Periodontitis versus parodontosis

There are still dental professionals who use the old and wrong name for a periodontal disease – parodontosis. The correct name is periodontitis. – In former times bacteria couldn´t be proven because of wrong techniques-this was called parodontosis. In the last 25 years it is known that inflammation of the periodontum is caused by bacteria, […]

Gums as a reflection of our overall health!?

Gums as a reflection of our overall health? YES AND NO! Over and over again we read scientific and non scientific journals about vitamin deficiency and the consequences from it. As a result many people choose to take homeopathic medicine –a mistake most of the time! – 99% of gum diseases are attributed to plaque […]

Most common reasons for periodontitis

  – – – – – – – Most common reasons for periodontitis The most common reasons of pariodontitis are: Plaque accumulation due to poor oral hygiene, overhang restorations, ill fitting crowns Malocclusion Stress      Smoking Systemic disease such as diabetes, adverse pregnancy outcomes Fortunately all these factors are easily controlled by; Optimizing tooth brushing, by […]

Oral Rinses – are they useful in the menagement if Periodontitis?

 Is an oral rinse beneficial for patients with periodontitis? YES! An oral rinse is a useful purchase, unfortunately some doctors think it is not useful-with the argument that bacteria leaks into the periodontal pockets. That is incorrect for two main reasons; The bacteria moves only due to extensions Bacteria are harmless on their own. They are destructive only in mature plaque, causing a cavity or a […]

Periodontitis and saliva test-is it useful?

Periodontitis-saliva test? Yes and no! Our last discussion was about lasers, today we want to inform you about the saliva test. It is a common practice for some dental professionals to require that the patients with periodontal disease to undergo expensive saliva test prior to their therapy.    Congratulations! Now the patient knows that there […]

Ortho-molecular medicine – an promising new method or just another way for the nutritional supplements industry to make a quick buck?

miteinanderYet another hype of the “holistic, alternative, or ortho-molecular” medicine kind!

The term „ ortho-molecular medicine“ was coined by Linus Pauling, an American chemist (1901-1994).  Ortho-molecular medicine is an alternative form of medicine based on the premise that the general population suffers from chronic vitamin and mineral deficiency and that illnesses can be prevented or healed by administering supplements.

Around the time that Pauling was doing his research, which was between the two World Wars (around 1930) this may truly have been the case (World War I took place from 1914-1918), but now things have changed. Illnesses such as night blindness (caused by a vitamin A deficiency), rickets (vitamin D), myopathy (vitamin E), Beri-Beri (vitamin B1), Pellagra (Niacin), scurvy (vitamin C) are illnesses that few European doctors have experienced first-hand. Our hospital beds are actually full of patients suffering from „affluenza“ or illnesses common in highly developed (affluent) societies. This includes high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus II, arterio-sclerosis, obesity, fat metabolism disorders and coronary heart disease.

Basically, we’re eating ourselves to death, but we are still under the impression that we have nutritional deficiencies … what?
Obviously just another rumour spread about by the nutritional supplements industry?

One of the reasons why ortho-molecular medicine is so successful may be that it generates such high profits. A FORSA study recently found that one out of every three people living in Germany takes nutritional supplements, adding up to an estimated annual turnover of 1 billion euros, just for  vitamin and mineral supplements. Pharmaceuticals companies are also jumping on the bandwagon.

ruheBut, like with many other alternative methods, there are as yet no truly scientific studies on the effectiveness of supplements. Still, the business of ortho-molecular training and treatment is booming. Medical associations even issue diplomas in „ortho-molecular medicine”. What are our doctors selling us – products which are not even approved by studies – meaning real studies, not „pseudo-studies“!

