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Home , Abram Hoffer, Adrenochrome

The B3 Story: The Brain

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March 2014 Volume 10: Issue 3 Introduction sician. The doctor was called away to , M.D., Ph.D., con- another examination room while the ducted the very fi rst double-blind, pla- Abram Hoffer estimates that half boy was being examined. The patient cebo-controlled studies in the history the homeless in North America are read his chart and learned he had been of . The studies showed that former mental patients. When Hoffer diagnosed with . Not B-3 could cure schizophrenia. was about 15 he went with his parents knowing what the condition was, he Hoffer wrote, “For schizophrenics, to visit a cousin who suffered with looked up the word in the dictionary the natural recovery rate is 50 percent. mental illness. Everyone was im- when he returned home. The dic- With , the re- pressed with the entrance to the hospi- tionary defi ned schizophrenia as “a covery rate is 90 percent. With , tal and the impressive waiting room. hopelessly incurable disease.” The it is 10 percent. If you use just drugs, The family waited an hour or more boy promptly shot himself. Hoffer you won’t get well.” before their cousin was brought to the expained to the boy that the condition waiting room to meet with them. Abram Hoffer became convinced was not hopeless and could be treated. early in his career that intake of nia- The long wait puzzled Hoffer until The boy eventually recovered from cin through diet was not optimal. He years later when he made the acquain- the disease. wrote, “I have been convinced for a tance of Dr. Humphrey Osmond at the Reference: long time that if we were to add 100 same hospital. Osmond explained that Hoffer, Abram, Healing Schizophrenia, Toronto, mg of vitamin B3, in niacinamide at that time conditions in the wards Canada: CCNM Press, 2008, 9-12. form, to our diet, there would be a were so bad that the public was not Mental Illness major decrease in the incidences of allowed to see them. They would schizophrenia, as well as many other fi rst give a patient a bath, take off The use of vitamin B-3 to treat diseases, such as hyperactivity and their dirty and torn clothes, and dress schizophrenia can be traced back to learning and behavioral disorders in them up in clean clothes before they Joseph Goldberger. He set the stage children.” were allowed to meet with family and for the fortifi cation of foods with vi- friends. The clothes were removed tamin B-3. About half the people in Hoffer was not close minded. As and they were returned to their ragged mental institutions went home when time went on he came to realize that garb until the next visitors came. Re- vitamin B-3 or was fi rst added other factors in addition to B-3 de- form did not take place until the wards fi ciency could contribute to schizo- were opened to the public. phrenia. Hoffer wrote, “...schizophre- nia is not a single disease as we once Schizophrenia has long been treat- thought: it is a syndrome with each ed as a hopeless and shameful condi- syndrome caused by different fac- tion. In the early 1960’s Hoffer was tors.” asked to care for a young boy with schizophrenia who had shot himself, In addition to niacin defi ciency missing his heart by about one inch. Hoffer found other complicating fac- The boy had been institutionalized tors for the disease including brain al- several times previously. After being lergies, vitamin and mineral defi cien- released he had visited his family phy- to fl our. cies, toxicities and mineral excesses, and conditions caused by drugs such Copyright © 2014 by Jim McAfee. All rights reserved. 1 as . anese prisoners of war who suffered who used quantities of References: with chronic anxiety and fear, heat sprays to control his asthma. “He had http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/ar- and cold intolerance, and debilitating colored visions with his eyes shut and chive/2012/10/21/pellagra-causes-violent-crimes. arthritis. feelings of unreality.” aspx Hoffer, Abram, Healing Schizophrenia, Toronto, GP asked Hoffer if he could try the Professor Duncan Hutcheon of the Canada: CCNM Press, 2008, 13. niacin so he could explain the fl ush to University Medical School in Saska- Hoffer, Abram, Saul, Andrew, and Foster, Har- the patients. Two weeks after he be- toon suggested , a deg- old, Niacin: The Real Story, Laguna Beach, CA.: gan the high dose niacin he was free radation product of adrenaline was Basic Health Publications, Inc., 2012, 101. of all his symptoms. He suffered a re- the culprit. Adrenochrome is similar Hoffer, Abram, Healing Schizophrenia, Toronto, Canada: CCNM Press, 2008, 15. lapse one time when he forgot to take to and was related to every Vitamin Dependency his niacin. then known. Hoffer concluded that extreme de- Hoffer followed by Humphrey Os- Understanding Abram Hoffer’s privation of nutrients early in life can mond took adrenochrome. Osmond concept of vitamin dependency is a result in an acquired dependency for saw the ceiling change color and a natural starting place for comprehen- a larger amount of some of these nu- brightly colored pattern of dots formed sion of the role of in condi- trients later in life. These individuals themselves into fi sh. Osmond felt like tions such as schizophrenia. might appear superfi cially healthy, but he was under water with a school of Two thousand Canadian soldiers they could not enjoy optimal health fi sh. When he was given a self-portrait were sent to defend Hong Kong at the until supplied with optimal doses of of Van Gogh it came alive. beginning of World War