Empowerplus: The Lure of a Miracle Pill for Mental Illness - Treating Schizophrenia with Vitamin Mixtures

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Instead of feeling their bipolar symptoms were suppressed or masked, as with psychotropic drugs, they felt "normal," wrote Dr. Kaplan, who presented her early results at two psychiatric conferences.

All the patients who were taking psychotropic drugs were able to cut their medication by more than half while taking the mineral pills.

But why should simple minerals work at all?

Because trace metals and minerals are already widely implicated in mental heath, Dr. Kaplan wrote. Zinc, calcium, copper, iron and magnesium all help neurons to work effectively, and the lack of them may cause behavioural abnormality.

And one of the main drugs used to treat abnormal behaviour -- lithium -- is itself a metal.

And while the study does nothing to tell which of the 36 minerals may be "the important one," she added, "we would say that the likelihood of finding a single effective ingredient is very small."

She floated the theory that a broad-based set of minerals may be more useful than single ingredients.

Picture right: Marvin Ross is skeptical about Truehope's effectiveness.

A lot of people were curious about the discovery, including Marvin Ross, a medical writer who is now the president of the Hamilton chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

Mr. Ross was puzzled why people with no medical training were recommending the supplement to people with serious psychiatric disorders. And he was alarmed that Dr. Kaplan's study was being taken as proof that it worked.

"An open label trial of short duration is not definitive proof," said Mr. Ross, who has since co-written an online book called Pig Pills Inc: The Anatomy of an Academic and Alternative Health Fraud.

In the U.S., others were also watching online as both testimonials and denunciations of the supplement popped up on the Internet.

Elizabeth Woeckner, a board member of Citizens for Responsible Care and Research, an organization concerned about the protection of human subjects in research, wondered why the product was being tested on human subjects if it hadn't been approved by Health Canada.

And why if, as Truehope claimed, the 36 vitamins, minerals and nutrients in the pills could be found in any drugstore, did the research have to use Truehope's proprietary formula?

She even questioned the pig supplement connection. "Ear and tail biting syndrome in pigs no more resembles mania or hypomania than I can fly," she said.

Since going public, Dr. Kaplan has been accused of "quackery" and promoting "pig pills."

Further research into the supplement has been halted by Health Canada.

She has since backed away from the debate, and wouldn't be interviewed for this article.

"The University of Calgary research has been very promising. While the participants in our research generally benefited mentally and remained healthy physically, the results are preliminary," she said in a written statement.

"Case series published by two independent clinicians in the U.S. have replicated these findings."

In a radio interview, Dr. Kaplan said it's reasonable to learn from pigs: "You know this is not that unusual. We are used to a lot of human health-related things being tested on lab animals, but what we are not is some insight coming from farm animals."

Others in the mental health field are also willing to give the supplement a try.

Ottawa psychiatrist Dr. Ruth Biggar said it isn't her first line of defence, but it works for some patients very well -- and for others not at all. Others show partial improvement.

"A couple of people have tried everything out there and have not tolerated it. It's not like we have a lot to fall back on."

Mood swings can be linked to nutritional deficiency, said Dr. Biggar, who has about four patients who use the supplement.

"We don't know what vital component of the Empower is working," she said.

But she notes that it tends to be more effective for people with bipolar disorder.

"It's not a cross-the-board kind of nutritional supplement," she said.

If a patient asked to try it, she would consider adding it to the medication regimen and gradually reducing meds. But she warns that schizophrenic patients have impaired judgment.

"Anyone who is doing this needs to be followed by a psychiatrist or doctor," she said. "You don't just go off your meds."

Meanwhile, Truehope has claimed that the supplements are effective for schizophrenia and a lot more -- attention deficit disorder, autism, Tourette syndrome, fibromyalgia, panic attacks and even brain injuries.