Abraham Hoffer

Abram Hoffer

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Abram Hoffer (1917-2009) was a Canadian psychiatrist known for his claims that nutrition and megadoses of vitamins are effective treatments for schizophrenia. This general approach, called orthomolecular medicine by its proponents and questioned by most of the mainstream medical community, includes the use of megavitamins and is commonly called megavitamin therapy.

Contents [hide] 1 Bio 2 Research 3 Controversy 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 External links

Bio

Hoffer received a degree in agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan in 1938, followed by a Masters degree in agricultural chemistry in 1940. He received a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1944 with research into vitamin content of cereals. Hoffer graduated with an MD from the University of Toronto in 1949 and completed psychiatric training in 1954.^[1]

Hoffer was a faculty member of the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan from 1955–67 and served as the Director of Psychiatric Research for the Saskatchewan Department of Public Health in Regina from 1950–67.^[1] He stated that half the patients housed in the mental hospital were diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and that the conditions in the mental hospital and the treatment of these patients were poor, and looked for better answers to treat the mentally ill.^[2] Critical of psychiatry for its emphasis on psychosomatic psychoanalysis and for what he considered a lack of adequate definition and measurement, Hoffer felt that biochemistry and human physiology should be used instead. He hypothesised that schizophrenics lack the ability to remove a hallucinogenic metabolite adrenochrome from their brains. He speculated that he could decrease the concentration of adrenochrome in the brain by using vitamin C to reduce adrenochrome to adrenaline and using niacin as a methyl acceptor to prevent the conversion of noradrenaline into adrenaline. Hoffer called his theory the "adrenochrome hypothesis".^[3]

By the mid-1960s, according to Hoffer, psychiatry was emphasising the use of neuroleptic drugs. Hoffer claims that he and like-minded researchers, calling themselves "orthomolecularists", were snubbed and became the victims of a conspiracy, with their reports rejected by scientific journals.^[4] In 1967, Hoffer resigned his academic and administrative positions, entered into private psychiatric practice in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and created the Journal of Schizophrenia as a means of publishing articles rejected by mainstream journals. After several name changes, the journal was called the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in 1986.^[4] In 1976, Hoffer relocated to Victoria, British Columbia and continued with his private psychiatric practice until his retirement in 2005. Hoffer continues to provide nutritional consultations and to serve as editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.^[2] He is also President of the Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Centre in Victoria, BC.^[5]

Hoffer died May 27, 2009 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.^[6]

Research

Working with counterculture icon Humphry Osmond (who coined the term "psychedelic"), Hoffer sought to find medicinal uses for hallucinogenic drugs.^[7] Theorizing that alcoholics needed to "hit bottom" before they were willing to stop drinking, Hoffer and Osmond treated alcoholics with LSD. Their stated goal was to simulate delirium tremens (i.e.: hitting bottom). Osmond reported a fifty percent success rate in one study, although Hoffer speculated that it was more likely the psychedelic experience of LSD, rather than simulated delirium tremens, that convinced the alcoholics to stop drinking.^[8]

Incidental to Hoffer's psychiatric work with niacin, he was part of a team that reported an effect of niacin on cholesterol levels.^[9]

Observing biochemical abnormalities and serendipitous cancer recoveries among his psychiatric patients, Hoffer worked for several years on the potential anticancer effects of nutrients, particularly the B vitamins, selenium, and ascorbate. He says this included treating hundreds of cancer patients with nutrients, with reported success.^[10] Hoffer collaborated with Linus Pauling on several aspects of orthomolecular medicine,^[11] co-authoring several books with Pauling.^[12][13] These claims are rejected by medicine, with large-scale trials showing little or no effect of vitamins on cancer; large doses of some vitamins are correlated with an increase in the cancers they are claimed to prevent.^[14]

Controversy

Hoffer's claims regarding schizophrenia and his theories of orthomolecular medicine have been rejected by the medical community.^[15] In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association reported methodological flaws in Hoffer's work on niacin as a schizophrenia treatment and referred to follow-up studies that did not confirm any benefits of the treatment.^[16] Later studies similarly failed to find benefits in the use of megavitamin therapy to treat schizophrenia.^[17] The term "orthomolecular medicine" was labeled a misnomer as early as 1973^[16] and its practices are currently considered inadequate as a treatment for schizophrenia.^[18]

Hoffer predicted in the 1950s that it would take at least forty years for his methods to become accepted. In a 2006 interview, Hoffer stated that while he felt that current mainstream psychiatric care was "terrible", his theories and treatments were starting to become more accepted. "[W]e're at a transition point. If I live another four or five years, I'll see it."^[2]

