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Orthomolecular medicineOrthomolecular medicine is a form of complementary and alternative medicine which aims to prevent and treat disease with substances which are natural to the body. Prescriptions typically focus on providing nutrients, either through dietary supplements or modified diets which provide proper nutrition and eliminate deleterious substances[1] such as allergens, refined foods, sugar and transfats.[2][3]
The term "orthomolecular" was first coined in a 1967 letter[4] by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling and later elaborated on in a 1968 paper[5] on micronutrients and psychiatry to express the idea of "the right molecules in the right amounts" (ortho is Greek for right[6]). In this paper, Pauling indicated that the right molecules are "substances that are normally present in the human body."
Orthomolecular medicine began with a particular focus upon mental illness, and orthomolecular psychiatry remains a major subdiscipline.[7] Proponents state that orthomolecular treatments are based on patients' personal biochemistries[8] and employ naturally-occurring or bioequivalent biomolecules, particularly nutrients such as vitamins, dietary minerals, proteins, antioxidants,[9] amino acids, lipotropes,[10] prohormones, dietary fiber, fatty acids and other similar substances,[11] as well as various digestive factors.[12][13]
Some megavitamin therapies can be classified as components of orthomolecular medicine. Orthomolecular practitioners often recommend levels beyond the Recommended Daily Allowance, especially in the prescription of vitamin C megadosage. Megavitamin therapies have become relatively popular, with a survey in 2002 finding that approximately one in twenty-five US adults use high doses of vitamins as a form of therapy,[14] with this being particularly common in people diagnosed with cancer.[15]
Nutrients may be useful in preventing and treating some illnesses,[16][17] but the conclusions of medical research are that the broad claims of disease treatment by advocates of orthomolecular medicine are unsubstantiated by the available evidence.[18][19][16] The American Medical Association stated in 1997 that "much of the dietary intervention stressed by alternative healers is prudent and reasonable", but described as a "myth" the idea that "most diseases are caused by faulty diets and can be prevented by nutritional interventions".[20] Critics have described some aspects of orthomolecular medicine as food faddism or even quackery.[21][22][23] Research on nutrient supplementation in general suggests that some nutritional supplements might be beneficial, and that others might be harmful.[24][25][26]
History and developmentAs a discipline focused upon using nutrients to treat illness, orthomolecular medicine practitioners trace the origin of the field back to the discovery of vitamins in the early 20th century,[27] although the word "orthomolecular" was coined by Linus Pauling in 1967. Thus orthomolecular practitioners lay claim to figures who preceded later controversies and labels, and perhaps would have rejected the controversial treatments which were later called orthomolecular medicine. Practitioners claim these figures were orthomolecular because of their emphasis on the role of nutrition in treating disease. In a paper on the history of orthomolecular medicine, Menolascino[28] notes that there were several eras in the use of nutrition to treat disease. After the discovery of nutrients at the dawn of the 20th century, some doctors began to think that vitamins could cure many ailments, and nutrition was incorporated into the medical curriculum. Supplements became widely available. As spectacular results were not forthcoming, in the 1950s and 1960s medical science slowly became disillusioned with nutrition and cut it from the standard curriculum,[28] just as orthomolecular medicine was being founded. Orthomolecular medicine highlights some figures from these early years as their founders.
In the 1930s Max Gerson (1881 - 1959) developed Gerson therapy, a specific diet which he claimed could treat many diseases. In 1933, Wilfred and Evan Shute began to use vitamin E in attempts to treat heart disease.[29] Some of the concepts frequently utilized in orthomolecular medicine, such as individual biochemical variation,[8] inborn error of metabolism,[30][28][31] and exogeneous supply of essential substances in therapy[32] debuted in scientific and medical papers early in the 20th century. Orthomolecular megavitamin therapies, such as with tocopherols and ascorbates,[33] date back to the 1930s.
In 1948, William McCormick theorized that vitamin C deficiency played an important role in many diseases, and began to use large doses in patients.[34] In the 1950s, American doctor Frederick Klenner also experimented with the use of vitamin C megadosage as a therapy for a wide range of illnesses, most notably polio, and authored 28 research papers during his career.[35][36] McCormick and Klenner influenced biochemist Irwin Stone, who extensively researched vitamin C and received the first patent for its commercial use. Stone found that all living beings have vitamin C. Further, nearly all vertebrates produce vitamin C, and produce much more when stressed. Some primates, including humans, do not produce vitamin C, and Stone claimed that this was due to a genetic defect which he called hypoascorbemia.[37] Based on a rat's production of vitamin C, a 70 kg human would produce between 1.8 and 4 grams of vitamin C, and a stressed human up to 15.2 grams.[38] This contrasts with the current Dietary Reference Intake, which maintains that 90 mg is adequate, and increases that to 120 mg if pregnant.[39] Based on the levels of vitamin C in other vertebrates, Stone believed that ascorbate was not a trace vitamin but was required in humans in large daily amounts. He produced four papers between 1965 and 1967 to back up this assertion.[40][41][42][43] In 1966 Stone met Linus Pauling and sparked Pauling's interest in vitamin C.[44]
Concurrent with vitamin C developments, orthomolecular psychiatry began to be developed in the early 1950s by a group of biochemists and psychiatrists who believed that certain vitamin deficiencies were associated with mental illness.[45] In particular, psychiatrists Humphry Osmond and Abram Hoffer began to treat a subset of schizophrenics ("acute") with high doses of niacin,[46] continuing work done by William Kaufman, who used niacinamide.[47] Incidental to this effort, Hoffer contributed to the discovery that niacin could treat dyslipidemia in 1954-5.[48]
In 1967, Linus Pauling introduced the expression orthomolecular medicine to describe one aspect of medicine,[4] and the term "orthomolecular therapy", as published in Science in 1968, to express the idea of the right molecules in the right amounts.[5] Pauling subsequently defined "orthomolecular medicine" as "the treatment of disease by the provision of the optimum molecular environment, especially the optimum concentrations of substances normally present in the human body" or as "the preservation of good health and the treatment of disease by varying the concentrations in the human body of substances that are normally present in the body and are required for health."[49]
Orthomolecular medicine has diversified since its beginnings in1968, but the term orthomolecular is still associated with Pauling's advocacy of vitamin C megadosage for optimal health. Partly for this reason, detractors of orthomolecular medicine have described the practice entirely in terms of megadose nutrient therapy. Barrie R. Cassileth, a widely quoted critic of Pauling's ideas, asserts: "In 1968, the Nobel-prize-winning scientist Linus Pauling coined the term "orthomolecular" to describe the treatment of disease with large quantities of nutrients."[50] In this way, criticism of orthomolecular medicine has, to a large extent, been confused with much older medical traditions of high-dose vitamin therapies, such as earlier "megadose" usages of retinol and ergocalciferol or synthetic pharmaceutical analogues, such as menadione.[51] [52][53] Such definitions of orthomolecular therapy are not synonymous with Pauling's definition. Interest in vitamin C has been renewed, beginning with the discovery that intravenous vitamin C can achieve plasma concentrations up to 70-fold higher than oral vitamin C.[54] A 2005 paper in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences noted that vitamin C selectively killed cancer cells in vitro. This paper noted that, although the original observational studies of vitamin C were based on intravenous administration, the subsequent double-blind placebo-controlled studies used oral ascorbate.[55] In 2007, the researchers demonstrated how vitamin C in vivo could possibly kill cancer cells.[56] A recent historical study of the past ten years has found three patients whose tumors shrank after receiving intravenous vitamin C along with other alternative and conventional treatments. The authors of the study claimed that the case studies "only significant treatment" for these patients was vitamin C.[57][58] However, this is far from conclusive, and studies are currently planned at the McGill University.[59]
