Orthomolecular Medicine (OM)

An increasingly popular treatment method is orthomolecular medicine (OM). With this method only substances (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids) are used in the treatment, from which our organism is composed and which we normally feed.

Causes of the growing need for orthomolecular medicine
There are several developments, especially in the western industrialized countries, which disturb the balance of absorption and nutrient processing in our organism:

An increased need Nutrients are created when the human biological system needs to perform consistently (for example, through stress, emotional stress) and when environmental toxins require increased detoxification (increased consumption of glutathione, selenium, zinc, vitamin C).

A reduced absorption (Absorption of substances) is always found when a dysfunction in the intestine is present. A healthy intestinal flora is the exception today. Medicines, especially antibiotics (including those from meat consumption) reduce the amount of bifidobacteria (bifidobacteria supply the intestinal mucosa with energy) and there is insufficient supply of micronutrients, as the absorption of micronutrients is an energy-consuming process.

An insufficient supply comes on the one hand by an unbalanced diet (carbohydrate diet, bread, pasta, pizza, potatoes, ...) and on the other by the deteriorating quality of our food. Long transport distances with insufficient cooling, immature harvested fruits / vegetables and the use of a variety of chemicals reduce the vital substance content of our foods.

Treatment approaches of orthomolecular medicine
In OM, we can analyze these substances in the blood and specifically change their concentration in the body. So it's a therapy that works with substances that we normally deliver with food. This makes it a therapy that „usually“ works without side effects. However, it is important that the therapy is carried out by a trained doctor or alternative practitioner, as it can lead to overdoses of individual vital substances. The OM is thus applied biochemistry and thus belongs in the hands of experienced therapists.

Example selenium:
In Germany, many people are undersupplied with selenium. This can be demonstrated in whole blood mineral analyzes (for example performed by the Biovis laboratory). The consequence of this is palpable in all organs which are dependent on the presence of selenium.

The thyroid e.g. For the production of the thyroid hormone T3, iodine, selenium and the amino acid tyrosine are needed as cofactors. If iodine substitution is not enough to treat hypothyroidism, Thyroxine (artificial thyroid hormone) is mostly used. It makes sense to replace the missing selenium first, but this is neither measured nor substituted in traditional medicine. Substituting selenium, e.g. in the case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (an autoimmune thyroid disease), one can significantly improve thyroid function. Selenium dependent also works our most important Decontamination System in the liver and the energy the cell is not possible without selenium.

So a lack of a single substance can have far-reaching consequences. The OM can therefore be used both in the prevention, as well as in the treatment of diseases. (Andrea Thiem, Doctor of Orthomolecular Medicine, 02.02.2010)

Additional information:
Further information from Andrea Thiem
http://www.vitamintherapie-hannover.de/

Information from the laboratory biovis
http://www.biovis.de/