No proof without scientific studies
Whether we’re talking about traditional or alternative medicine, our opinion is clear. If there is scientific support (evidence-based studies) for the success of a specific kind of treatment, then this method should be used for the benefit of the general public – but assumptions and anecdotes cannot be used to treat patients. See the „Homeopathic treatment“ video at Checkdent.com

Why do we still feel like we are suffering from „deficiencies“?
But people still feel empty, exhausted, and overwhelmed. Why? Is it because we are living in an increasingly competitive and profit-oriented society, where virtues such as caring and empathy are being pushed aside by bullying at the workplace and profit maximization by industries (including the medical industry)? Are the sad, tired and frustrated faces that we see in the subways, cars and buses of our cities every day a result of the way we live? Not because of a vitamin deficiency, but because we no longer pay attention to our needs, ourselves and our own inner clocks?

One thing’s for sure, it’s not because you aren’t getting enough vitamins  – have a nice (work) day!

More on this topic here!

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8 Responses to “Alternative medicine – ortho-molecular medicine – the latest hype?!”

  1. This is a shallow article. It dismisses a vast sea of scientific work for the last 70 years. This article expresses a very common attitude, so the author could be excused for parroting the party line. It defines “scientific support” in such a narrow way that the great majority of medical interventions would not pass the test. Has the dental associaton done large, random, placebo-controlled trials to prove that amalgam fillings are safe?

    The assumption that orthomolecular medicine is based on assumptions and is not evidence-based is ignorant and ridiculous. The author has obviously not spent an hour studying the subject, and with his “peers”, is causing harm beyond description. Has he read any of the dozens of books on my shelf about the subject? Has he read any of the thousands of scientific papers on which these books are based? Has he spoken to doctors who have treated tens of thousands of people with orthomolecular substances? Has he spoken to any of the people to hear their stories? I’m sure not, because the only thing that matters to people like him are studies selected to support his world view, while ignoring studies that don’t. As Simon and Garfunkel sang, “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

    Dolev Reuven Gilmore

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  2. One more thing to add. Even the article’s title, calling orthomolecular medicine “the latest hype”, shows ignorance. “Latest”? It’s been around for 70 years, even before double Nobel Prize winner and greatest chemist of the 20th century, Linus Pauling, coined the term. Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, was using orthomolecular substances to cure schizophrenics for many years before that, and other great work was also done. Hoffer, by the way, did 9 placebo-controlled trials, but of course,these have been “discredited” by those who want to ignore this kind of thing. By giving niacin, and sometimes also vitamin C, Hoffer cured 75% of acute schizophrenics compared to just 35% of those taking placebo. If a patented drug would cure 40% compared to 35%, the news would be blasted in headlines across the world, and the drug would rake in billion of dollars a year.

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  3. Dear Dolev Gilmore!

    We thank you for your comment and accept your point of view.
    Nevertheless “Orthomolecular medicine” is used as a cash cow for the industry.
    Please deliver us any EVIDENCED BASED study, which was published in an A – Journal. You will see, if you use an scientic approach for this topic, the air is getting very thin…

    Your Dental News Team

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  4. Do you worry about prescription drugs being used as a cash cow? The advertising budget of the pharmaceutical drug industry is greater than the gross sales of supplements.

    Many of the greatest proponents of orthomolecular medicine, past and present, such as Pauling, Hoffer, Irwin Stone, Robert Cathcart, Thomas Levy, never sold supplements. Neither do many orthomolecular practitioners.

    Look at http://www.orthomolecular.org, where you can download many past issues of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. These are full of evidence-based studies. An interesting fact is that Medline, which indexes about 5000 medical journals from around the world, won’t index the JOM. Why? It’s a peer-reviewed journal. If you type in Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in the Medline search box, it returns 35 mentions, but none of these are articles from the jounal. At least that search is more prolific than the search for “Playboy”, which only returns 26 citations.

    The idea that diseases besides, scurvy, beriberi, rickets and pellagra can’t come from nutrient deficiencies is terribly antiquated. The request for EVIDENCE BASED studies is ridiculous. It’s like asking for proof that vegetables exist. Just open your eyes and you’ll see them everywhere. Maybe that sounds silly, but they are very numerous. Before I retrieve one for you, I’d have to ask what is your definition of EVIDENCE? And please narrow my choice down by telling me what subject you are interested in. Better yet, read a book by one of the authors above, or my book, which brings quite a few studies about the benefits of multivitamins for children, omega-3 and learning and more. Besides, there are a lot of explanations about orthomolecular thinking.