In 2008 researchers gave vitamin C intravenously to mice with human derived cancers and observed slower tumor growth and may less metastasis.[60] The authors suggested that the ascorbate was acting as a pro-oxidant and generating hydrogen peroxide in tumors. By injecting into the bloodstream it is possible to get much larger amounts of the vitamin to a tumor than is possible with oral supplements. However, other researchers studying the effects of vitamin C in cancers in mice saw no effect on tumor growth, and found that vitamin C interfered with many standard anti-cancer drugs.[61] The Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Zion, Illinois, is currently (2008) testing the safety of intravenous vitamin C in late-stage cancer patients for whom there is no other treatment option.[62]
Research since the 1960s has branched out further into nutrients besides niacin and vitamin C. David Horrobin did important work with essential fatty acids, which have played an increasingly important part in orthomolecular medicine. Patrick Kidd calls the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and eicosapantenoic acid (EPA) truly "orthomolecular" in a 2007 review of their benefits.[63]
ScopeAlthough orthomolecular medicine is based on the idea that nutritional imbalances should be corrected before illness occurs, and consequently is not easily integrated into any single branch of medicine, its claims are particularly associated with psychiatry, in the field of orthomolecular psychiatry, and oncology, where Linus Pauling reported that Vitamin C could slow the progression of,[64] and even reverse,[65] cancer. As time went on Pauling came to believe that there was a deliberate and concerted effort to denigrate, distort and dissemble his efforts. Ewan Cameron the Scottish oncologist, who collaborated with Pauling, reluctantly came to agree as he believed to perceive mounting evidence to support Pauling's allegations of bad faith.[66]
Proponents of orthomolecular medicine claim that scientists associated with orthomolecular medicine had identified specific biochemical anomalies that account for many cases of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and some similar manifestations, such as, in one case, an previously undescribed copper toxicity disorder.
Based on investigational scientific studies, single-blind and double-blind randomized controlled trials, clinical experience, and case histories, claims have been made that therapeutic nutrition can prevent[67] treat, and sometimes cure acne,[68] bee stings, burns, cancer, the common cold, drug addiction, drug overdose, heart diseases, acute hepatitis, herpes, influenza, mononucleosis, mushroom poisoning, neuropathy & polyneuritis (including multiple sclerosis), osteoporosis,[69] polio, alcoholism,[70] allergies, arthritis, autism, epilepsy, hypertension, hypoglycemia, migraine, clinical depression, learning disabilities, retardation, mental and metabolic disorders, skin problems, and hyperactivity,"[71] Raynaud's disease, heavy metal toxicity, radiation sickness, * Pyroluria, schizophrenia,[72] shock, snakebite, spider bite, tetanus toxin and viral pneumonia.[73]
Most orthomolecular practitioners do not claim to be able to treat all diseases. As Abram Hoffer wrote in 1989: "Nor is orthomolecular treatment a replacement for standard treatment. A proportion of patients will require orthodox treatment, a proportion will do much better on orthomolecular treatment, and the rest will need a skillful blend of both."[74] For example, Hoffer admits that in his experience, acute and not chronic schizophrenia responds to niacin.[75]
PrinciplesOrthomolecular medicine is predicated on the premise that it is preferable to recognize and correct any possible anomalies in metabolism at an early stage, before they cause disease.[76] Orthomolecular medicine posits that many typical diets are insufficient for long term health; thus, orthomolecular medical diagnoses and treatment often focus on the use of nutrients such as vitamins, dietary minerals, proteins, antioxidants, amino acids, ω-3 fatty acids, ω-6 fatty acids, medium chain triglycerides, dietary fiber, and short and long chain fatty acids, although a wide range of other substances are used, such as lipotropes, systemic and digestive enzymes, other digestive factors, and prohormones. Abram Hoffer wrote a foreword to one edition of Weston Price's 1930 description of his travels and observations of the health and diet among "primitive" peoples who did not consume processed foods, and were spared the ravages of "degenerative" diseases.[77]
Orthomolecular nutrition and therapy attempts to provide optimal amounts of micronutrients. This is done after a diagnoses of the individual, which may involve a blood test, and a detailed personal history. Based on any deficiencies evident in the blood, an understanding of the patient's diet for the last six months or more, and the practitioners understanding of the symptoms exhibited, a prescription of nutrients, including megadoses of certain of them, will be given. Lifestyle changes, and diet changes, if these are indicated, will also be recommended. Modern orthomolecular practitioners also use a wide range of laboratory analyses, including those for amino acids, organic acids, vitamins and minerals, functional vitamin status, hormones, immunology, microbiology, digestive and gastrointestinal function. However, many of these tests are not employed by mainstream medicine for common diagnostic use.
In the early years of orthomolecular medicine, supplementation usually meant high-dose, single-agent nutrient therapy.[74] Today, orthomolecular practitioners use many substances: amino acids, enzymes, hormones, digestive factors, vitamins, minerals, or derivate substances in an effort to supply what they see as optimum dosages of these substances.[78]
Frequently supplementation with relatively large doses of vitamins is given, and the name megavitamin therapy is popularly associated with the area. Megavitamin therapy is the administration of large amounts of vitamins, often many times greater than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). The nominal ratio of dose to RDA to qualify for the term 'megavitamin therapy' has been a matter of minor semantic debate.
Administration of short-chain fatty acids in orthomolecular practice is usually done by increasing the level of dietary fiber.[79][80] The fatty acids are produced by fermentation of the fiber in the colon, then absorbed into the body.[81] Attempts are also made to aid this process by a combination of prebiotics and mucopolysaccharides.[82] Long chain fatty acids, such as the omega-3 fatty acids alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may also be given directly, in food or in capsules.
PrevalenceOrthomolecular medicine is practiced by few conventional medical practitioners.[50][83] Orthomolecular treatments are instead more common in complementary and alternative medicine fields, increasingly being integrated into over the counter retail products, naturopathic medical textbooks and mainstream pharmaceuticals.[84][85]
A survey released in May 2004 by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine focused on who used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), what was used, and why it was used in the United States by adults age 18 years and over during 2002. The survey reported uses in the previous twelve months that include orthomolecular related uses: Nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products 18.9%, Diet-based therapies 3.5%, Megavitamin therapy 2.8%.[14] The survey did not include other popular related categories such as juicing, supplemental antioxidants, essential fatty acids, amino acids, enzymes and others.
