A positive responder is a patient whose energy starts to lift and whose symptoms dissipate in layers. Positive responders have symptoms that can improve quickly or incrementally depending on how ingrained the biochemical profile is and how compliant they are.

Responses vary depending on biochemical severity and compliance.

Please see the peer reviewed case study series Orthomolecular Treatment Response published in The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in 2010. Advanced functional medicine continues to evolve in its ability to address advanced health conditions.

Everyone has a unique biological pattern and the right lab tests can help determining how best to ‘target’ the nutritional treatment. Targeted blood testing and unwashed hair mineral-metal analysis are for example helpful in determining a meaningful treatment approach (as they factor in well over 100 fundamental metabolic trends).

Primary orthomolecular protocols focus on the normalization of pivotal lab trends with the goal of optimal reference range balancing. A toolbox of primary treatment options should include the balancing of copper 2+ toxicity, copper 1+ deficiency, zinc deficiency, heavy metal overload (copper, mercury, lead, …), niacin dependency/deficiency, and food intolerance.  Other metabolic trends that are the important to address and can be considered primary (varies per case) include overall mineral imbalance, zinc-B6-manganese deficiency (pyroluria), inadequate food intake, cell function imbalance (fast/slow oxidation, mitochondrial compromise, …), sugar imbalance, iron imbalance, inflammation, and thyroid-adrenal imbalance.

To normalize multiple layers of imbalance simultaneously and safely, core primary minerals/vitamins that are given at the right dose are essential to biochemical balancing. Correcting zinc imbalance for example, will help to support the 200+ metabolic pathways that zinc is involved in (brain, heart and digestive health, etcetera).

Conditions and health concerns that are often amenable to orthomolecular treatment include: fatigue (the top chief complaint in clinical practice), mental health (depression, anxiety, bipolar, ADHD, schizophrenia, PTSD), insomnia, digestive disorders/symptoms, thyroid imbalances, allergies, weight problems, aging, circulatory conditions, female/male health conditions, poor academic/work performance, concussion syndrome, and more.

Here are some links to help you find an Orthomolecular medical provider local to you: Classic Orthomolecular Directory, Psychiatry Redefined, and Orthomolecular.org Practitioner Directory.