828| doi = 10.1093/aje/kwn409 | pmid = 19208726 | pmc=2842198}}</ref>


== Multivitamin vs megavitamin ==
In ] and ], '''megavitamin therapy''' is term given by its proponents to the unsubstantiated theory that large amounts of ]s, often many times greater than the ] (RDA), can be used to treat many types of ]s.
Megavitamin therapy must be distinguished from the usual "vitamin supplementation" approach of traditional multivitamin pills. Megavitamin doses are far higher than the levels of vitamins ordinarily available through western diets. A study of 161,000 individuals (post-menopausal women) provided, in the words of the authors, "convincing evidence that multivitamin use has little or no influence on the risk of common cancers, cardiovascular disease, or total mortality in postmenopausal women".<ref name="WHI">{{cite journal |vauthors=Neuhouser ML, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Thomson C, etal |title=Multivitamin use and risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease in the Women's Health Initiative cohorts |journal=Arch. Intern. Med. |volume=169 |issue=3 |pages=294–304 |date=2009 |pmid=19204221 |doi=10.1001/archinternmed.2008.540 |pmc=3868488 }}</ref>


==History==
An ] report on megavitamin therapy concluded:
In the 1930s and 1940s, some scientific and clinical evidence suggested that there might be beneficial uses of vitamins C, E, and niacin in large doses. Beginning in the 1930s in ], a megadose vitamin E therapy for cardiovascular and circulatory complaints was developed by ] and colleagues, named the "Shute protocol".<ref name="pmid18911314">{{cite journal |vauthors=Vogelsang A, Shute E, Shute W |title=Some medical uses of vitamin E |journal=Med World (New York) |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=83–89 |date=1948 |pmid=18911314 }}</ref> Tentative experiments in the 1930s by ]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jungeblut |first=CW |year=1937 |title=Vitamin C Therapy and Prophylaxis in Experimental Poliomyelitis |journal=The Journal of Experimental Medicine |volume=65 |pages=127–146 |doi=10.1084/jem.65.1.127 |pmid=19870585 |issue=1 |pmc=2133474}}</ref> with larger doses of vitamin C led to Frederick Klenner's development of ] intravenous vitamin C treatments for polio and other viruses in the 1940s.<ref name="pmid18147027">{{cite journal|author=Klenner, Fred R. |title=The treatment of poliomyelitis and other virus diseases with vitamin C |journal=Southern Medicine & Surgery |volume=111 |issue=7 |pages=209–214 |date=1949 |pmid=18147027 }}</ref> William Kaufman published articles in the 1940s that detailed his treatment of arthritis with frequent, high doses of niacinamide.<ref name="pmid13060032">{{cite journal |author=KAUFMAN W |title=Niacinamide therapy for joint mobility; therapeutic reversal of a common clinical manifestation of the normal aging process |journal=Conn State Med J |volume=17 |issue=7 |pages=584–9 |date=July 1953 |pmid=13060032}}</ref> Rudolf Altschul and ] applied large doses of the immediate release form of ] (Vitamin B<sub>3</sub>) to treat ].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Altschul R, Hoffer A, Stephen JD |title=Influence of nicotinic acid on serum cholesterol in man |journal=Arch. Biochem. Biophys. |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=558–559 |date=1955 |pmid=14350806 |doi= 10.1016/0003-9861(55)90070-9}}</ref><ref name="pmid13792994">{{cite journal |vauthors=Altschul R, Hoffer A |title=The Effect of Nicotinic Acid on Hypercholesterolæmia |journal=Can Med Assoc J |volume=82 |issue= 15|pages=783–785 |date=1960 |pmid=13792994 |pmc=1938010}}</ref> In a 1956 publication entitled ''Biochemical Individuality'', ] introduced concepts for individualized megavitamins and nutrients.<ref name="isbn0-87983-893-0">{{cite book |author=Williams, Roger Lawrence |title=Biochemical Individuality |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-87983-893-5 }}</ref> Megavitamin therapies were also publicly advocated by ] in the late 1960s.<ref name="isbn0-399-50764-7">{{cite book |author=Stone, Irwin |title=The healing factor: "vitamin C" against disease |publisher=Perigee Books |location=New York |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-399-50764-9}}</ref>