Another recent CAM survey reported that 12% of liver disease patients used the antioxidant silymarin, more than 6% used megavitamins among others, and that "in all, 74% of patients reported using CAM in addition to the medications prescribed by their physician, but 26% did not inform their physician of their CAM use."[86] The use of high doses of vitamins is also common in people who have been diagnosed with cancer, although usage depends of the type of cancer and ranges from 26% to 35% among prostate cancer survivors up to 75% to 87% in breast cancer survivors.[15]
MethodologyOrthomolecular medicine advocates claim that the methods of orthomolecular medicine overlap with those of both natural medicine and mainstream medicine. The International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine has conventionally-trained doctors among its members and authors, and the notable founders of orthomolecular medicine have all had professional degrees. The leading orthomolecular medicine website, Orthomolecular Medicine Online,[87] run by the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, discusses differences between orthomolecular medicine and mainstream medicine,[78][83]
On the other hand, the conventional view among mainstream medical physicians is that most orthomolecular therapies are insufficiently proven for clinical use, that the scientific foundations are weak, and that the studies that have been performed are too few and too open to disputed interpretation. The lack of serious testing of orthomolecular medicine has led to its practices being classed with other less plausible forms of alternative medicine and regarded as unscientific.[88][89][90] This form of alternative medicine has therefore been described as food faddism and even quackery, with critics arguing that it is based upon an "exaggerated belief in the effects of nutrition upon health and disease".[21][22][23] However, orthomolecular medicine is distinct from many other forms of alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, since its ideas are biologically-based and consistent with scientific laws, it does not involve magical thinking,[91] and it can generate testable hypotheses.[92]
Amongst the differences, mainstream medicine attaches great importance to evidence-based medicine,[93] particularly to rigorous double-blind randomized controlled trials that test if a treatment is genuinely effective and exclude the placebo effect.[94] Orthomolecular medicine proponents, on the other hand, believe that such studies overemphasize uniformity, under-emphasize variability between patients, and reduce choice and health freedom.[95]
Mainstream medicine also avoids the use of new treatments whose effects are unknown, instead favoring 'clinically proven' drugs tested using mainstream medical standards. Even with this standard of caution, it has been estimated that up to 20% of drugs may subsequently have unrecognized, serious adverse reactions, requiring the later addition of the "black box warning", or withdrawal from market.[96]
The skepticism about orthomolecular medicine comes in part because some of its proponents make claims more broad than those supported by scientific research, particularly claims that may contradict the results of clinical trials,[50][97] and rely instead on less reliable observational studies, clinical and anecdotal experience, single blinded controlled tests, and case histories. Proponents of orthomolecular medicine argue that, despite the extensive testing of pharmaceuticals, some medications are withdrawn after approval, due to serious adverse events, and the FDA regulatory methodology and relationship with the pharmaceutical industry has been criticized.[98]
Views on safety and efficacyMany mainstream medical institutions dismiss orthomolecular medicine entirely. The American Medical Association describes as "myths" the ideas that vitamin and mineral deficiencies are widespread, that the causes of most diseases are poor diets, or that most diseases can be prevented by nutritional supplements.[20] Similarly, the American Cancer Society comments that the current scientific evidence does not "support use of orthomolecular therapy for most of the conditions for which it is promoted". They stated some supplements have exhibited benefits for certain conditions, while a few have been confirmed to be harmful, and that the consumption of nutritious foods is the best recognized method to obtain vitamins, minerals, and nutrients crucial for good health.[16] In another example, an adviser on alternative medicine to the National Institutes of Health, stated that "Scientific research has found no benefit from orthomolecular therapy for any disease"[50] and a recent medical textbook also states that there is "no evidence that megavitamin or orthomolecular therapy is effective in treating any disease."[99]
Proponents of orthomolecular medicine counter that vitamins and nutrients are now used in conventional medicine as treatments for disease, such as megadose niacin and fish oil for dyslipidemias,[100][101][102] 6000-25,000 iu vitamin E per day[103][104] for the lipid disorder, abetalipoproteinemia, and megavitamin therapies for over a dozen amino acid metabolism disorders.[28] Current medical research on alternative medicine attempts to assess the evidence either for or against the variety of nutritional therapies currently offered, with a recent review in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluding that while some might be beneficial, others might be harmful or interfere with conventional therapy.[105]
Dietary supplements, such as those used in orthomolecular medicine, are less regulated than pharmaceuticals in the United States. Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis in JAMA suggested that supplementation with combinations of beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E may increase mortality, although with respect to beta-carotene this conclusion may be due to the known harmful effect in smokers.[106] An essential regulatory difference is that pharmaceuticals must be proven safe and effective to the satisfaction of the FDA before they can be marketed, whereas supplements must be proven unsafe before regulatory action can be taken.[107] A number of orthomolecular US supplements are available in pharmaceutical versions that are sometimes quite similar in strength and general content, or in other countries are pharmaceuticals. The US regulations also have provisions to recognize a general level of safety for established nutrients that can forgo new drug safety tests. Proponents of nutritional supplement use have argued that the lower level of regulation results in cost savings for American consumers, pointing to higher supplement prices in Europe, where some supplements are more tightly regulated or even unavailable.[108] [109]
Relation to mainstream medicineAspects of orthomolecular therapy remain controversial among mainstream medical organizations and physicians, who consider many aspects to be lacking sufficient RCT-based evidence. In contrast, orthomolecular proponents argue that many mainstream nutritional studies, both recent and historical, provide investigational and clinical support for their treatments and recommendations.[110] They also argue that orthomolecular therapies are intrinsically less likely to cause dangerous side-effects or harm, since they utilize only chemicals that are normally present in the body.[3][111][112] Supporters claim that some aspects of orthomolecular medicine, and in particular the optimal nutrition subset, have support in mainstream scientific research in a variety of areas that do not claim to support orthomolecular doctrine, and in at least some cases, explicitly reject claims of orthomolecular proponents that nutritional supplements are desirable.[113]
Orthomolecular proponents, such as Robert Cathcart, who predicts that 120+ grams per day intravenous vitamin C should cure severe acute respiratory syndrome[114] and has used up to 250 grams IV vitamin C per day, have been criticized for not having any conventional medical trials of such intravenous vitamin C treatments.[115]
The orthomolecular field remains controversial among mainstream medical organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, CHAMPUS, and the Canadian Paediatric Society. A number of individuals and organizations contest the claims, benefits, degree of evidence and toxicity.[50][16] Based on testing with dosages well below orthomolecular recommendations, Linus Pauling has been criticized for making overbroad claims[116] for the efficacy of vitamin C but Paulings' claims have received some support from tests closer to the orthomolecular recommendations during the last few years.[117]
The relationship of mainstream medicine to orthomolecular proponents has often been adversarial; orthomolecular proponents, including Dr. Richard Kunin, argue that mainstream medical claimants confuse orthomolecular medicine with other, less science based modalities.[78] The American Academy of Pediatrics labelled orthomolecular medicine a "cult" in 1976, in response to claims that orthomolecular medicine could cure childhood psychoses and learning disorders.[118]
Conventional health professionals see orthomolecular medicine as encouraging individuals to dose themselves with large amounts of vitamins and other nutrients without conventional supervision, which they worry might be damaging to health. Rare risks[119] of non-orthomolecular "mega" dosages of vitamin relatives, which frequently involved pharmaceutical analogues such as synthetic menadione, unsupervised misuse, deliberate abuse and earlier medical treatments, may include increased risk of coronary heart disease,[120] hypertension, thrombophlebitis, peripheral neuropathy, ataxia, neurological effects, liver toxicity, congenital abnormalities, spontaneous abortion, gouty arthritis, jaundice, kidney stones, and diarrhea.[121][122][123][124] Megavitamin proponents point[125] to an almost zero level of deaths caused by vitamins, even with large overdoses, compared to the significant numbers from pharmaceuticals, including a number of over-the-counter items.
