/oss/taxonomy/term/1163/all en /oss/article/drugs-health-history-you-asked/niacin-possible-successful-treatment-schizophrenia <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?p=5671"><img alt="niacin" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2013/08/niacin-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a>Schizophrenia is a devastating disease. Characterized by hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thought, it destroys lives. While the condition can be controlled with appropriate medication, a cure remains elusive. But just what constitutes “appropriate medication” is controversial. “Antipsychotic drugs that block dopamine and serotonin receptors in the brain have been the mainstay of therapy, but the involuntary muscle movements, restlessness and tremors they can cause are troublesome. An alternative school of thought maintains that mental illness can be addressed with nutritional therapies, particularly with the use of certain vitamins in the right dose. This idea was first formulated by Dr. Abram Hoffer, a Canadian psychiatrist whose pursuit of science began with a degree in agricultural chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, followed by a PhD in biochemistry, and finally a medical degree from the University of Alberta. During his graduate studies young Hoffer worked at a wheat products laboratory in Winnipeg where he was charged with developing an assay for vitamin B-3, commonly known as niacin. This triggered a life-long interest in the vitamin and its biochemistry, with Hoffer eventually concluding that it had a significant role to play in the treatment of schizophrenia. As a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Hoffer came up with the ‘adrenochrome hypothesis’ which he believed explained the symptoms of schizophrenia and offered a hope for treatment with vitamins.</p> <p><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/08/06/is-niacin-a-possible-successful-treatment-for-schizophrenia">Read more</a></p> Tue, 06 Aug 2013 23:51:20 +0000 Alexandra Pires-Ménard, OSS Intern 1995 at /oss