==Usage as therapy==
:This review and critique has carefully examined the literature produced by megavitamin proponents and by those who have attempted to replicate their basic and clinical work. It concludes in this regard that the credibility of the megavitamin proponents is low. Their credibility is further diminished by a consistent refusal over the past decade to perform controlled experiments and to report their new results in a scientifically acceptable fashion.
Although megavitamin therapies still largely remain outside of the structure of ], they are increasingly used by patients, with or without the approval of their treating physicians, often after recommendations by practitioners of orthomolecular and ].<ref name="pmid10893280">{{cite journal |vauthors=Richardson MA, Sanders T, ], Greisinger A, Singletary SE |title=Complementary/alternative medicine use in a comprehensive cancer center and the implications for oncology |journal=J. Clin. Oncol. |volume=18 |issue=13 |pages=2505–2514 |date=2000 |pmid=10893280 |doi= 10.1200/JCO.2000.18.13.2505}}</ref> The proposed efficacy of various megavitamin therapies to reduce cancer risk has been contradicted by results of one clinical trial.<ref name="pmid19116389">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lin J, Cook NR, Albert C, et al |title=Vitamins C and E and Beta Carotene Supplementation and Cancer Risk: A Randomized Controlled Trial |journal=J. Natl. Cancer Inst. |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=14–23 |date=2009 |pmid=19116389 |doi=10.1093/jnci/djn438 |pmc=2615459}}</ref>


===Vitamin C===
:Under these circumstances this Task Force considers the massive publicity which they promulgate via radio, the lay press and popular books, using catch phrases which are really misnomers like "megavitamin therapy" and "orthomolecular treatment," to be deplorable.
{{Main|Vitamin C megadosage}}
The US ] for ] for adult women is 76&nbsp;mg/day and for adult men 90&nbsp;mg/day. Although ] was known for highly respectable research in chemistry and biochemistry, he was also known for promoting the consumption of vitamin C in large doses.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cameron E, Pauling L | title = Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: Prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 73 | issue = 10 | pages = 3685–9 | date = October 1976 | pmid = 1068480 | pmc = 431183 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.73.10.3685| bibcode = 1976PNAS...73.3685C | doi-access = free }}</ref> Although he claimed and stood firm in his claim that consuming over 1,000&nbsp;mg is helpful for one’s immune system when fighting a head cold, the results of empirical research do not align with this view. A meta-analysis concluded that supplementary vitamin C significantly lowered serum ], considered a risk factor for ].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Juraschek SP, Miller ER, Gelber AC |title=Effect of oral vitamin C supplementation on serum uric acid: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials |journal=Arthritis Care & Research |volume=63 |issue=9 |pages=1295–306 |date=September 2011 |pmid=21671418 |pmc=3169708 |doi=10.1002/acr.20519 }}</ref> One population study reported an inverse correlation between dietary vitamin C and risk of gout.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Choi |first=Hyon K. |author2=Xiang Gao |author3=Gary Curhan |date=2009|title=Vitamin C Intake and the Risk of Gout in Men – A Prospective Study|journal=Archives of Internal Medicine |volume= 169 |issue= 5|pages=502–507|doi=10.1001/archinternmed.2008.606|pmid=19273781|pmc=2767211}}</ref> A review of clinical trials in the treatment of colds with small and large doses of Vitamin C has established that there is no evidence that it decreases the incidence of ]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hemilä|first1=Harri|last2=Chalker|first2=Elizabeth|date=2013-01-31|title=Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold|journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews|volume=2013|issue=1|pages=CD000980|doi=10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4|issn=1469-493X|pmid=23440782|pmc=1160577}}</ref> After 33 years of research, it is still not established whether vitamin C can be used as a treatment for cancer.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cabanillas | first1 = F | title = Vitamin C and cancer: what can we conclude--1,609 patients and 33 years later? | journal = Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal |volume = 29 |issue = 3 |pages = 215–217 |year = 2010 |pmid = 20799507}}</ref>
==Background==
In the 1930s and 1940s, scientific and clinical evidence for beneficial uses of Vitamins ], ] and ] in large doses began to emerge. Beginning in the 1930s, the Drs. Shute in Canada developed a megadose vitamin E therapy for cardiovascular and circulatory complaints, naming it the Shute protocol <SUP><SUP>. Tentative experiments in the 1930s<SUP><SUP> with larger doses of vitamin C were superceded by ]'s development of megadose intravenous vitamin C treatments in the 1940s<SUP><SUP>. William Kaufman, MD, PhD, published two books in the 1940s that detailed his treatment of arthritis with frequent, high doses of niacinamide<SUP><SUP>.