    But anyway, here’s a description of one study that’s in my mailbox today, from Dr. Garry Gordon’s newsletter:

    Five million dollar randomized controlled trial sponsored by Thrasher Research Fund and NIH

    Scientists around the world presented their work at the recent Vitamin D conference in Brugge, Belgium. Many, but not all, of the scientists opined that we have to wait for randomized controlled trials (RCT) before recommending Vitamin D. In a future newsletter, I will review many of these presentations.

    However, one was extraordinary. Professor Bruce Hollis presented findings from his and Carol Wagner’s five million dollar Thrasher Research Fund and NIH sponsored randomized controlled trials of about 500 pregnant women. Bruce and Carol’s discoveries are vital for every pregnant woman. Their studies had three arms: 400, 2,000, and 4,000 IU/day.

    1. 4,000 IU/day during pregnancy was safe (not a single adverse event) but only resulted in a mean Vitamin D blood level of 27 ng/ml in the newborn infants, indicating to me that 4,000 IU per day during pregnancy is not enough.
    2. During pregnancy, 25(OH)D (Vitamin D) levels had a direct influence on activated Vitamin D levels in the mother’s blood, with a minimum Vitamin D level of 40 ng/ml needed for mothers to obtain maximum activated vitamin D levels. (As most pregnant women have Vitamin D levels less than 40 ng/ml, this implies most pregnant women suffer from chronic substrate starvation and cannot make as much activated Vitamin D as their placenta wants to make.)
    3. Complications of pregnancy, such as preterm labor, preterm birth, and infection were lowest in women taking 4,000 IU/day, Women taking 2,000 IU per day had more infections than women taking 4,000 IU/day. Women taking 400 IU/day, as exists in prenatal vitamins, had double the pregnancy complications of the women taking 4,000 IU/day.

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  5. Dolev Supporter says:

    Miodownik C, Meoded A, Libov I, Bersudsky Y, Sela BA, Lerner V. Pyridoxal plasma level in
    schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients with and without tardive dyskinesia. Clin
    Neuropharmacol. 2008 Jul-Aug;31(4):197-203.

    Lerner V, Miodownik C, Kaptsan A, Bersudsky Y, Libov I, Sela BA, Witztum E.
    Vitamin B6 treatment for tardive dyskinesia: a randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled,
    crossover study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;68(11):1648-54

    Naidu PS, Kulkarni, SK. Quercetin, a bioflavonoid, reverses haloperidol-induced
    catalepsy. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2004 Jun;26(5):323-6.

    Coppen, A., Bailey, J., Enhancement of the antidepressant action of fluoxetine by folic acid: a
    randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Affect Disorders 2000; 60: 121-30.

    Jazayeri S, Peet M. Comparison of therapeutic effects of omega-3 fatty acid
    eicosapentaenoic acid and fluoxetine, separately and in combination, in major depressive
    disorder. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2008; 42(3):192-8.

    Frangou S, Lewis M, McCrone P. Efficacy of ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid in bipolar depression:
    randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Br J Psychiatry. 2006; 188: 46-50.

    Nardini, M., De Stefano, R., Iannuccelli, M., Battistini, N. Treatment of depression with 5-
    hydroxytryptophan combined with chlorimipramine, a double blind study. Int J Clin Pharamacol
    Res. 1983;3(4):239-50.

    Fava, M. Augmenting antidepressants with folate: a clinical perspective. J Clin
    Psychiatry. 2007;68 Suppl 10:4-7.

    Whyte EM, Mulsant BH, Butters MA, Qayyum M, Towers A, Sweet RA, Klunk W,
    Wisniewski S, DeKosky ST. Cognitive and behavioral correlates of low vitamin B12 levels in
    elderly patients with progressive dementia. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002 May-Jun;10(3):321-7.

    Dharmarajan TS, Norkus EP. Approaches to vitamin B12 deficiency. Early treatment may
    prevent devastating complications. Postgrad Med. 2001 Jul;110(1):99-105.