Bibliography

Hoffer's publications include:

• Hoffer Abram, Osmond Humphry (1960). Chemical Basis of Clinical Psychiatry. Springfield, Illinois: Thomas. OCLC 631787. 
• Hoffer Abram (1962). Niacin therapy in psychiatry (American lecture series). Springfield, Illinois: Thomas. OCLC 1629909. 
• Hoffer Abram (1992 (1966, 1978)). How to Live With Schizophrenia (2nd ed., revised ed.). Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1382-9. 
• Hoffer Abram (1966). New Hope for Alcoholics. University Books. 
• Hoffer Abram (1967). The Hallucinogens. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-351850-4. 
• Hoffer Abram; Osmond Humphry; Kelm H (1975). Hoffer-Osmond Diagnostic Test. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Behavior Science Press. 
• Hoffer A; Pauling L (2004). Healing Cancer: Complementary Vitamin & Drug Treatments. CCNM Press. ISBN 1-897025-11-4. 

1. ^ ^{a b} Hoffer, Abram. "Curriculum Vitae". Health World Online. http://www.healthy.net/bios/hoffer/CV.htm. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Rob Wipond (August 2006). "An interview with Dr. Abram Hoffer". Focus. http://robwipond.com/?p=21. 
3. ^ Hoffer, Abram. "Vitamins and Minerals Help Fight Off Diseases of The Mind and The Body". Life extension magazine. http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2003/jan2003_report_hoffer_01.html. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Hoffer, Abram. "Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine History". http://www.orthomed.org/jom/jomhist.htm. 
5. ^ "Self published". Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Centre. http://www.orthomolecularvitamincentre.com/. 
6. ^ "Controversial Victoria psychiatrist Abram Hoffer dies at age 92". Times Colonist. 2009-05-28. http://www.timescolonist.com/Health/Controversial+Victoria+psychiatrist+Abram+Hoffer+dies/1640012/story.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-29. 
7. ^ Eisner, Bruce (February 11, 2004). "Humphrey Osmond Inventor of the Word "Psychedelic" Dies". http://www.bruceeisner.com/new_culture/2004/02/humphrey_osmond.html. 
8. ^ Hoffer, Abram (1970). "Treatment of alcoholism with psychedelic therapy". http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/hoffer.htm. 
9. ^ Altschul R; Hoffer A; Stephen JD. (1955). "Influence of nicotinic acid on serum cholesterol in man". Arch Biochem Biophys 54: 558–559. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(55)90070-9. PMID 14350806. 
10. ^ "Hoffer's Home Page - Orthomolecular Treatment of Cancer.". December 26, 1999. http://www.islandnet.com/~hoffer/. 
11. ^ "Correspondence, Abram Hoffer". Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers. Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections. http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/coll/pauling/catalogue/pauling01_152-162.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-28. 
12. ^ Hoffer A; Pauling L (2004). Healing Cancer: Complementary Vitamin & Drug Treatments. CCNM Press. ISBN 1-897025-11-4. 
13. ^ Hoffer A; Pauling L (1999). Vitamin C and Cancer: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press. ISBN 1-55082-078-8. 
14. ^ Satia JA, Littman A, Slatore CG, Galanko JA, White E (2009). "Long-term Use of {beta}-Carotene, Retinol, Lycopene, and Lutein Supplements and Lung Cancer Risk: Results From the VITamins And Lifestyle (VITAL) Study". American Journal of Epidemiology. doi:10.1093/aje/kwn409. 
15. ^ Bartlett, Stephen (2000-07-12). "Orthomolecular Therapy". Quack Watch. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ortho.html. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Lipton M, et al. (1973). Task Force Report on Megavitamin and Orthomolecular Therapy in Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Association. 
17. ^ Vaughan K; McConaghy N (1999). "Megavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia: a randomised, controlled trial" (abstract). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33 (1): 84–8. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1614.1999.00527.x. PMID 10197889. 
18. ^ Lerner Vladimir, et al. (2005). "The treatment of acute schizophrenia with high dose niacinmide plus ascorbate plus pyridoxine plus Centrum Forte vs. Centrum Forte only as an add-on to risperidone and dietary counseling (2005-2009 trial)". Clinicaltrials.gov. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00140166. 

• Hoffer's Home Page - Orthomolecular Treatment of Cancer

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Categories: 1917 births | 2009 deaths | Canadian psychiatrists | Orthomolecular medicine | University of Minnesota alumni | University of Toronto alumni | University of Saskatchewan faculty | People from Victoria, British Columbia | People in alternative medicine

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