===Vitamin E===
In ], Professor ] and ], MD, PhD, developed the first officially recognized megavitamin therapy, applying large doses of the immediate release form of ] (Vitamin B-3) to treat ] (high cholesterol). Confirmed by ] of the ] and the ], more general medical recognition of niacin therapy for ] followed the successes of several popular books in the 1980s. Niacin remains the only therapy proven in large scale, prospective, randomized, controlled trials to reduce long term total mortality. The Canner study of the ] showed 11% reduction in mortality at 15 years follow up with only 6 years of niacin treatment. Niacin is used to treat hypercholesterolemia because of its low cost and its unique ability to broadly improve lipid profiles for ApoB<SUP><SUP>, LDL, small dense LDL, HDL, HDL<SUB>2b<SUB> (extremely good cholesterol), Lp(a), fibrinogen and trigycerides<SUP><SUP>. Niacin's use still lags behind other, heavily promoted, heavily subsidized pharmaceutical treatments, which, in most categories, have been less effective than niacin and have had more serious side effects. <SUP><SUP>
The US ] for ] for adult women and men is 15&nbsp;mg/day. The US Food and Nutrition Board set a ] at 1,000&nbsp;mg (1,500 IU) per day derived from animal models that demonstrated bleeding at high doses.<ref name="DRItext">{{cite book | last1 = Institute of Medicine | title = Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids | chapter = Vitamin E | publisher = The National Academies Press | year = 2000 | location = Washington, DC | pages = 186–283 | doi = 10.17226/9810 | pmid = 25077263 | isbn = 978-0-309-06935-9 | chapter-url = https://www.nap.edu/read/9810/chapter/8| author1-link = Institute of Medicine }}</ref> In the US, the popularity for vitamin E as a dietary supplement peaked around 2000, with popular doses of 400, 800 and 1000 IU/day. Declines in usage were attributed to publications of meta-analyses that showed either no benefits or negative consequences from vitamin E supplements.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kim HJ, Giovannucci E, Rosner B, Willett WC, Cho E |title=Longitudinal and secular trends in dietary supplement use: Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, 1986-2006 |journal=J Acad Nutr Diet |volume=114 |issue=3 |pages=436–443 |date=2014 |pmid=24119503 |pmc=3944223 |doi=10.1016/j.jand.2013.07.039 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eidelman |first1=RS|last2=Hollar |first2=D|last3=Hebert |first3=PR|last4=Lamas|first4=GA| last5=Hennekens|first5=CH|title=Randomized trials of vitamin E in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease|journal= Archives of Internal Medicine|date=2004|pmid=15277288| doi=10.1001/archinte.164.14.1552|volume=164|issue=14|pages=1552–56|doi-access=}}</ref><ref name=Abner2011>{{cite journal | vauthors = Abner EL, Schmitt FA, Mendiondo MS, Marcum JL, Kryscio RJ | title = Vitamin E and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis | journal = Current Aging Science | volume = 4 | issue = 2 | pages = 158–70 | date = July 2011 | pmid = 21235492 | pmc = 4030744 | doi = 10.2174/1874609811104020158 }}</ref><ref name=Curtis2014>{{cite journal |vauthors=Curtis AJ, Bullen M, Piccenna L, McNeil JJ |title=Vitamin E supplementation and mortality in healthy people: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials |journal=Cardiovasc Drugs Ther |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=563–73 |date=December 2014 |pmid=25398301 |doi=10.1007/s10557-014-6560-7 |s2cid=23820017 }}</ref><ref name=Miller2005>{{cite journal | vauthors = Miller ER, Pastor-Barriuso R, Dalal D, Riemersma RA, Appel LJ, Guallar E | title = Meta-analysis: high-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality | journal = Annals of Internal Medicine | volume = 142 | issue = 1 | pages = 37–46 | date = January 2005 | pmid = 15537682 | doi = 10.7326/0003-4819-142-1-200501040-00110 | s2cid = 35030072 }}</ref><ref name=Bjelakovic2014>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud C | title = Meta-regression analyses, meta-analyses, and trial sequential analyses of the effects of supplementation with beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E singly or in different combinations on all-cause mortality: do we have evidence for lack of harm? |journal = PLOS ONE| volume = 8 |issue = 9 |pages = e74558 |date = 2013 |pmid = 24040282 |pmc = 3765487 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0074558 | bibcode = 2013PLoSO...874558B | doi-access = free }}</ref>


