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Abram Hoffer, Ph.D. M.D.
~November 11, 1917 May 27, 2009
Three Fold Inspirational
1) Clinical Expertise
2) Academic Integrity
3) Moral Courage
Humanitarian Compassion
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Clinical Expertise
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The Standard of Care
in Psychiatry2010
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Medications treat the symptoms
of mental disorders.
They cannot cure the disorder,
but they make people feel betterso they can function.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/mental-health-
medications/complete-index.shtml#pub3
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Between 1981 and 2000, total
prescriptions for allantidepressants
increased by 353% from
3.2 to 14.5 million.
Hemels M, Koren G, Einarson T. Increased use of antidepressants in Canada:
1981-2000. The
Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2002; 36:1375-1379
Estimate:
1 in 10 Americans use SSRI medications
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Year: 2000 Anti-Depressants
Stimulants Both
USA 2.7% 4.3% 33.7%
Holland 0.5% 1.2% 8.5%
Germany 0.2% 0.7% 5.9%
Prescribing Practices
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Rebecca Riley
Age 4
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Rebecca Riley
Diagnosed at age 2
ADHD
Bipolar
Insomnia
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A medical malpractice suit filed yesterday asserts
that a Tufts Medical Center psychiatrist who
diagnosed the girl as bipolar when she was 28months old and then treated her for two years with
a regimen of powerful drugs is to blame for her
death.
The parents of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley are
awaiting trial on charges that they killed her in
December 2006 with an overdose of psychiatric
drugs.
Shelley Murphy, Boston Globe Staff, April 4, 2008
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"The care we provided was
appropriate and within responsibleprofessional standards. The
appropriate care of our patients is our
greatest duty. Dr. Kifuji has
outstanding credentials and is
respected within her field.
Tufts-New England Medical Center, standing behind
their employee, Dr. Kifuji
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Dr. Kifuji has stopped practicing, pending a ruling
by the state medical board.But her lawyer has said she was
just practicingmainstream psychiatry.
It's now estimated that nearly one million children(in USA) like Rebecca Riley have been diagnosed
with bipolar disorder, or manic depression.
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The Standard of Care in Child Psychiatry
circa 2004
- Valproic acid, (anti-seizure drug used off-label in
children to calm aggression);
- Clonidine, use for insomnia.
- Seroquel for bipolar disorder (not approved for
children under the age of 16)
-No consideration of the role of diet, food allergies, sleephygiene, exercise, orthomolecules, social service
support for young parents;
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Rebecca Riley
RIP
2002-2006
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Psychiatry is more fun
when the patients get well.BSW
I enjoy my practice of psychiatry
quite well, thank you very much!
her former psychiatrist
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Initial Severity and Antidepressant Benefits:
A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the
Food and Drug Administration.
Author Irving Kirsch Dept. of Psychology Univ. Hull, UK
Background: Meta-analyses of
antidepressant medications have reported
only modest benefits over placebo treatment
and when unpublished trial data are
included, the benefit falls below accepted
criteria for clinical significance.
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Drug-placebo differences in antidepressant
efficacy increase as a function of baseline
severity, but are relatively small even for
severely depressed patients. The relationship
between initial severity and antidepressant
efficacy is attributable to decreasedresponsiveness to placebo among severely
depressed patients, rather than to increased
responsiveness to medications.
Funding:The Authors received no specific funding for this study.
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Good news:
The British National Health Service has de-listed (won't pay
for) all SSRI antidepressants and has allocated the funds to train20,000 therapists who do cognitive therapy, EMDR etc. to be made
available for moderate to severe depression instead of the drugs.
Wow!
The basis for this decision is the PLoS article submitted to the
FDA in February, showing that SSRIs are no better than placebo
as far as the intended effect is concerned, while the side-effects are
of course horrendous and include suicide, cancer and diabetes.
Just in case you haven't seen this,
Helke Ferrie (private correspondence: March 24th 2008)
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The power of wordsBy naming things we have dominion over them
Consider the varied clinical
(and financial implications!)
of these two terms:
nervous breakdownvs.
psychotic illness
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The Wisdom of the Colloquial
You are driving me crazy.
I am beside myself.
You push me to the breaking point.
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What is a nervous breakdown?
a temporary state of
incapacitation due to excessive
stress coupled with inadequate
coping ability.
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I have heard of a man lost in the woodsand dying of famine and exhaustion at
the foot of a tree, whose loneliness was
relieved by the grotesque visions withwhich, owing to bodily weakness, his
diseased imagination surrounded him,
and which he believed to be real.
Thoreau Walden Solitude
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Dr. Abram Hoffers
Adrenochrome Theoryoffers the best explanation of this bio-
chemical breaking point
see
http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtmlfor numerous related publications
Hoffer, Osmond, Smythies et al 1951-present
http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtmlhttp://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtmlhttp://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtml8/3/2019 A tribute to Abram Hoffer, Ph. D, M.D.
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Well,you dont say!!
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How to behold the patient
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Destigmatize
EngageHumor
Relationship
Treat people like you want them to become
and you help them attain that behavior.
Goethe
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Dr. Hoffers therapeutic comment
to patients.
I wish I hadyour gene pool!
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Dr. Hoffers therapeutic question
to patients.
What will you dowhen you get well?
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Academic Integrity
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The
Adrenochrome Hypothesis:
Clinical Applications
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Which is better?
Ferrari Jeep
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The Two Categories of Patients in my Practice
Psychiatric -
High performancebut better stay on road,
use high octane fuel
get regular maintenance!
Somatic -
Can stay up all night partying,over imbibe, shake it off
and do it again the next night.