Use of vitamin E in orthomolecular medicineVitamin E contains eight related chemicals, which are classed as either tocopherols or tocotrienols. These chemicals also exist as several stereoisomers.[126] In supplements these are usually present in stabilized ester forms, which are converted into the active form in the intestines.[127] Research has focussed on alpha-tocopherol, since this is the form preferentially taken up by the body and the most abundant form in tissues.[128] Alpha-tocopherol is also regarded in orthomolecular medicine as the form with greatest nutritional significance.[129] In supplements this is either a mixture of stereoisomers (all-rac-alpha-tocopherol), or the biological stereoisomer RRR-alpha-tocopherol.[126]
Initial hopes for the usefulness of vitamin E in orthomolecular medicine were based on epidemiological studies. These suggested that people who consumed more vitamin E had lower risks of chronic disease, such as coronary heart disease, and led to the idea that vitamin E supplementation could be beneficial.[130] However, these observational studies could not distinguish between whether the higher levels of vitamin E improved health themselves, or whether confounding variables were responsible - such as whether or not such people ate a more healthy diet or took more exercise.[131][132] To distinguish between these possibilities, many randomized controlled trials were performed. Meta-analysis of these controlled clinical trials have not shown any clear benefit from any form of alpha-tocopherol supplementation for preventing chronic disease.[133][134][135][126]
A meta-analysis published in 2005 found that more than 400 units alpha tocopherol per day was associated with an increase in all-cause mortality.[136] Furthermore, a significant relationship was seen between dose and all-cause mortality, with the risk of death increasing in line with the dose. This meta-analysis was criticized on a number of grounds, including that this increase in mortality could have been caused by alpha-tocopherol and beta carotene increasing the risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers.[137] A similar increase in mortality was seen in a 2007 meta-analysis[138] Here, no health risk was seen when all the randomized controlled studies were examined together, but an increase in mortality was detected when the high-quality and low-bias risk trials were examined separately. However, as the majority of these low-bias trials dealt with either elderly people, or people already suffering disease, these results may not apply to the general population.[139] This meta-analysis was later repeated and extended by the same authors, with the new analysis published by the Cochrane Collaboration; this also concluded that some vitamin E supplements could be harmful.[26]
Orthomolecular recommendations for vitamin E supplementation typically are based on a mixture of tocopheols and tocotrienols.[140] Forms of "vitamin E", which contain mixed R,R,R tocopherols and are also recommended by some orthomolecular practitioners.[141] These other forms of vitamin E have not been examined in as much detail as alpha-tocopherol and may have effects on health that are not produced by the alpha-tocopherol form alone.[142][129][143]
Time and therapeutic priorityConventional physicians express concern that megavitamin and orthomolecular therapies used solely as alternative treatments by other practitioners, if not successful, may create dangerous delays in obtaining conventional treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy for cancer. For example, in a highly publicized Canadian controversy, the chemotherapy of a 13-year-old cancer patient, Tyrell Dueck, encountered a delay from legal actions, due to his parents' religious beliefs and interest in alternative treatments such as diet, herbs and vitamins.[144][145] Orthomolecular medical practitioners and orthomolecular oriented naturopaths have long expressed similar concerns about conventional medicine,[146] particularly with gut related and chronic diseases as well as viral diseases.[147][148][149][150] It is usually possible, however, to combine orthomolecular and conventional treatments.
Use in AIDSSeveral orthomolecular related AIDS approaches such as multivitamins,[151] selenium[152] and amino acids[153] are used with reported improvements in patients. High dose vitamin C treatments have long been used clinically by some orthomolecular practitioners to treat AIDS patients.[154][155] However, in these situations, medical criticism arises when orthomolecular approaches are advocated as substitutes for, rather than complements to, current medical treatments such as antiretroviral drugs.[156]
An analysis of fifteen clinical trials of micronutrient therapies by the Cochrane Collaboration in 2005 found no conclusive evidence that such micronutrient approaches either reduce symptoms or mortality in HIV-infected adults who are not malnourished, but found evidence that giving vitamin A to infants with HIV is beneficial.[157] The protective effect of vitamin A in children was also seen in a further trial,[158] and it has been hypothesized that this effect might be due to vitamin A modulating the gut immune system.[159] Interestingly, no protection from vitamin A against infection was seen in healthy children.[160]
Economic interests and politicsSome orthomolecular proponents claim that their findings are actively suppressed by mainstream medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. Abram Hoffer wrote that "there is no conspiracy led and directed by a single person or by a single organization ... [h]owever, there is a conspiracy led and directed by a large number of professionals and their associations who have a common aim to protect their hard-earned orthodoxy, no matter what the cost to their opponent colleagues or to their patients".[161] Mainstream medicine regards such claims of a conspiracy as unsubstantiated,[162][163] with a review in Journal of Clinical Oncology stating that the idea there is a conspiracy amongst physicians against unconventional and unproven treatments is a common theme in forms of alternative medicine such as megavitamin therapy.[164]
The actions of Matthias Rath in South Africa have come under particular scrutiny. Rath worked with Linus Pauling and served as Director of Cardiovascular Research at the Linus Pauling Institute until 1992. He has published several papers on orthomolecular medicine, most notably a review co-authored with Pauling,[165] with Abram Hoffer listing Rath as a notable contributor to the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.[166] However, the relationship between Rath and Pauling later broke down over a lawsuit on intellectual property rights.[167] Rath now promotes vitamins as a treatment for HIV infection, describing treatment with antiretroviral drugs as part of a global conspiracy serving the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry.[156] In a lawsuit that found against Rath, the South African Medical Association blamed his vitamin products for several deaths,[168][169] the World Health Organization and two health agencies of the United Nations also described Rath's advertisements as "wrong and misleading" and "an irresponsible attack on ARV (antiretroviral) therapy."[170]
The Linus Pauling Institute's funding comes mostly from National Institutes of Health.[171] Several orthomolecular therapies have been officially sanctioned within Europe[172] and Japan.[173] [174][175]
Notable supporters of orthomolecular medicine
Journal of Orthomolecular MedicineThe Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, founded in 1967 as the Journal of Schizophrenia, is the main publication of those involved in Orthomolecular Medicine. Abram Hoffer has written that "We had to create our own journals because it was impossible to obtain entry into the official journals of psychiatry and medicine. Before 1967 I had not found it difficult to publish reports in these journals, and by then I had about 150 articles and several books in the establishment press."[176]
[edit] See also
- Alternative medicine
- Health freedom movement
- Life extension
- List of life extension related topics
- Metabolomics
- Megavitamin therapy
- Multivitamin
- Nutritional genomics
- Orthomolecular psychiatry
- Pyroluria
- Histadelia
[edit] Citations
- ^ A Hoffer, M Walker (2000) Smart Nutrients, Avery, ISBN 0895295628
- ^ Orthomolecular medicine Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by Patricia Skinner
- ^ a b Definition of Orthomolecular medicine at www.orthomed.org Accessed June 2006
- ^ a b Pauling L. Orthomolecular Somatic and Psychiatric Medicine ", Communication: Luxembourg and Trier on 18-24 September 1967; Pauling L. 1968b: Orthomolecular Somatic and Psychiatric Medicine J Vital Substances and Diseases of Civilization'', 14; 1-3.
