JOM Volume 28, Number 1, 2013 Editorial 3

shown signi"cant therapeutic results when Celebrating Orthomolecular Medicine optimal doses of oral C were com- bined with other orthomolecules resulting in improved longevity among patients, as ’s genius in combining the well as improved quality of life. While there term “ortho” with “molecular” was a Greek- will most certainly be some readers who will Latin hybrid referring to the use of the right question the theory put forth by Hickey and molecules in the right amounts for the pur- Roberts, their paper cogently argues that our pose of optimizing brain function. While biology and even cancer biology is best man- Pauling rightfully deserves credit for coin- aged by consuming optimal doses of vitamin ing and explaining the term orthomolecular, C orally. the founding father of this movement was We also have a review paper by Burford- the late Dr. Abram Ho!er. In fact, it was Mason on the value of magnesium for car- Ho!er’s book, How to Live with Schizophre- diovascular and disease modi"cation. nia1, that inspired Pauling to write his Sci- Magnesium is such an integral orthomol- ence article in which orthomolecular was "rst ecule to health, and yet, from my vantage introduced to the scienti"c community.2 A point, it is overwhelmingly under-utilized lot has happened since Pauling’s 1968 paper. even by orthomolecularly inclined clinicians. Orthomolecular medicine is now much bet- I know this "rsthand since I oversee a fairly ter understood than it was decades ago, since large outpatient clinic in Toronto. I regularly many internet-savvy individuals as well as review "les of other colleagues and, to my many people seeking integrative strategies for amazement, this fundamental is of- their health have learned about its relevance, ten forgotten in lieu of newer and sometimes especially with respect to the treatment of more expensive treatment options. Consider mental illness. Likewise, numerous health the likely bene"ts if all patients with cardio- care practitioners from multiple disciplines vascular risk factors or established disease endorse this speci"c application of nutrition were given optimal doses of magnesium. If for the betterment of their patients this became the norm or standard approach, #is journal has also had a steady and we would observe much less cardiovascular continued presence within nutritional medi- morbidity and signi"cantly less mortality. cine even though we continue to be stone- Why are so many patients developing mag- walled for inclusion into PubMed (NLM) nesium depletion? Given the fact that many indexing. Ho!er would be proud of this individuals have problems moderating the journal and the direction it has taken since “stresses” of life, and combine that with their his passing. He would be satis"ed with the high-caloric, nutrient-devoid diets, then we breadth of scholarship that continues to have a potentially lethal mix that lends itself emerge. I believe this issue, in particular, to chronic magnesium insu$ciency among pays homage to Ho!er’s scienti"c creativity the populace. Burford-Mason articulates all and original thinking. We have an original that we need to know about magnesium and article by Hickey and Roberts about oral vi- cardiovascular health, and does so very prag- tamin C and why the oral form (as opposed matically. She o!ers a simple questionnaire to intravenous administration) might be a that can detect the presence of magnesium better long-term treatment strategy for can- insu$ciency since standard testing lacks cer. #eir hypothesis makes sense to me, as I the ability to detect magnesium depletion hope it will to the readers of this journal. I am when it is present. I can attest to this. I have often perplexed when my fellow colleagues, requisitioned numerous red blood cell mea- interns and students typically mention high- surements of magnesium and rarely do they dose intravenous without any ref- come back positive for a de"ciency. Yet, in erence to (or perhaps, even knowledge of ) most cases, these patients still bene"t from several substantive publications3-6 that have optimal doses of this mineral and clinically 4 Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol 28, No. 1, 2013

report improvements usually within days of other nutrients with similar patients not receiving these doses. J Orthomol Med, 1993; 8: 157-167. supplementation. 5. Ho!er A: How to live longer and feel better – Lastly, I present a viewpoint article on even with cancer. J Orthomol Med, 1996; 11: 147- how orthomolecular medicine is a more 167. rational treatment approach than psychiat- 6. Jaakkola K, Lähteenmäki P, Laakso J, et al: Treat- ric for patients struggling with ment with and other nutrients in combination with chemotherapy and irradiation mental illness. I argue that orthomolecular in patients with small-cell lung cancer. Anticancer therapies should be used aggressively since Res, 1992; 12: 599-606. their greatest value is not only in their health-promoting actions, but in their abil- ity to spare a signi"cant amount of patients the ill-health that often results from psychi- atric medication. I also point out that most patients are unaware of the signi"cant risks involved with psychiatric medication, nor- mally prescribed with little or no valid con- sent being a!orded. I do hope our readership "nds this issue appealing. We look forward to your feedback. We also encourage our readers to contribute to orthomolecular scholarship by submitting papers. All submitted papers will receive an honest review by me and members of our editorial team.

Best wishes in the New Year!

Jonathan E. Prousky, ND, MSc Editor References 1. Ho!er A, Osmond H: How to Live with Schizo- phrenia. New York, NY. Citadel Press. 1966. 2. Pauling L: Orthomolecular . Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease. Science, 1968; 160: 265-271. 3. Ho!er A, Pauling L: Hardin Jones biostatistical analysis of mortality data for cohorts of cancer pa- tients with a large fraction surviving at the termi- nation of the study and a comparison of survival times of cancer patients receiving large regular oral doses of vitamin C and other nutrients with similar patients not receiving those doses. J Or- thomol Med, 1990; 5: 143-154. 4. Ho!er A, Pauling L: Hardin Jones biostatisti- cal analysis of mortality data for a second set of cohorts of cancer patients with a large fraction surviving at the termination of the study and a comparison of survival times of cancer patients receiving large regular oral doses of vitamin C and