No mechanic required.
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What I tell my patients.
You are not mentally ill.
You are intoxicated.
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Distress vs. Disease
Intoxication vs. Illness
Being Drunk vs. Being a Drunk
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Example of a rational
treatment protocol: the cast.
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But it is NOT rational
treatment if the patient is
still in a cast 6 years later!
.Well, we never know
when you might breakyour leg again, so we
surgeons decided to keep
you in this cast for the
rest of your life. Better tobe safe than sorry!
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Therapeutic Insight
based uponthe Adrenochrome Hypothesis:
We allhave a breaking point.(effort to de-stigmatize)
The problem is correctable.(the role of hope)
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The Stories Around the Adrenochrome Hypothesis
1938 Green and Richter demonstrate that cytochrome oxidase can
convert epinepherine to adrenochrome.
1951 Hoffer, Osmond, Smythies et al begin lifelong collaboration
1958 Hoffer reports presence of adrenochrome in human plasma,
1958 Szara fails to confirm Hoffers finding
Julius Axelrod collaborates with Seymore Kety (Nobel prize).
1951- present Hoffers patients continue to get well and pay taxesand continues to publish papers which are ignored
See http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtml
for listing of JOM articles 1967-present! New generations of orthomolecular psychiatrists carry on the
politically and economically incorrect work of offering patientssafe, effective, and cost-effective care.
http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtmlhttp://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/archive_list/index.shtml8/3/2019 A tribute to Abram Hoffer, Ph. D, M.D.
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The adrenochrome hypothesis
has been a very helpful map thatyou and I have followed and you
we know that it has been very
effective in directing promising
investigations and many clinical
successes.
personal correspondence 2-09
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"High-affinity Niacin Receptor HM74A
is Decreased in the Anterior Cingulate"
Brain Research Bulletin, 2008.Dr Christine Miller.
"In conclusion, one important implicationof the data we present here is that the
early clinical studies by Abram Hoffer
reported in a notable degree of successthrough treatment of un-medicated
patients with niacin.".
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Hoffer Comment:
This means that there is something wrong
with the receptors of niacin, the door into the
neurons. This is why so much niacin has to be
given to force its way in.
This paper will direct attention away from
drugs and to the family of vitamin B3
substances. The drought of interest in thiswork is at last over and we are at the
beginning of a new and rational psychiatry.
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Well,imagine that!
It only took
57 years!!
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Take Home message
When stressed past ones breaking point, (defined biochemically by the
intoxicating accumulation of adrenochrome), whether from life in
general or a torturer in specific, people experience predictable
worsening stages of disorientation, depersonalization, and distress.
In clinical settings this is termed psychosis, mania,
schizophrenia and more accurately, nervous breakdown.
In political settings (when being tortured), this is termed willingness to
confess.
In both instances, the biochemistry renders the content implausible to
the point of being an unreliable version of reality, since the subject is
intoxicated past his ability to speak the truth.
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Moral Inspiration
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Nobel Laureates Misbehavin
In 1975 at the age of 37, David Baltimore shared the Nobel Prizefor Physiology or Medicine with Howard Temin and Renato
Dulbecco. The citation reads, "for their discoveries concerning the
interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the
cell." At the time, Baltimore's greatest contribution to virology
was his discovery of reverse transcriptase (RTase)
Baltimore is best known for his role in an
affair of alleged scientific misconduct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Baltimore
D B d
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Dear Brad:
I knew ____A____ (a future Nobel Laureate) very well and consider
him a third rate scientist and a crook and a thief. Once I sent NIMH
some adrenochrome as they did not know how to make it. I sent it toanother scientist, Udenfriend, who was not on speaking terms with __A___
and when ___A___asked him for a few milligrams, he refused to give it to
him, This did not deter ___A___ and he sneaked into Udenfriends lab and
stole some. This was gaily announced by ___B____ (another future Nobel
Laureate) at the meeting I attended and he thought it was a hilarious. Hedid his best to destroy our hypothesis by showing that it was impossible for
any adrenochrome to be made except maybe a slight amount by the
salivary glands. He shared his Nobel because NIMH placed great pressure
on the Nobel Committee in Sweden, NIMH desperately need a winner and
he was their choice even though third rate.
I heard a few years ago that NIMH was very fearful that Osmond and I
would get the Nobel and they decided to destroy us.
Abram (Hoffer, personal correspondence 4-1-08)
I am convinced, as an old hand at this game, that schizophrenia
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, g , p
is not a unique disease, that it is caused by many biochemical
abnormalities and the real answers, if we ever get them, will lie
in nutritional treatment. I have never seen a single patient on
drugs ever get well even though they are helped and theirsymptoms are not as troublesome . The drugs are all palliative,
never curative. There is recent evidence from Johns Hopkins
that in schizophrenia brains at autopsy there is a defect in the
structure of their niacin receptors and this will explain whymany of them need so much to get into the neurons in their
heads. This paper was submitted for publication by a very
dedicated research worker from this university. But the
companies will not touch this as there is no patent on vitamins
and they want a drug which they patent and earn billions, not a
cheap simple vitamin than anyone can sell and which does not
kill any one.
Abram Hoffer 3-08 Personal Correspondence
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Why are we here tonight?
Why do we not abide by the
standard of care?
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Imagine it is the year: 1951
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Dont take for granted your
supportive colleagues.
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Congratulations to
YOU
for being here tonight
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If I wanted
to be popular,
I wouldntbe doing research.
Abram Hoffer, Ph.D. M.D.
Perished while publishing,
treating and teaching!
Glorious legacy lives on.