    Kohn, R., Saxena, S., Levav, I., Saraceno, B. The treatment gap in mental health care. Bull
    World Health Organ. 2004 Nov;82(11):858-66. Epub 2004 Dec 14

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  6. Dear Dolev (and supporter)!

    We take a closer look at the studies you sent us.
    Look and see what we found:

    Miodownik C, Meoded A, Libov I, Bersudsky Y, Sela BA, Lerner V. Pyridoxal plasma level in schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients with and without tardive dyskinesia. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2008 Jul-Aug;31(4):197-203.
    • The study does not fulfil EBM standards!
    • The Cochrane database contains no information on this topic!
    • The impact factor of this journal is 2,547 – we accept journals of impact factor 15 and above – anything less than 15 is worth little more than a tabloid – sorry! Although impact factor is not always a reliable means of rating a journal – especially journals over 15 IF, journals below this value are usually just trash!

    Lerner V, Miodownik C, Kaptsan A, Bersudsky Y, Libov I, Sela BA, Witztum E.
    Vitamin B6 treatment for tardive dyskinesia: a randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, crossover study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;68(11):1648-54 • The Cochrane database contains no information on this topic!
    • The impact factor of this journal is 2,547 …
    • Vit. B6 metabolism has nothing to do with „orthomolecular“ medicine, but with vitamin metabolism, you are using a study on metabolism to support a hype / this is unprofessional!.

    Naidu PS, Kulkarni, SK. Quercetin, a bioflavonoid, reverses haloperidol-induced catalepsy. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2004 Jun;26(5):323-6.
    • The study does not fulfil EBM standards!
    • The Cochrane database contains no information on this topic!
    • The impact factor of this journal is 0,687 …. ridiculous …

    Coppen, A., Bailey, J., Enhancement of the antidepressant action of fluoxetine by folic acid: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Affect Disorders 2000; 60: 121-30.
    • The study does not fulfil EBM standards!
    • The Cochrane database contains no information on this topic!
    • The impact factor of this journal is 3.271 ….
    • Studies on metabolism appear all the time – but they have nothing to do with „orthomolecular“ medicine …

    Jazayeri S, Peet M. Comparison of therapeutic effects of omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid and fluoxetine, separately and in combination, in major depressive disorder. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2008; 42(3):192-8.
    ….

    Frangou S, Lewis M, McCrone P. Efficacy of ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid in bipolar depression:
    randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Br J Psychiatry. 2006; 188: 46-50.
    ….

    Nardini, M., De Stefano, R., Iannuccelli, M., Battistini, N. Treatment of depression with 5- hydroxytryptophan combined with chlorimipramine, a double blind study. Int J Clin Pharamacol Res. 1983;3(4):239-50.
    ….

    Fava, M. Augmenting antidepressants with folate: a clinical perspective. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68 Suppl 10:4-7.
    ….

    Whyte EM, Mulsant BH, Butters MA, Qayyum M, Towers A, Sweet RA, Klunk W, Wisniewski S, DeKosky ST. Cognitive and behavioral correlates of low vitamin B12 levels in elderly patients with progressive dementia. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002 May-Jun;10(3):321-7.
    ….

    Dharmarajan TS, Norkus EP. Approaches to vitamin B12 deficiency. Early treatment may prevent devastating complications. Postgrad Med. 2001 Jul;110(1):99-105.
    ….

    Kohn, R., Saxena, S., Levav, I., Saraceno, B. The treatment gap in mental health care. Bull World Health Organ. 2004 Nov;82(11):858-66. Epub 2004 Dec 14

    Dear User!

    None of the studies listed here fulfil EBM standards – more on this topic here. Watch the following video (Statistics).

    The molecular biology techniques used in this study are same as those used 20 years ago – probably due to the fact that no molecular biologists participated in the teams conducting the study, only doctors.

    Doctors do not have any specialized training in science or molecular biology, find out more about evidence-based medicine, statistics, and scientific research.