===Niacin===
The 1956 publication of ''']'''' <i>Biochemical Individuality<i> was a major scientific milestone in modern therapeutic and preventive nutrition with concepts for individualized (mega)vitamins and nutrients. In the 1960's, biochemist ], author of ''The Healing Factor'', observed that Vitamin C's utility in the megadose treatments of human disease parallels the amounts of ] physiologically produced in most animals and postulated humans' evolutionary loss of this capability.
The US ] for ] for adult women is 14&nbsp;mg/day and for adult men 16&nbsp;mg/day. Niacin is available as a prescription product, either immediate release (500&nbsp;mg tablets; prescribed up to 3,000&nbsp;mg/day) or extended release (500 and 1,000&nbsp;mg tablets; prescribed up to 2,000&nbsp;mg/day). In the US, niacin is also available as a ] at 500 to 1,000&nbsp;mg/tablet. Niacin has sometimes been used in combination with other ]s.<ref name=TabletLabel> Updated March 14, 2013. Page accessed Feb 11, 2016</ref> Systematic reviews found no effect of niacin on ] or death, in spite of raising ] (HDL) cholesterol. Reported side effects include an increased risk of ].<ref name=Kee2014>{{cite journal | vauthors = Keene D, Price C, Shun-Shin MJ, Francis DP | title = Effect on cardiovascular risk of high density lipoprotein targeted drug treatments niacin, fibrates, and CETP inhibitors: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials including 117,411 patients | journal = BMJ | volume = 349 | pages = g4379 | date = July 2014 | pmid = 25038074 | pmc = 4103514 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.g4379 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Schandelmaier S, Briel M, Saccilotto R, Olu KK, Arpagaus A, Hemkens LG, Nordmann AJ | title = Niacin for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2017 | pages = CD009744 | date = June 2017 | issue = 6 | pmid = 28616955 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD009744.pub2 | pmc = 6481694 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Garg A, Sharma A, Krishnamoorthy P, Garg J, Virmani D, Sharma T, Stefanini G, Kostis JB, Mukherjee D, Sikorskaya E | title = Role of Niacin in Current Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review | journal = The American Journal of Medicine | volume = 130 | issue = 2 | pages = 173–187 | date =2017 | pmid = 27793642 | doi = 10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.07.038 | doi-access = free }}</ref>


==See also==
Since the 1970s the wider field of ] has emerged and it has begun to subsume Megavitamin therapy within it.


Related topics
==Controversy==
* '']''
The efficacy of various megavitamin therapies has been controversial. Megavitamin therapies were publicly advocated by ] in the late 1960s based on the extensive vitamin research of his generation as well as his own pioneering work in biochemistry, molecular biology and molecular disease. Megavitamin therapy is used under the principle that administration of large doses of vitamins can combat conditions which are considered wholly or in part due to individual biochemical variation and inadequate levels of essential nutrients. This type of treatment is based on the published scientific and medical research of the vitamin discovery era (ca 1920s-1950s) that is not easily accessed electronically.
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


Vitamin topics
Individual researchers and physicians, through private research, lifelong effort, numerous small clinical trials, and collaboration, evolved the current megavitamin therapies. Megavitamin therapies are not used in conventional medicine. An American ] in the late 20th century, the evolving megavitamin therapies are integrated with orthomolecular and ]. Although megavitamin therapies still largely remain outside of the structure of ] and the ], they are increasingly used as adjuvants to conventional medicine.<SUP><SUP> In the 21st century, proposed megavitamin therapies with vitamin C are gaining new respect in conventional medicine for "]" and cancer<SUP><SUP> as authoritative trials and objective scholarship<SUP><SUP> slowly move toward evaluation of the methods and quantitative treatment ranges published by ] and ].
* ]

* ]
==Side effects==
* ]
Administration of very large doses of ], ] and ] may have ]s, usually when used alone rather than balanced with other vitamins, and are criticized by pediatricians as toxic. Megavitamin proponents claim an almost zero level of deaths caused by overdosing with vitamins compared to the significant numbers from pharmaceuticals, including a number of over-the-counter items.
* ] (toxic vitamin intake)
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** ]

