The ''Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine'' was established in 1967 by

Abram Hoffer Abram Hoffer (November 11, 1917 – May 27, 2009) was a Canadian biochemist, physician, and psychiatrist known for his "adrenochrome hypothesis" of schizoaffective disorders. According to Hoffer, megavitamin therapy and other nutritional interven ...

. It publishes studies in

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

al and

orthomolecular medicine Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine that aims to maintain human health through nutritional supplementation. The concept builds on the idea of an optimal nutritional environment in the body and suggests that diseases reflect ...

. There is controversy surrounding the journal, as the validity of the field of orthomolecular medicine is not widely accepted by mainstream medicine. The journal is ranked in the bottom 10 percent of all journals about

complementary and alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

that are indexed in the bibliographic database

Scopus Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...

(#74 out of 82 journals
CiteScore
2018).

History

In 1967, Hoffer found it increasingly difficult to publish reports on his studies of megavitamin therapies and claimed that his studies were rejected in a conspiracy of mainstream medicine, prompted by what he alleged to be extended conflicts of interest on the part of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...

. The ''Journal of Schizophrenia'' followed the formation of the Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation and the American Schizophrenia Association. Hoffer and

Humphry Osmond Humphry Fortescue Osmond (1 July 1917 – 6 February 2004) was an English psychiatrist who expatriated to Canada, then moved to work in the United States. He is known for inventing the word '' psychedelic'' and for his research into interesting ...

, who developed the

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

that

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

is caused by the endogenous production of an

epinephrine Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...

(adrenaline) based

hallucinogen Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

, were called before the Committee of Ethics of the American Psychiatric Association to explain why they were publicizing a treatment, called xenobiotic psychiatry by

Bernard Rimland Bernard Rimland (November 15, 1928 – November 21, 2006) was an American research psychologist, writer, lecturer, and influential person in the field of developmental disorders. Rimland's first book, ''Infantile Autism'', sparked by the birth ...

, which was considered outside of standard psychiatric practice. Hoffer claims that one of the assistant editors of the ''

American Journal of Psychiatry ''The American Journal of Psychiatry'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of psychiatry, and is the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The first volume was issued in 1844, at which time it was k ...

'' announced that he would never allow any article from Hoffer's group to appear in his journal. Several name changes occurred: to ''Schizophrenia''; then to ''Orthomolecular Psychiatry'', ostensibly to reflect the increased application of this type of therapy to other mental illnesses; then to ''Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine''.

Controversial status

The ''Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine'' is not indexed by

MEDLINE MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic database of life sciences and biomedical information. It includes bibliographic information for articles from academic journals covering medic ...

, a database of biomedical literature. Journals are selected for MEDLINE by the

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Its ...

based on scope and coverage, quality of content, quality of editorial work, intended audience, quality of the layout, printing, graphics, and illustrations.National Library of Medicine page on journal selection for MEDLINE
accessed 23 Sept 2006. The journal is classified as a "Non-recommended Periodical" by the alternative medicine

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...

website, Quackwatch.org.

Notes

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.orthomed.org/jom/ Publications established in 1967 Orthomolecular medicine Alternative and traditional medicine journals Quarterly journals English-language journals