Megavitamin therapy is the use of vitamins in large doses, often greater than the recommended dietance allowance (RDA) in an attempt to prevent or treat disease. Megavitamin therapy is usually used in alternative medicine by practitioners who call their approach an orthomolecular drug, but it is also used in the main treatment for rare genetic conditions that respond to megadotic vitamins.
Nutrition may be useful in preventing and treating some diseases, but the conclusion of medical research is that the widespread claim of disease treatment by supporters of megavitamin therapy is not proved by available evidence. It is generally accepted that a dose of vitamins that greatly exceeds the nutritional needs will produce toxicity or excess that is only metabolized - evidence supporting vitamin supplementation only supports doses within the normal range. Critics have described some aspects of orthomolecular medicine as faddism or even shamanic food. Research on nutritional supplementation in general suggests that some nutritional supplements may be beneficial, and others may be harmful; some specific nutritional therapies are associated with a possible increase in conditions intended to prevent it.
Video Megavitamin therapy
Multivitamin vs megavitamin
Megavitamin therapy should be distinguished from the usual 'vitamin supplementation' approach of traditional multivitamin pills. The dose of megavitamine is much higher than the level of vitamin usually available through the western diet. A study of 161,000 individuals (post-menopausal women) was provided, in the authors' words, "convincing evidence that multivitamin use has little or no effect on general cancer risk, cardiovascular disease, or total mortality in postmenopausal women".
Maps Megavitamin therapy
History
In the 1930s and 1940s, some scientific and clinical evidence suggested that there may be beneficial benefits of vitamins C, E, and B 3 in large doses. Beginning in the 1930s, Shutes in Canada developed vitamin E megadosis therapy for cardiovascular and circulatory complaints, calling it the "Shute protocol". However, the 2004 meta-analysis showed no association between vitamin E supplementation and cardiovascular events (nonfatal stroke or myocardial infarction) or cardiovascular mortality.
A tentative experiment in the 1930s with larger doses of vitamin C was replaced by the development of Fred R. Klenner from intravenous vitamin C treatment for polio and other viruses in the 1940s. William Kaufman published an article in the 1940s that detailed the treatment of arthritis with frequent, high-dose niacinamide.
In 1954, Rudolf Altschul and Abram Hoffer applied a large dose of release of niacin (Vitamin B 3 ) to treat hypercholesterolaemia. In a 1956 publication entitled Biochemical Individuality, Roger J. Williams introduced the concept for megavitamin and individual nutrients. Megavitamin therapies were also openly supported by Linus Pauling in the late 1960s. In 1956, experimental results suggested that niacin could be useful in the treatment of high cholesterol, a result confirmed in 1986.
Use of therapy
Although megavitamin therapy remains largely outside the evidence-based medical structure, they are increasingly being used by patients, with or without the consent of their treating physicians, often after recommendations by orthomolecular and naturopathic medical practitioners.
In 2008, the researchers determined that higher intake of vitamin C reduces serum uric acid levels and may be useful in the prevention of uric acid.
The proposed efficacy of various megavitamin therapies to reduce the risk of cancer has been contrary to the results of a single clinical trial. A review of clinical trials in the treatment of colds with small and large doses of Vitamin C has determined that there is no evidence that it reduces the incidence of common colds. After 33 years of research, it remains unknown whether vitamin C can be used as a treatment for cancer.
While some vitamins do not have a tolerable upper intake level, some other vitamins, including vitamins A and D, are known to be toxic at high doses.
Controversy
Although Linus Pauling is known for his highly respected research in chemistry and biochemistry, he is also known for promoting the consumption of vitamin C in large doses. Pauling wrote several books that support vitamin C megadoses. Although he claims and stands firm in his claim that consuming more than 1,000 mg is helpful for one's immune system during cold fighting, the results of empirical research are not aligned with this view. Researchers Vitetta, Sali, Paspaliaris, and Reavley (2002) completed a randomized, double blind control study with 400 healthy participants. During an 18-month trial, 189 cases of headache were reported. The researchers found that there was no significant difference between drug groups, and taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C on the first signs of cold head did not help (Vitetta et al., 2002). There are also some mild but unwanted diseases associated with vitamin C megadoses. These diseases were first noted in 1981 by Dr. Fong, who says that large doses of vitamin C can cause diarrhea and urethritis for a limited time (Fong, 1981).
Although some studies support vitamin megadosis for certain conditions, studies have also revealed that in high levels, vitamin A and D are fat soluble can be toxic. A study by Bothra, Gupta, and Jain (2016) found that large doses of vitamin D help children with nutritional rickets; However, they noted concerns about vitamin D toxicity. Specifically, 1.5 months after injection, some children had toxic vitamin D levels (Bothra et al., 2016).
See also
related topics
- Codex Alimentarius
- Essential nutrients
- Health freedom movement
- Life extensions
- Ineffective list of cancer treatments
Topics of vitamins
- Multivitamins
- Naturopathic Treatment
- Orthomolecular medicine
- Vitamin C megadosage
- Hypervitaminosis (excess vitamin intake)
- Hypervitaminosis A
- Hypervitaminosis D
- Hypervitaminosis E
References
External links
- Orthomolecular Therapy at Quackwatch
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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