Differences in Intermediary Metabolism in Mental Illness

Abstract

Exploratory tests of the hypothesis that enzymatic blocks due to unsuspected co-factor deficiencies might be a causal factor in functional mental illness revealed that treatment with certain vitamins or minerals in some instances could apparently make mentally ill Ss more ill. Extensive clinical tests led to separation of the principal vitamins and minerals into groups in terms of whether or not they would improve or worsen the condition of a given S. Two basic types of mentally ill Ss, Types I and II, and two corresponding types of vitamins and minerals were tentatively established. Blood studies revealed statistically significant differencees between Ss classified as Type I or as Type II, the greatest differences being found in the plasma pH and in the dissolved CO₂ + H₂CO₃. Preliminary exploration of the effect of treatment indicates these variables co-vary with psychological status of S when given appropriate vitamins and minerals. Since Type 1 Ss showed an increase in dissolved CO₂ + H₂CO₃ with treatment, it is suggested that they are slow oxidizers, and Type II Ss who show a decrease are fast oxidizers.