II. The Japa- the nutrients they required to make a Osmond experienced similar sen- nese attacked and these soldiers were full recovery from the damage caused sations for an extended period after imprisoned for forty-four months. by their previous malnourished state. taking the . The sensations ap- Conditions were so severe that one References: peared about 15 minutes after stress. in four died and the rest were per- http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/ar- Hoffer and Osmond found that manently impaired. Nutrition was so chive/2012/10/21/pellagra-causes-violent-crimes. poor that survivors had lost one-third aspx inhaled adrenochrome or adrenolutin of their body weight. Hoffer, Abram, Saul, Andrew, and Foster, Har- could trigger schizophrenic symp- old, Niacin: The Real Story, Laguna Beach, CA.: toms including emotional outbursts, Dr. Abram Hoffer estimated that Basic Health Publications, Inc., 2012, 34-38. delusions, and suspiciousness. every year in prison camp had aged The Adrenochrome Both the adrenochrome and ad- these soldiers by fi ve years. They suf- Hypothesis fered with the diseases of aging at an renolutin derivatives of adrenaline early age. Their affl ictions included Abram Hoffer developed the ad- proved highly unstable until Hoffer arthritis, blindness, heart disease, de- renochrome hypothesis of schizo- found a way to stabilize them. terioration of the nervous system, and phrenia in 1952. The theory suggests Interest in adrenochrome as a hal- depression. that many cases of schizophrenia are lucinogen was killed for a time as a associated with adrenalin which has In 1960 Hoffer began a project result of Dr. Max Rinkel who used ad- oxidized into adrenochrome and ad- to study the effects of niacin on ag- renochrome semicarbazide (stabilized renolutin. Both of these compounds ing patients. George Porteous, one of adrenochrome) to decrease bleeding have halucinogenic properties similar these prisoners of war, was director of in surgial patients. He found no hallu- to LSD. the institution housing Hoffer’s pa- cinogenic properties. He subsequent- tients. Porteous was one of these Jap- The origin of the adrenochrome ly admitted that he had made an error hypothesis can be traced back to in assuming tthat the two compounds Smythies and Osmond in 1952. They had identical properties. pointed out a structural similarity be- Hoffer and his associates pursued tween adrenaline and mescaline and the idea that excessive adrenaline their hallucinogenic properties. Dr. production could lead to too much John Smythies had experimented with adrenochrome and its toxic byprod- mescaline and noted that the experi- ucts such as adrenolutin. These toxic ence resembled that of some schizo- byproducts could lead to the physi- phrenics. ological and biochemical changes in These researchers also noted psy- schizophrenia. Adrenochrome chological changes in an asthmatic Based on this hypothesis Hoffer Copyright © 2014 by Jim McAfee. All rights reserved. 2 suggested that decreasing the amount er and Jeannette Dulay lends some of adrenaline would reduce the bio- credence to Hoffer’s use of vitamin chemical inclination toward schizo- B3. These researchers found that a phrenia. high-affi nity brain receptor for niacin Hoffer gave his schizophrenic pa- was decreased in the anterior cingu- tients generous quantities of vitamin late cortex of individuals suffering C because antioxidants such as vi- with schizophrenia. The researchers tamins C, E, and glutathione inhibit chose to examine this part of the brain free radical oxygen activity. Oxidized because “it is a key region...thought to adrenaline compounds appeared to be disrupted in .” Anxiety be the source of the hallucinogens in These researchers also note that schizophrenia. Hoffer did not mention schizophrenics have a much more Vitamin B3 may benefi t anxiety. carotenoids which have the most po- blunted fl ush when they take niacin Dr. Jonathan Prousky discusses nia- tent activity against free radical oxy- than do age-matched controls. The cin at length in his book Anxiety. He gen. high-affi nity niacin receptor is respon- points out that both niacin and niacin- amide have sedative activity and inter- Hoffer began using niacin for a sible for the fl ush experienced when act with the benzodiazepine receptor couple of reasons. Firstly, niacin slows an individual takes niacin. Through site. Benzodiazepines have powerful the production of adrenalin reducing this mechanism niacin causes the re- sedative, anti-anxiety, muscle relax- its downstream metabolic products lease of tissue hormones which cause ant and sleep inducing properties. as well. Hoffer’s main reason for us- dilation of the capillaries in the skin. ing niacin with schizophrenia was the A study by Craig Hudson and associ- Niacin also upregulates produc- similarity between the disease and ates found that 12 of 28 schizophrenic tion of serotonin. Pharmaceutical pellagra. He wrote, “Many psychia- patients did not vasodilate in response medications used to treat depression trists are no longer familiar with the to supplementation with niacin while and anxiety disorders usually focus clinical manifestations of the vitamin all controls responded with a fl ush. on increasing serotonin availability. defi ciency disease known as pellagra, Finally, Miller and Dulay suggest Niacin also decreases lactic acid but when the older literature is exam- looking for substances that stimulate levels in the blood. This compound is ined, it is clear that the best model of these receptors as a potential treat- produced in the muscle when exerciz- schizophrenia is pellagra.” ment for schizophrenia. One