Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecules are primary in medical diagnosis and treatment. The safe and effective use of nutrients, enzymes, hormones and other naturally occurring molecules is essential to assure a reasonable standard of care in medical practice.

Founded on the science of molecular biochemistry, orthomolecular medicine establishes that genetic factors affect not only the physical characteristics of individuals, but also their biochemical environment. The metabolic pathways of the body have significant genetic variability and diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, schizophrenia and depression are associated with specific biochemical abnormalities which are causal or contributing factors.

Orthomolecular medicine, as conceptualized by double-Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, aims to restore the optimum environment of the body by correcting molecular imbalances on the basis of individual biochemistry. The term ‘orthomolecular’ meaning ‘correct molecule’ was first used by Linus Pauling in his seminal article, Orthomolecular Psychiatry, published in the journal Science in 1968.

Orthomolecular medicine,^[1][2] a form of alternative medicine, aims to maintain human health through nutritional supplementation. The concept builds on the idea of an optimum nutritional environment in the body and suggests that diseases reflect deficiencies in this environment. Treatment for disease, according to this view, involves attempts to correct "imbalances or deficiencies based on individual biochemistry" by use of substances such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements and fatty acids.

^Linus Pauling coined the term "orthomolecular" in the 1960s to mean "the right molecules in the right amounts" (ortho- in Greek implies "correct").^[11] Proponents of orthomolecular medicine hold that treatment must be based on each patient's individual biochemistry.^[12][13]