Patrick Holford is a British author and entrepreneur who endorses a range of vitamin tablets. As an advocate of alternative nutrition and diet methods, he appears regularly on television and radio in the UK and abroad. He has 36 books in print in 29 languages. His business career promotes a wide variety of alternative medical approaches such as orthomolecular medicine, many of which are considered pseudoscientific by mainstream science and medicine.
Holford's claims about HIV and autism are not in line with modern medical thought and have been criticised for putting people in danger and damaging public health.
In 2006 Holford was discovered to be using his PR adviser to delete critical content from his Wikipedia page.
Holford obtained a BSc in experimental psychology from the University of York in 1979. [1] [2] As a psychology student he became interested in the biochemistry of mental health problems. His research brought him in contact with Carl Pfeiffer and Abram Hoffer, both of whom claimed success in treating mental illness with nutritional therapy.[ citation needed ]
In 1984 Holford founded the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION). [3] At that institute he has worked on nutritional approaches to clinical depression, schizophrenia, ADHD and eating disorders.[ citation needed ] In 1995 the Board of Trustees of ION (of which he was a director) awarded him an Honorary Diploma in Nutritional Therapy. [1]
He retired as Director of ION in 1998 and was awarded ION's Award for Excellence in 2009.
He was the chief executive officer and cofounder (with Professor André Tylee of the Institute of Psychiatry) of the special interest group that developed into Food for the Brain Foundation, a registered charity that has the stated aim of promoting mental health through nutrition. [4] [5] [6] He was also director of the Brain Bio Centre, which specialises in a nutrition-based approach to mental health problems. [7]
Holford is a Fellow of the British Association for Nutritional Therapy (BANT), one of a number of professional bodies that seek to represent nutritional therapists in the UK. [8] He is registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council. He is also the Patron of the South African Association of Nutritional Therapy and the Irish Association of Nutritional Therapy. [9] [10]
Between 2007 and 2008 Holford was a visiting professor at Teesside University and in 2007 was appointed as Head of Science and Education at Biocare, a nutritional supplement company.[ citation needed ]
Holford has 36 books in print in 29 languages. [11]
Holford has been the subject of criticism for his promotion of medically dubious techniques and products including hair analysis, his support of the now struck-off doctor Andrew Wakefield and advocating the use of "non-drug alternatives for mental health", for which he has been given an award by the Church of Scientology-backed Citizens Commission on Human Rights. [12]
In 2006 Patrick Holford was discovered to be using his PR adviser to delete content on his Wikipedia page that was critical of him. [13]
Holford's claim in The New Optimum Nutrition Bible that "AZT, the first prescribable anti-HIV drug, is potentially harmful, and proving less effective than vitamin C" [14] has been criticised by Ben Goldacre. [15] Goldacre writes that Holford based this conclusion on a non-clinical study where "you tip lots of vitamin C onto HIV-infected cells and measure a few things related to HIV replication". [16] Goldacre notes that the paper does not compare vitamin C to AZT for efficacy. [15] He argues that "Holford was guilty of at least incompetence in claiming that this study demonstrated vitamin C to be a better treatment than AZT." [16] Prof David Colquhoun argues that Holford's "advocacy of vitamin C as better than conventional drugs to treat Aids is truly scary". [17]
Holford replied [18] to The Guardian newspaper that:
"As [Goldacre] well knows, the author of the research – Dr Raxit Jariwalla – wrote to the Guardian (January 20, 2005) [19] the last time Goldacre made this claim, to confirm that my statement is correct on the basis of two [non-clinical] studies on HIV-infected cells. The real crime here is that no full-scale human trials have been funded on vitamin C to follow up Jariwalla's important finding because it is non-patentable and hence not profitable. Goldacre seems unconcerned about the way commercial interests distort scientific research."