- ^ a b Orthomolecular psychiatry. Varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease,Science 1968 Apr 19;160(825):265-71. (PMID 5641253) [1]
- ^ ISOM. About OM
- ^ Syd Baumel (Aug 2000) "Chapter 5, The Orthomolecular Medical Approach to Depression", "Chapter 6, Vitamin Power", Dealing with Depression Naturally: Complementary and Alternative Therapies, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill; ISBN 0658002910
- ^ a b Roger J. Williams (1998) Biochemical Individuality: The Basis for the Genetotrophic Concept. 2nd ed. Keats Publishing. ISBN 0-87983-893-0
- ^ Alpha-Lipoic Acid (Thioctic Acid): My Experience
- ^ Reduction of Cholesterol and Lp(A) in Regression of Coronary Artery Disease: A Case Study
- ^ Coenzyme Q10: A Novel Cardiac Antioxidant (1997)
- ^ RC Atkins (1998) Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution: Nature's Answer to Drugs, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0684844885
- ^ JV Wright, L Lenard (2001) Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You, M. Evans and Company, Inc. ISBN 0871319314
- ^ a b NCCAM.NIH table 1 on page 8
- ^ a b Velicer CM, Ulrich CM (2008). "Vitamin and mineral supplement use among US adults after cancer diagnosis: a systematic review". J. Clin. Oncol. 26 (4): 665–73. doi:10.1200/JCO.2007.13.5905. PMID 18235127. http://www.jco.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=18235127.
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- ^ Lakhan SE, Vieira KF (2008) Nutritional therapies for mental disorders. Nutr J 7: 2. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-7-2 PMID 18208598
- ^ Stuart Aaronson et al. "Cancer Medicine", 2003, BC Decker Inc ISBN 1–55009–213–8, Section 20, p76
- ^ Nutrition Committee, Canadian Paediatric Society (1990). "Megavitamin and megamineral therapy in childhood". CMAJ 143 (10): 1009–1013. PMID 1699646. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1452516. Retrieved on 4 April 2008.
- ^ a b Report 12 of the Council on Scientific Affairs: Alternative medicine American Medical Association June 1997, Accessed 21 March 2008
- ^ a b Jarvis WT (1983). "Food faddism, cultism, and quackery". Annu. Rev. Nutr. 3: 35–52. doi:10.1146/annurev.nu.03.070183.000343. PMID 6315036.
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Further reading
- Williams Roger J, Kalita Dwight K (1979). Physician's Handbook on Orthomolecular Medicine. Keats Publishing. ISBN 0-87983-199-5.
- Huemer Richard P (ed) (1986). The Roots of Molecular Medicine: A Tribute to Linus Pauling. W. H. Freeman. pp. 290pp. ISBN 0-7167-1761-1.
- Pauling Linus (1986). How to Live Longer and Feel Better. W. H. Freeman. ISBN 0-380-70289-4.
- Hoffer Abram (1998). Putting It All Together: The New Orthomolecular Nutrition. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-87983-633-4.
- Werbach Melvyn R, Moss Jeffrey (1999). Textbook of Nutritional Medicine. Third Line Press. ISBN 0-9618550-9-6.
- Hoffer Abram, with Pauling Linus (2004). Healing Cancer: Complementary Vitamin & Drug Treatments. CCNM Press. ISBN 1-897025-11-4.
- Moss David (2000). Antioxidants Against Cancer. Equinox Press. ISBN 1-88102528-4.
- Alexander J (2001). Laboratory evaluations in molecular medicine (First ed.). Norcross, Georgia: Institute for Advances in Molecular Medicine. ISBN 0-96739491-0. (self-published)
- Pizzorno Joseph E Jr, Murray Michael T (November 2005). Textbook of Natural Medicine (Third ed ed.). Churchill Livingstone. pp. 2368. ISBN 0-443-07300-7.
- Barrett Stephen (1980). The Health Robbers (Second ed ed.). Stickley. pp. 52.
- Cassileth Barrie R (1998). Alternative medicine handbook: the complete reference guide to alternative and complementary therapies. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-04566-8.
- Bender David A (2003). Nutritional Biochemistry of the Vitamins (Second ed ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 230. ISBN 0521803888.
- Gratzer Walter (2005). Terrors of the table. Oxford University Press. pp. 210. ISBN 0192806610.
External links
- Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine
- orthomolecular.org
- Orthomolecular Medicine Online
- Official website for the International Society of Orthomolecular Medicine
- Linus Pauling Institute website
- Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Centre
- DoctorYourself.com - Personal site of Andrew Saul PhD, Contributing Editor for the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.
- Index orthomolecular research pages, Orthomolecular Education Foundation SOE (Netherlands)
- Biologically Based Practices: An Overview, National Institute of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Food, Health and Well-Being in British Columbia. BC Provincial Health Officer's Annual Report 2005.
- Should We "Thank God" for Julian Whitaker?, American Council on Science and Health, 1999
- Recommendations of the NCAHF Task Force on Supplement Abuse (1987)
Lic. Nut. Miguel Leopoldo Alvarado


text:
China continues to pull ahead in the central bank digital currency race as more details on its secretive digital yuan project intermittently surface. As a result, more countries are beginning to worry about the potential implications.
Over the past few weeks, a number of Japanese lawmakers have publicly expressed their preference for a CBDC controlled by the Bank of Japan. The general idea is to counter the soon-to-be-released digital yuan from neighbouring China and prevent it from disrupting the global economy.
According to a senior ruling party lawmaker, the development of a Japanese CBDC might take "two to three years." Will it come too late to serve as a challenge for Beijing? What might a BoJ-issued currency look like?
Bank of Japan vs. CBDC: A preference for cash
The Bank of Japan's relationship with CBDCs can be traced back to April 2018, when the agency's Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya first addressed the topic publically. Although the tone of his comment was predominantly negative, the official did not rule out the possibility of considering the bank's own cryptocurrency.
Specifically, Amamiya argued that issuing a CBDC for general use would undermine the existing financial system, as that would allow consumers to open accounts directly at the central bank and hence abandon private banks altogether, putting them at a major disadvantage:
"The issuance of central bank digital currencies for general use could be analogous to allowing households and firms to directly have accounts in the central bank. This may have a large impact on the aforementioned two-tiered currency system and private banks' financial intermediation."
The central bank's representative concluded that although his agency was not considering issuing its own virtual currency, it nonetheless realized that the application of emerging technologies was a possibility.