** ]
==See also==
** ]
* ]
** ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
* Abram Hoffer (1998) Putting It All Together: The New Orthomolecular Nutrition, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0879836334
* Pauling, Linus (1986) How to Live Longer and Feel Better, W. H. Freeman and Company, ISBN 0-380-70289-4
* Roger J. Williams, Dwight K. Kalita (1979) Physician's Handbook on Orthomolecular Medicine, Keats Publishing, ISBN 0879831995
* Roger J Williams (1998) Biochemical Individuality: The Basis for the Genetotrophic Concept. 2nd ed. Keats Publishing. ISBN 0879838930
* Canner, P.L., Berge, K.G., Wenger, N.K., et al. Fifteen year mortality in Coronary Drug Project patients: long-term benefit with niacin. J Am Coll Cardiol, 1986, 8: 1245-1255.
* Meyers, et al, Varying Cost and Free Nicotinic Acid Content in Over-the-Counter Niacin Preparations for Dyslipidemia, Annals of Internal Med. 2003 Dec 16;139(12):996-1002
* Guyton, J. R., Blazing, M.A., Hagar, J., et al. Extended-release niacin vs Gemfibrozil for the treatment of low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Arch Intern Med, 2000, 160: 1177-1184.
* Kamanna, V.S., Kashyap, M.L., Mechanism of Action of Niacin on Lipoprotein Metabolism, Current Atherosclerosis Reports 2000, 2:36-46
* Heady JA, Morris JN, Oliver MF. WHO clofibrate/cholesterol trial: clarifications. Lancet 1992; 340: 1405-1406.
* Frick MH, Elo O, Haapa K, et al. Helsinki Heart Study: primary prevention trial with gemfibrozil in middle-aged men with dyslipidemia. Safety of treatment, changes in risk factors, and incidence of coronary heart disease. N Engl J Med 1987; 317: 1237-1245.
* Irwin Stone (1972) The Healing Factor: Vitamin C Against Disease, GD/Perigee Books (Putnam Pub) ISBN 0-399-50764-7


==External links==
==Historical References==
* at ]
* Wilfred Shute (1980) Complete Updated Vitamin E Book. New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing, ISBN 0879831510
* Jungeblut, C. W., Vitamin C Therapy and Prophylaxis in Experimental Poliomyelitis. J. Exper. Med., 1937, 65, 127.
* Jungeblut, C. W., Further Observations on Vitamin C. Therapy in Experimental Poliomyelitis. J. Exper. Med., 1937, 66, 459.
* Klenner, F. R., The Treatment of Poliomyelitis and Other Virus Diseases With vitamin C, So. Med. and Surg. vol. III #7, 113:101-107 July 1949
* Klenner, F. R., Virus Pneumonia and Its Treatment With Vitamin C, So. Medicine & Surgery, Vol. 110, February, 1948, No. 2, pp. 36-38, 46
* Klenner, F. R., Significance Of High Daily Intake Of Ascorbic Acid In Preventive Medicine, 1974 paper
* Lendon H. Smith, MD (1988) Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C - The Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner, MD
* William Kaufman (1943) Common Forms of Niacinamide Deficiency Disease: Aniacinamidosis. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
* William Kaufman (1949) The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction: Its Incidence and Treatment. E.L. Hildreth and Co., Brattleboro, Vermont
* R. Altschul, A. Hoffer, J.D. Stephen, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 54, 558, 1955.


{{Vitamin}}
==External links==
{{Food chemistry}}
*
{{Nutritional pathology}}
*
{{Dietary supplement}}
*
{{alternative medicine}}
*
{{pseudoscience}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Megavitamin Therapy}}
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Latest revision as of 18:43, 10 October 2024

Form of alternative medicine

Megavitamin therapy
ClaimsHealth effects from very high doses of vitamins.
Related scientific disciplinesvitamins, dietary supplements
Year proposed1930s
Notable proponentsFrederick Klenner, Linus Pauling
(Overview of pseudoscientific concepts)
Part of a series on
Alternative medicine
General information
Fringe medicine and science
Controversies
Classifications
Traditional medicine
Alternative diagnoses

