Posted by Klavot on March 22, 2007, at 12:42:30 [reposted on March 25, 2007, at 4:34:59 | original URL]
In reply to Orothomolecular treatment for bipolar disorder, posted by Squiggles on March 22, 2007, at 11:06:37
Some people consider orthomolecular medicine to be pseudoscientific. Certainly many of its claims are fanciful. For example, Linus Pauling, the pioneer of orthomolecular medicine, claimed that cancer could be cured by taking huge quantities of vitamin C. Ironically, Pauling himself eventually died of cancer. In more recent times, there are many quacks who seem to dabble with orthomolecular medicine, for example Dr Matthias Rath, a famous AIDS-revisionist who claims that AIDS can be cured with micronutrient supplementation. Rath is qualified as a medical doctor (cardiologist I believe) but he bases his medical philosophy on orthomolecular medicine. Some regard him as nothing but a glorified vitamin salesman. In other words, orthomolecular medicine seems to attract bad company.
Many people mistakenly conclude that orthomolecular medicine must be legitimate because it was pioneered by Linus Pauling, who was a double Nobel laureate no less. I often hear this appeal to authority - "Linus Pauling, two times Nobel laureate, said blah blah blah" - when practitioners of alternative medicine advocate micronutrient supplementation. Of course, Pauling won Nobel prizes for chemistry and peace, never for medicine. So sure, he was a genius scientist, but that doesn't make all his work watertight.
Klavot
poster:Klavot
thread:744029
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070320/msgs/744030.html