Megavitamin and Dietary Treatment in Schizophrenia: A Randomised, Controlled Trial

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of adjunctive megavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia. Method: Arandom allocation double-blind, controlled comparison of dietary supplement and megavitamin treatment, and an alternative procedure was given for 5 months to 19 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. In addition to usual follow-up, the experimental group received amounts of megavitamins based on their individual serum vitamin levels plus dietary restriction based on Radioallergosorbent (RAST) tests. The control group received 25 mg vitamin C and were prescribed substances considered allergenic from the RAST test. Results: Five months of treatment showed marked differences in serum levels of vitamins but no consistent self-reported symptomatic or behavioural differences between groups. Conclusions: This study does not provide evidence supporting a positive relationship between regulation of levels of serum vitamins and clinical outcome in schizophrenia over 5 months.