possible ing. Accumulation can cause burning Hoffer goes on to say, “It would mechanism of stimulating these recep- in the muscles during exercise. Stud- appear that pellagrins suffer from a tors is the high dose niacin untilized ies of individuals prone to panic dis- vitamin B-3 defi ciency disease, while by Hoffer. The authors suggest that corder can be triggered with infusions schizophrenics suffer from a vitamin Hoffer’s work should be “...re-eval- of sodium lactate. Control subjects did B-3 dependency disease. People with uated in the context of the limitation not respond to the infusions with pan- schizophrenia need more vitamin B-3 imposed by a defi cient receptor...” ic attacks. Lactate sensitive individu- to restore their biochemical balance als respond positively to niacinamide than people with pellagra or any ‘nor- References: which converts lactic acid to pyruvate which does not trigger anxiety. mal’ person.” Osmond, H., and Smythies, J., Schizophrenia: A Reference: Recent research by Christine Mill- new approach, J. Ment. Sci., 1952; 98:309. Hoffer, Abram, The adrenochrome hypothesis of Prousky, Jonathan, Anxiety, Ontario, Canada: schizophrenia revisited, Orthomolecular Psychia- CCNM Press, 2006, 39-60. try, 1981; 10(2): 98-118. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine Hoffer, Abram, Healing Schizophrenia, Toronto, Canada: CCNM Press, 2008, 107. Alzheimer’s Miller, C.L., Dulay, J.R. The high-affi nity nia- cin receptor HM74A is decreased in the anterior Vitamin B3 appears to be a nutri- cingulate cortex of individuals with schizophrenia, ent with wide-ranging benefi ts for Brain Res. Bull. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.brainres- bull.2008.03.015 brain function. Kim Green and her as- Hudson, Craig J., et al, The niacin challenge test: sociates published an article in 2008 clinical manifestation of altered transmembrane sig- showing that niacinamide enhanced nal transduction in schizophrenia? Biological Psy- memory in mice bred to manifest the chiatry, 1997;41:507-513. characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers concluded, “In sum-

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mary, the results presented here sug- board of AA International resented with omega-3 fatty acids. gest that nicotinamide has potential Bill’s promotion of vitamins. Reference: as a novel, safe, and inexpensive AD Wilson died of pneumonia on Jan- Rudin DO, The Major Psychoses and Neuroses (Alzheimer’s Disease) therapy...” uary 24,1971. Had he lived longer the as Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid Defi ciency Syn- drome: Substrate Pellagra, Biol Psychiatry, Septem- Reference: importance of niacin would have been ber 1981;16(9):837-850. Green, Kim N., et al., Nicotinamide restores better known in the alcoholic commu- cognition in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mice nity. Wilson inaugurated a chain reac- via a mechanism involving sirtuin inhibition and tion of B-3 use among A.A. members selective reduction of Thr231-phosphotau, The Web Resources Journal of Neuroscience, November 5, 2008; in 1965 “when I recommended the 28(45):11500-11510. vitamin to a few friends I knew to be www.imageawareness.com continually plagued by depression, www.yourbodyssignlanguage.com Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alco- tension, anxiety and lack of energy. www.jimmcafee.com holics Anonymous and popularizer Those who received marked benefi ts Disclaimer from B-3 made conscientious efforts of the program, was introduced to This publication contains the opinions to brief fellow sufferers.” niacin by Abram Hoffer in 1960. Bill and ideas of its author. It is intended to pro- References: W began to take 3 grams of the vi- vide helpful and informative material on the tamin in divided doses each day. He Hoffer, Abram, Hoffer’s Laws of Natural Nu- subjects addressed in the publication. It is had suffered with depression and fa- trition, Ontario, Canada: Quarry Press, 1996, 143- 144. provided with the understanding that the au- tigue since giving up alcohol, but the Wilson, Bill, The Vitamin B-3 Therapy, February thor and publisher are not engaged in render- niacin alleviated these symptoms. 1968, Bedford Hills, New York, 3. ing medical, health, or any other kind of per- Bill W. tested 30 of his friends in Final Thoughts sonal professional services in this newsletter. AA on niacin. Ten were free of de- The B complex in general and vi- The reader should consult his or her medical, pression, anxiety, and tension within tamin B3 in particular are appropriate health or other competent professional before one month. Another ten improved in for a trial in a wide variety of abnor- adopting any of the suggestions in this news- two months. malities involving mood and behav- letter or drawing inferences from it. Bill W. became a zealous propo- ior. Donald Rudin points out that the The author and publisher specifi cally dis- nent of the use of vitamin B3 and omega-3 fatty acids are the substrate claim all responsibility for any liability, loss, other nutrients as a treatment for ad- for the functioning of the or risk, personal or otherwise, which is in- diction. He put together private com- including vitamin B3. Rudin found curred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, munications to the medical commu- that he could lower the threshold for of use and application of any of the contents of nity informing them of the value of the niacin fl ush in schizophrenics this newsletter. niacin. The medical members of the dramatically by supplementing them Copyright © 2014 by Jim McAfee. All rights reserved. 4