Half a year later, in October 2018, Amamiya reiterated his mostly negative stance toward CBDCs. He claimed that such digital currencies are unlikely to improve the existing monetary systems, adding that the central bank does not plan to issue a CBDC that can be widely used by the public for settlement and payment purposes.
During his speech, Amamiya panned the idea of CBDCs as a tool for central banks to control the economy once interest rates fall to zero. According to this theory, a state-controlled digital currency can empower central banks to charge more interest on deposits from individuals and firms, which would in turn induce them to spend more money, thereby stimulating the economy. Notably, Japan was one of the first countries to introduce negative interest rates back in 2016, along with the European Central Bank.
Thus, the BoJ deputy governor claimed that charging interest on CBDCs would only work if central banks eliminate fiat money from the financial system, which is not an option for Japan, where cash is still a popular method of payment. Otherwise, the public will still continue converting digital currencies into cash in order to avoid paying interest. Amamiya went on to add, "In order for central banks to overcome the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates, they would need to get rid of cash from society."
In February 2019, the Bankof Japan published an extensive report covering CBDCs. The document, authored by a BoJ official and a University of Tokyo professor, studied different ways to implement a CBDC and the hypothetical consequences of those approaches. Specifically, the report focused on two types of CBDCs that had been previously categorized by the Bank for International Settlements: one type accessible to the general public for daily transactions (like banknotes), and the other used for large-value settlements (central bank deposits) only.
Echoing Amamiya's concerns, the paper's authors argued that CBDCs of the latter kind wouldn't improve the current monetary system, and focused primarily on the first kind in their analysis. The report also noted that blockchain could be used for a token-based CBDC.
Finally, in July 2019, Amamiya once again said that countries issuing CBDCs with a negative interest rate would force the public toward cash, while eliminating physical money is not an option.
Chinese threat: New wave of interest in CBDCs among Japanese politicians
In 2020, a year that has already been remarkably eventful in terms of global crypto adoption, Japanese lawmakers returned to the idea of a CBDC. The wave of renewed interest was started by a parliamentary group comprised of around 70 members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who are alarmed about the prompt development of the digital yuan in neighbouring China.
Earlier in January, the People's Bank of China reportedly accomplished the top-layer design and joint testing of its soon-to-be-released CBDC. The idea that China could compel other countries to digitize their currencies has been widely discussed since Libra's announcement in Summer 2019 apparently prompted Beijing to speed up the development of its digital yuan. A common theory is that China can jumpstart its CBDC via its "Belt and Road" initiative, using it to maintain trade relations with a number of friendly developing economies.
Norihiro Nakayama, parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs and a key member of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, said on Jan. 24: "China is moving toward issuing digital yuan, so we'd like to propose measures to counter such attempts,"
On Jan. 30, the Bank of Japan's Amamiya continued the discussion by stating that the central bank must be ready to issue a CBDC if public demand spikes due to rapid technical developments.
Amamiya did not retract his previous claims about such digital currencies, as he stressed that the issuance of CBDCs would not drastically impact the effectiveness of monetary policy and its effect on interest rates, asset prices and bank lending. However, the BoJ official focused on technical innovations within settlement systems that CBDCs might entail: "The transmission mechanism [...] could become more complicated and difficult (to break down) if settlement systems change."
Amamiya clarified that the institution still has no imminent plans to issue a digital currency, as it continues to assess potentially overlooked implications for monetary policy, as well as security issues. It is "very important" for BoJ to continue studying the possibility of issuing CBDCs, he added.
On Feb. 7, Akira Amari, former economy minister and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party — led a group of lawmakers calling on their government to push for digital currencies to be placed on the G-7's agenda this year. The 2020 G-7 summit will be held on June 10 through June 12 in Camp David, Washington. Notably, Amari and his allies specified the source of their concern — the Chinese CBDC:
"We live in a stable world led by dollar settlement. How should we respond if such a foundation collapses and if (China's move) gives rise to a struggle for currency supremacy?"
Three days later, on Feb. 10, yet another Japanese lawmaker stepped forward to support the idea of a BoJ-issued digital currency. The head of the banking and finance system's research commission at the Liberal Democratic Party, Kozo Yamamoto, said that Japan should create a digital yen currency, hopefully "within two to three years."
Is Japan too late to the party? Experts think not
Jeff Wentworth, co-founder of Tokyo-based blockchain tooling startup Curvegrid, believes that issuing a digital yen would be a logical step for the local central bank. He told Cointelegraph that, "Every economy needs a CBDC, much as almost every economy made the move from paper money to electronic banking in the 1980s." However, in Wentworth's view, Amari might overestimate the influence of a China-issued CBDC, as its performance will likely depend on the currency's design:
"CBDCs in general will upset the current status quo, but it's hard to say what impact the digital yuan in particular will have on the global currency balance. A key consideration is how decentralized the yuan and other CBDCs will aim to be. If kept mostly centralized, they will be CBDCs in name only and not much different from the current state of electronic money. Greater change is likely to be driven by CBDCs which adopt a more decentralized approach."
Maurizio Raffone, chief financial officer of blockchain firm Credify, who is also based in Tokyo, shared a similar sentiment, arguing that the digital yuan might fail to dethrone the American dollar in the near future:
"At least in the next few years I don't see a digital Yuan replacing the USD. China would need to remove currency controls on the Yuan (as it would be pegged to the digital Yuan), implying some degree of loss of control over monetary policy, which is something the Chinese government simply won't do."
Nonetheless, Raffone added that the BoJ is overdue for a CBDC since its loose monetary policy has run out of room, and that, "a CBDC could be a great way to improve monetary velocity in the Japanese economy and provide a boost to GDP growth." He added that Japan should take in the technical and financial consideration into account, elaborating:
"Technically, Japan's CBDC would be a great tentpole for digital transformation and innovation for all Japanese financial services firms and a way for them to piggyback on the Bank of Japan's digital currency to push their own product development. Financially, a CBDC could be a huge money saver for banks as well as an effective tool to protect against tax evasion and money laundering."
Both experts agree that albeit the People's Bank of China is considered the frontrunner in the CBDC race, it is not too late for the Japanese central bank to start its own digital currency project, as two to three years in global financial market terms is still quite fast.
As for the United States, its officials recognize that the prospect of the digital yuan could be a threat to the USD's dominance, but prefer to stay on the sidelines for the time being. Earlier this week, Congressman Bill Foster questioned a Federal Reserve official on the matter, and was told that the institution is not yet sure whether deploying such a digital currency would benefit the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, China continues to finalize its CBDC project, leaving other countries behind. On Feb. 12, the Financial Times reported that the Chinese central bank has filed more than 80 patents related to its undisclosed plans to launch the digital yuan and the way it integrates with the banking system.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Catch Some Holiday Cheer!