Megavitamin therapy is the use of large doses of vitamins, often many times greater than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) in the attempt to prevent or treat diseases. Megavitamin therapy is typically used in alternative medicine by practitioners who call their approach orthomolecular medicine. Vitamins are useful in preventing and treating illnesses specifically associated with dietary vitamin shortfalls, but the conclusions of medical research are that the broad claims of disease treatment by advocates of megavitamin therapy are unsubstantiated by the available evidence. It is generally accepted that doses of any vitamin greatly in excess of nutritional requirements will result either in toxicity (vitamins A and D) or in the excess simply being metabolised; thus evidence in favour of vitamin supplementation supports only doses in the normal range. Critics have described some aspects of orthomolecular medicine as food faddism or even quackery. Research on nutrient supplementation in general suggests that some nutritional supplements might be beneficial, and that others might be harmful; several specific nutritional therapies are associated with an increased likelihood of the condition they are meant to prevent.

Multivitamin vs megavitamin

Megavitamin therapy must be distinguished from the usual "vitamin supplementation" approach of traditional multivitamin pills. Megavitamin doses are far higher than the levels of vitamins ordinarily available through western diets. A study of 161,000 individuals (post-menopausal women) provided, in the words of the authors, "convincing evidence that multivitamin use has little or no influence on the risk of common cancers, cardiovascular disease, or total mortality in postmenopausal women".

History

In the 1930s and 1940s, some scientific and clinical evidence suggested that there might be beneficial uses of vitamins C, E, and niacin in large doses. Beginning in the 1930s in Canada, a megadose vitamin E therapy for cardiovascular and circulatory complaints was developed by Evan Shute and colleagues, named the "Shute protocol". Tentative experiments in the 1930s by Claus W. Jungeblut with larger doses of vitamin C led to Frederick Klenner's development of megadose intravenous vitamin C treatments for polio and other viruses in the 1940s. William Kaufman published articles in the 1940s that detailed his treatment of arthritis with frequent, high doses of niacinamide. Rudolf Altschul and Abram Hoffer applied large doses of the immediate release form of niacin (Vitamin B3) to treat hypercholesterolemia. In a 1956 publication entitled Biochemical Individuality, Roger J. Williams introduced concepts for individualized megavitamins and nutrients. Megavitamin therapies were also publicly advocated by Linus Pauling in the late 1960s.

Usage as therapy

Although megavitamin therapies still largely remain outside of the structure of evidence-based medicine, they are increasingly used by patients, with or without the approval of their treating physicians, often after recommendations by practitioners of orthomolecular and naturopathic medicine. The proposed efficacy of various megavitamin therapies to reduce cancer risk has been contradicted by results of one clinical trial.

Vitamin C

Main article: Vitamin C megadosage

The US Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin C for adult women is 76 mg/day and for adult men 90 mg/day. Although Linus Pauling was known for highly respectable research in chemistry and biochemistry, he was also known for promoting the consumption of vitamin C in large doses. Although he claimed and stood firm in his claim that consuming over 1,000 mg is helpful for one’s immune system when fighting a head cold, the results of empirical research do not align with this view. A meta-analysis concluded that supplementary vitamin C significantly lowered serum uric acid, considered a risk factor for gout. One population study reported an inverse correlation between dietary vitamin C and risk of gout. A review of clinical trials in the treatment of colds with small and large doses of Vitamin C has established that there is no evidence that it decreases the incidence of common colds. After 33 years of research, it is still not established whether vitamin C can be used as a treatment for cancer.

Vitamin E

The US Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin E for adult women and men is 15 mg/day. The US Food and Nutrition Board set a tolerable upper intake level (UL) at 1,000 mg (1,500 IU) per day derived from animal models that demonstrated bleeding at high doses. In the US, the popularity for vitamin E as a dietary supplement peaked around 2000, with popular doses of 400, 800 and 1000 IU/day. Declines in usage were attributed to publications of meta-analyses that showed either no benefits or negative consequences from vitamin E supplements.

Niacin

The US Recommended Dietary Allowance for niacin for adult women is 14 mg/day and for adult men 16 mg/day. Niacin is available as a prescription product, either immediate release (500 mg tablets; prescribed up to 3,000 mg/day) or extended release (500 and 1,000 mg tablets; prescribed up to 2,000 mg/day). In the US, niacin is also available as a dietary supplement at 500 to 1,000 mg/tablet. Niacin has sometimes been used in combination with other lipid-lowering medications. Systematic reviews found no effect of niacin on cardiovascular disease or death, in spite of raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Reported side effects include an increased risk of diabetes.

See also

Related topics

Vitamin topics

References

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