In 1973, a task force of the American Psychiatric Association examined niacin monotherapy of patient populations with chronic schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and rejected the practice along with the reliability of Hoffer's diagnostic approach.
[8][9][10] However, the underpinning ideas of orthomolecular psychiatry have become popular in alternative medical circles as a means to explain conditions such as autism, heavy metal toxicity, and chronic inflammatory disease.
[4] Pyroluria (or malvaria from the term mauve factor) involves hypothetical excessive levels of pyrroles in the body resulting from improper hemoglobin synthesis.
[14] and orthomolecular psychiatrists have alleged that pyroluria is related to diagnoses of ADHD, alcoholism, autism, depression, down syndrome, manic-depression, schizophrenia, celiac disease, epilepsy, and psychosis.
A 1973 task force of the American Psychiatric Association charged with investigating orthomolecular claims concluded: This review and critique has carefully examined the literature produced by megavitamin proponents and by those who have attempted to replicate their basic and clinical work.
Under these circumstances this Task Force considers the massive publicity which they promulgate via radio, the lay press and popular books, using catch phrases which are really misnomers like "megavitamin therapy" and "orthomolecular treatment," to be deplorable.