It's crunch time: we're down to the last couple of days before that big Chrissymiss holiday that I hear a bunch about. It's easy to get all stress-ified this time of year, so it's always important to seek out some holiday cheer. Here are some suggestions of mine on how to find the cheer this year:
Enjoy Some Holiday Lights
Merry Christmas from Zoolights, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's annual holiday celebration where they dress up the zoo with millions of Christmas lights in all sorts of Christmassy displays! What could be more Christmassy than these:
Well, I can't say that I'm too familiar with the Christmas Scorpions and Spiders… but I guess they might help put you in the mood? How about we look at some lights that remind us of the savior for whom this holiday is really celebrated:
If that doesn't put you in the holiday mood of cheer, how about…
Listen to Some Holiday Music
Musician Three Ninjas has put out a little holiday EP! With songs titles like "Joy & Goodwill," "The Birth of Our Savior (is the Death of my Dream)," and "It's an Agonizingly Slow Death," this is sure to coat you liberally in some holiday cheer:
Hmm… maybe depressing country music isn't your thing this time of year? Well, how about music from world-renowned, highly-honored actor and performer Sir Christopher Lee?
Wow, that's some really hardcore death metal, isn't it? Maybe you should download Sir Christopher's latest song, "Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing" here and listen to it over and over again at full volume to blast some holiday cheer into your ear.
No? Let's try…
Watch Some Made-For-TV Holiday Movies
What could be more heartwarming than some good ol' made-for-TV movies about the holidays? Luckily for us Twitter user @audipenny has watched them all for you and has reviewed them here. Here's a sample of what you can enjoy:
A Rake That Was A Manger Too
Named 2009's "What Is This. No Seriously What" film of the year, a small-town rake drives, yes drives, into town and proves to everyone that rakes that drive cars into towns can also be outside rooms where Jesuses are born, god my head never stops hurting, do you think there is a baby in there
Sound good? No? You should read through the rest of them.
Still not feeling the holiday spirit? Feeling more of a horrorday spirit? Well, there's always one thing you can do: put the power in your own hands by creating your own holiday cheer from scratch…
Make Some Holiday Snowflakes
Make your own paper snowflakes. Don't know how? You're in luck because I wrote a detailed tutorial a few years ago. You can make beautiful snowflakes like this:
If the threat of world annihilation from Galactus, the dreaded World Devourer doesn't make you feel some holiday cheer, then I don't know what will.
Categories: Christmas.


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I. The Ozone Layer
The Earth's atmosphere is divided into several layers. The lowest region, the troposphere, extends from the Earth's surface up to about 10 kilometers (km) in altitude. The next layer, the stratosphere, continues from 10 km to about 50 km. Most atmospheric ozone is concentrated in a layer in the stratosphere, about 15–30 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
Ozone is a molecule containing three oxygen atoms. It is blue in color and has a strong odor. Normal oxygen, which we breathe, has two oxygen atoms and is colorless and odorless. Ozone is much less common than normal oxygen. Out of each 10 million air molecules, about 2 million are normal oxygen, but only 3 are ozone.
However, even the small amount of ozone plays a key role in the atmosphere. The ozone layer absorbs a portion of the radiation from the sun, preventing it from reaching the planet's surface. Most importantly, it absorbs the portion of ultraviolet light called UVB. UVB has been linked to many harmful effects, including various types of skin cancer, cataracts, and harm to some crops, certain materials, and some forms of marine life.
At any given time, ozone molecules are constantly formed and destroyed in the stratosphere. The total amount, however, remains relatively stable. While ozone concentrations vary naturally with sunspots, the seasons, and latitude, these processes are well understood and predictable. Each natural reduction in ozone levels has been followed by a recovery. Recently, however, convincing scientific evidence has shown that the ozone shield is being depleted well beyond changes due to natural processes.
Here are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.


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It may be great for curing a splitting headache, but scientists have now discovered that aspirin also activates an enzyme that burns fat, a finding that could unlock its cancer fighting properties, according to a new study.
Previous research has shown that once ingested, aspirin breaks down into salicylate, a compound derived from plants such as willow bark, and used as a drug for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians recorded the medicinal use of willow bark in their manuscripts.
In the 1890s, pharmaceutics developed a modified form of salicylate to make it less irritating to the stomach – creating the drug aspirin.
More recently, research has known that salicylate triggers a molecular pathway that leads to pain relief.
Now a team led by Professor Grahame Hardie, a cell biologist at the University of Dundee in Scotland, has discovered how salicylate affects metabolism. They report their findings today in the journal Science.
Hardie and his team suspected that salicylate affected an enzyme known as AMPK, which is a key regulator of cell metabolism.
To test this, researchers compared a control group of mice, with another group that lacked a sub-unit of the AMPK enzyme. They injected both groups of mice with salicylate and measured the rate at which they utilised fat.
They found that the mice with AMPK were able to burn fat at a faster rate. This indicated that salicylate switches on AMPK, increasing the breakdown of fat.
"It's exciting that we've discovered salicylates are working in a new and different way to what we originally thought," says Hardie.
Hardie says recent studies have shown that people who take aspirin over long time periods appear to have a lower incidence of cancer. But doctors warn against prolonged aspirin use, which can cause stomach bleeding.
"I'm particularly interested in these protective effects against cancer," says Hardie. "Further research may help us discover another way of taking salicylate, other than aspirin, which has fewer side-effects."
He explains that anti-cancer effects may be due to the activity of AMPK, as diabetic drugs that target AMPK in cells are also associated with a reduced incidence of cancer.
Dr Briony Forbes, a biochemist at the University of Adelaide, says findings in this study are likely to explain recently identified protective effects against cancer by aspirin.
"The surprising finding that salicylate promotes AMPK activity also opens up exciting avenues for diabetes prevention and treatment."
The study was supported by the Wellcome Trust.
Aspirin fat burning mechanism found
It may be great for curing a splitting headache, but scientists have now discovered that aspirin also activates an enzyme that burns fat, a finding that could unlock its cancer fighting properties, according to a new study.


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Thank you for your interest in the DecemBEER organized by, 112 State St, Peoria, IL 61602.
You only need to register your information once and can return to this site to enter more brews or edit the brews you've entered. You can even pay your entry fees online if you wish.
Entry Registration is Open
6 entries have been added to the system as of 3:17 PM, CDT, Thursday, September 28, 2023. There is a limit of 50 entries for this competition.
6 paid entries are in the system as of 3:17 PM, CDT, Thursday, September 28, 2023. There is a limit of 40 paid entries for this competition.
To add your entries into the system, please proceed through the registration process or log in if you already have an account.
Judge and Steward Registration is Open
If you have not registered and are willing to be a volunteer, please register.
If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.
This competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older.
All mailed entries must be received at the mailing location by the shipping deadline - please allow for shipping time.
All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations the day of the drop-off deadline.
All entries must be handcrafted products, containing ingredients available to the general public, and made using private equipment by hobbyist brewers (i.e., no use of commercial facilities or Brew on Premises operations, supplies, etc.).
The competition organizers are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged.
The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles for judging and to restructure awards as needed depending upon the quantity and quality of entries.
Qualified judging of all entries is the primary goal of our event. Judges will evaluate and score each entry. The average of the scores will rank each entry in its category. Each flight will have at least one BJCP judge.
Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category but may only enter each subcategory once.
The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style categories based on number of entries. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles. All brews in combined categories will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.
The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top winners.
Bottles will not be returned to entrants.
Competition Official
You can send an email to any of the following individuals via Contact.