    A list of badly conducted metabolism studies in no way supports „orthomolecular“ medicine – we are talking about molecular biology: if you as a doctor have only just realized that humans beings function through „bio-chemical processes“ – then we recommend courses in „Biochemistry, Cellular biology, Molecular Biology“ – which has nothing to do with „Orthomolecularity“ – whatever that means.

    Best Regards,

    Your DentalNews Team

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  7. I guess a lot depends on how broadly you define orthomolecular. I don’t know what definition the DentalNews Team uses, but they seem to deny anything that has to do with vitamins helping people beyond scurvy, rickets, etc. That attitude is about 80 years old and stuck in the past, ignoring all vitamin research done since then because it doesn’t appear in Cochrane or fulfill EBM standards of their choosing. “Evidence-Based Medicine” is used here, pasted on their flag, used as a weapon against whatever they want to use it against.

    If we wait for the level of “proof” the Team demands, no one will ever take a vitamin pill, because the trials will never be conducted. The Team will only accept evidence that has nothing to do with what people experience or observe. The results of this attitude are beyond disasterous, and have little to do with the way science has discovered things. Luckily, the public doesn’t need their approval (so far)and we can use whatever evidence we want.

    I must also point out the double standard in play here. It is like a pointing hand, with one finger pointing at the other person, while three fingers are pointing back. A very small percentage of medical procedures are backed up by the kind of evidence the Team is demanding here. Show me the kind of evidence you are demanding for the use of any three drugs together. Do you have a placebo-controlled trial for the use of a statin along with an anti-depressant and a diabetic drug? Do you have trials for three different heart meds together? Have you done placebo amalgam fillings? Have you used placebo fluoride? Etc.

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  8. Hello Dolev Gilmore!
    You are right: Some medical treatments do not correspond to evidence – based guidlines, a grievance that reliable medicines and scientists have been working on intensly over the last years. These grievances should not be repeated!

    The listing of side-effects investigations caused by adjunctions of different medicines has nothing to do with previous arguments, cause regarding your advertised therapy forms we were not talking about adjunctions either. It is very difficult to analyse these kind of combinations effects seriously, but not impossible – you have a populist and inexact argumentation, which is usual for the “alternative” medicine.

    We don´t negate the effect of vitamins and micronutrients, but on Dental News we try to give objective informations to people. If you live in an industrial country, we would recommend to get informations from hospitals in your area. You will not find patients with deficits of vitamins,- and/or micronutrients. (there are five doctors in our team with long standing carreers in hospitals) nobody ever was confronted with such a patiens clientele, but mostly you have:

    • alcoholic disease patients
    • overweighted people
    • people with arteriosclerosis
    • high blood pressure patients
    • diabetics
    •…

    All those diseases (except alcoholic disease patients) will be summarised as “affluence syndrom”. So there are no faults in our system, we struggle with abundance, because all the diseased named above will be caused by massiv consumption.
    So you can put away as many vitamins as possible , your body is not able to take in more than 100%. The rest ends up in the toilet, at least partially.
    Our society lacks in warmth, time and attention-certainly also problems in traditional medicine. The whole “alternative medicine” realised that, no matter if we are talking about homeopathy, orthomolecular medicine, kinesiology or alternative medicine-all of them have one in common: “apparently” they listen to the patient.

    Just because of this attention diseases like depressions, general depressive moods, illness can be attended successfully-that is also known long ago. But patients are not aware of these combinations and thats why “success”, which will be achieved by attention, is used as a rapid sale for miscellaneous products.

    We want to inform people and show them how to analyse things critically! The science we practise and which we give to the public is for the people and has no self-interest!

    Kind Regards,
    Your Dental News Team

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  9. Tracy H says:

    The ignorance of this article is hilarious. The author should have done a bit more research in regards to the history of the traditional art of medacine before putting finger to key and putting this toxic crap on the web. Don’t let this article be your idea of an amazing medical practice. Our current trend in treatment is poison; and could truly take some pointers from an old art.

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  10. High as a kite says:

    If it was not for orthomolecular medicine, I would be dead.

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