Megavitamin therapy

From ArticleWorld

The practice of using megavitamin therapy to treat or prevent illness or to prolong one’s life has fallen into and out of favor several times in both conventional and alternative medicine. Recently popularized in the 1960s by Linus Pauling, megavitamin therapy involves the use of vitamins in amounts significantly greater than what is recommended for dietary supplementation.

Linus Pauling advocated the use of high-dose vitamin C for the prevention and treatment of the common cold. Research studies on the topic, however, were equivocal. Other vitamins have been used as megavitamin therapy to boost the immune system and to prevent illnesses like infections and cancer.

The use of megavitamin therapy is generally not promoted nor opposed by conventional medicine with a few important exceptions. Vitamins that are fat-soluble, like vitamins A and E, are unable to be disposed of easily by the body in the event of excessive dosing and symptoms of vitamin toxicity can develop. Vitamin D and pyridoxine (a type of B vitamin) can also be toxic if taken in massive amounts.

When using megavitamin therapy, it is recommended that a healthcare provider monitor the doses given. Because vitamins are often bottled as multivitamins (when a single pill contains many different vitamins), the total consumption of the potentially toxic vitamins needs to be evaluated so that the amounts that are consumed are safe.