- Jason Clow — Competition Coordinator
Homebrewers Of Peoria is proud to have the following sponsors for the DecemBEER.


text:
TrailerTalk: Terminator: Genisys (2015)
A franchise we all thought was dead but secretly wanted to come back to life was the Terminator series of films. Then we were treated to an early Christmas present. Full of the action we're all accustomed to from the franchise, the Genisys trailer reintroduced us to the T-800 and… Read more →


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|» Summary
|» License
|The add-on to HTML_QuickForm package that allows building of multipage forms
|PHP License
|» Current Release
|» Bug Summary
|1.0.10 (stable) was released on 2009-10-02 by avb (Changelog)
Report a new bug to HTML_QuickForm_Controller
|» Description
|The package is essentially an implementation of a PageController pattern.
* Controller class that examines HTTP requests and manages form values persistence across requests.
* Page class (subclass of QuickForm) representing a single page of the form.
* Business logic is contained in subclasses of Action class.
Cool features:
* Includes several default Actions that allow easy building of multipage forms.
* Includes usage examples for common usage cases (single-page form, wizard, tabbed form).
|» Maintainers
|» More Information


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Politico did not note that it's Luntz -- not Obama -- who's talking about a "Washington takeover" of health care
Politico uncritically quoted Sen. Lamar Alexander stating, in reference to health care reform: "Washington takeover are two words we've been hearing a lot from the Obama Administration these days." But Obama has explicitly disavowed a "Washington takeover" of health care; it's GOP consultant Frank Luntz who's urged Republicans to use that phrase to attack Obama's plan.
In a June 15 article, Politico reported that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) "predicted that Americans would begin to sour on President Barack Obama's call for a public option" for health care, and then uncritically quoted Alexander stating: " 'Washington takeover' are two words we've been hearing a lot from the Obama Administration these days." The article did not mention that Obama has explicitly disavowed a "Washington takeover" of health care, including during a June 15 speech before the American Medical Association in which he described "warnings about ... government takeovers" as part of reform opponents' "scare tactics and fear-mongering." In fact, it is GOP consultant Frank Luntz who has urged Republicans to attack Obama's plan as a "Washington takeover" of health care, penning a memo titled "The Language of Healthcare 2009: The 10 Rules for Stopping the 'Washington Takeover' of Healthcare," as Politico itself reported in May. Indeed, Alexander has reportedly acknowledged that he and other Senate Republicans have met with Luntz, whom Alexander described as "a useful wordsmith."
In addition to quoting Alexander's statement, the Politico article also uncritically reported that "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a floor speech scheduled for this afternoon warned that what Americans 'don't want is a Washington takeover of health care along the lines of what we've already seen with banks, insurance companies, and the auto industry.' "
But Obama has frequently said he is not proposing a "Washington takeover" of health care. For instance, during a June 11 town hall meeting, Obama reportedly stated: "One of the options ... should be a public insurance option. ... The reason is not because we want a government takeover of health care." Obama further explained that "if you've got a private plan that works for you, that's great. But we want some competition. If the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option, it'll keep them honest and it'll help keep their prices down." Similarly, during the June 15 AMA conference, Obama said:
We know the moment is right for health care reform. We know this is an historic opportunity we've never seen before and may not see again. But we also know that there are those who will try and scuttle this opportunity no matter what -- who will use the same scare tactics and fear-mongering that's worked in the past. They'll give dire warnings about socialized medicine and government takeovers; long lines and rationed care; decisions made by bureaucrats and not doctors. We've heard it all before -- and because these fear tactics have worked, things have kept getting worse.
So let me begin by saying this: I know that there are millions of Americans who are content with their health care coverage -- they like their plan and they value their relationship with their doctor. And that means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what. My view is that health care reform should be guided by a simple principle: fix what's broken and build on what works.
Nonetheless, Luntz prescribed the phrase "Washington Takeover" as one of the "BEST words" for "maximiz[ing] your attacks on the Democratic plan." From Luntz's memo [emphases in original]:
Maximize your attacks on the Democratic plan by choosing the BEST words. For instance, calling it the "Democratic plan" isn't your best bet; doing so makes it political in the wrong way. It makes the issue Republicans vs. Democrats -- which doesn't favor you. The issue needs to be Americans vs. Washington. So here are the words to use:
"Washington Takeover" beats "Washington Control." Takeovers are like coups -- they both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom. What Americans fear most is that Washington politicians will dictate what kind of care they can receive.
In a June 16 report that aired on NPR's Morning Edition, David Welna reported that Alexander "didn't hesitate to confirm that his party did get the [Luntz] memo":
But for many Republicans, it's more than just a "government plan." For Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, it's a "Washington takeover."
"A Washington takeover of health care would result in a stifling of innovation," he says.
Same goes for Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, who's in charge of crafting Senate Republicans' message: "I think the one thing we don't want most is a Washington takeover."
Two months ago, GOP lawmakers got a 28-page memo from pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz titled "The Language of Healthcare 2009." It lays out what Luntz calls "10 rules for stopping the 'Washington takeover' of healthcare."
Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, says it's clear where Republicans got their talking points. "As we listen to the speeches of Sen. [Mitch] McConnell day in and day out, they're right out of the playbook, almost verbatim -- in fact, many cases they are verbatim from the Luntz memo."
Senate GOP message chief Alexander didn't hesitate to confirm that his party did get the memo.
"Well, Frank met with our Republican senators one time, and he's a useful wordsmith," he said.
From the June 15 Politico article:
Senate GOP Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) predicted that Americans would begin to sour on President Barack Obama's call for a public option.
"Washington takeover are two words we've been hearing a lot from the Obama Administration these days," said Alexander. "That's a different direction that Republicans want to go."
Alexander vowed that Republicans would stay on offense on the issue
"We intend to be players," he said.


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(visited by DLC Roger, Tom, Andreas)
30-Oct-2002 -- We are members of Deutscher LandCruiser-Club (German LandCruiser Association) and love to travel the desert. In October/November 2002 we went with two cars to south Algeria. Most time we spend south of the oasis Djanet, a pretty nice desert place with all facilities a traveller needs.
After we had visited 24N 10E we wanted more. So the closest point was 24N 11E. The map showed sandy areas with some rocky parts between us and the point. "Let's try", we said. When we started in the morning, the GPS showed a distance of about 17 km to the point. Not so far, we thought.
The first kms were hard flat areas witch made driving save and fast. Then we arrived at the first dunes. High! And at the first look not drivable. So we tried to drive around the dunes. Good idea! The dunes became smaller. Crossing was no problem. But a moment later the dunes became high again. Now we tried to cross them. A lot of work. Driving a little, step out, walk and check out where to go next. Going down the dunes means to see a way to get back if it would be impossible to go on.
Both cars once got stuck in the sand. But no problem. Within 15 minutes we were driving again. After about four hours the GPS showed a distance to the point of about 500 m - with a high dune between us and the point. Again driving around, looking for a way over the dune. And at least after another hour, we found the right way. 100 m away from the point we stopped the cars.
This was a pretty nice place. Dunes around. Nice view. The greatest point I ever visited.
Continued at 23N 10E.