Goldacre replied that Raxit Jariwalla was a senior researcher at the Rath Research Institute in California – connected to vitamin salesman Matthias Rath. [20] Matthias Rath has been linked to the previous policy of the South African government to deny anti-viral drugs to HIV positive patients. [21]
Holford believes that there is a potential link in some susceptible children between the MMR vaccine and the development of autism-like symptoms. [22] This is against the overwhelming [23] [24] [25] [26] consensus of the scientific community and many high-quality empirical studies that demonstrate there is no such link. The Wakefield et al. paper upon which this hypothesis was based has been discredited by the scientific community and was retracted from the journal, and 10 of the 12 co-authors have formally disavowed the paper's conclusions. Furthermore, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the UK National Health Service and the Cochrane Library review have all concluded that there is no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. (See MMR vaccine controversy)
The Cochrane Library's systematic review also concluded that "The design and reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, both pre- and post- marketing, are largely inadequate...." Nonetheless, it noted that the vaccine has prevented diseases that still carry a heavy burden of death and complications, and that the lack of confidence in the vaccine has damaged public health. [27]
Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St George's Hospital, reported that after following Holford's advice to adopt a restricted diet a young autistic girl participating in one of Holford's experiments suffered dramatic weight loss and sleep problems. Holford dismissed the allegations as "professional jealousy", stating that "This girl hasn't suffered. She's got better and is behaving better. Her parents are delighted with the results. It's only Catherine Collins who is not." [28] Holford claimed that the girl was already a poor sleeper and that when placed on a less restrictive diet she was able to regain the weight she had lost. [29]
There has also been an adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority against Patrick Holford's 100% Health leaflet. "On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 50.1 (Health & beauty products and therapies – General) and 50.20 (Health & beauty products and therapies – Vitamins, minerals and other food supplements)." [30] A previous adjudication by the ASA also went against Mr Holford. . [31] Mr Holford has also been the subject of at least two adverse rulings by the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa. [32]
The MMR vaccine is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella, abbreviated as MMR. The first dose is generally given to children around 9 months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to 6 years of age, with at least four weeks between the doses. After two doses, 97% of people are protected against measles, 88% against mumps, and at least 97% against rubella. The vaccine is also recommended for those who do not have evidence of immunity, those with well-controlled HIV/AIDS, and within 72 hours of exposure to measles among those who are incompletely immunized. It is given by injection.
A gluten-free casein-free diet, also known as a gluten-free dairy-free diet, is a diet that does not include gluten, and casein. Despite an absence of scientific evidence, there have been advocates for the use of this diet as a treatment for autism and related conditions.
Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine that claims to maintain human health through nutritional supplementation. It is rejected by evidence-based medicine. The concept builds on the idea of an optimal nutritional environment in the body and suggests that diseases reflect deficiencies in this environment. Treatment for disease, according to this view, involves attempts to correct "imbalances or deficiencies based on individual biochemistry" by use of substances such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements and fatty acids. The notions behind orthomolecular medicine are not supported by sound medical evidence, and the therapy is not effective for chronic disease prevention; even the validity of calling the orthomolecular approach a form of medicine has been questioned since the 1970s.
Gillian McKeith is a Scottish television personality and writer. She is known for her promotion of various pseudoscientific ideas about health and nutrition. She is the former host of Channel 4's You Are What You Eat (2004–2006), Granada Television's Dr Gillian McKeith's Feel Fab Forever (2009–2010), and W Network's Eat Yourself Sexy (2010). In 2008, McKeith regularly appeared on the E4 health show Supersize vs Superskinny, and in 2010, she was a contestant on the tenth series of the ITV show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Brian Laurence Deer is a British investigative journalist, best known for inquiries into the drug industry, medicine and social issues for The Sunday Times. Deer's investigative nonfiction book The Doctor Who Fooled the World, an exposé on disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield and the 1998 Lancet MMR autism fraud, was published in September 2020 by Johns Hopkins University Press.
Matthias Rath is a doctor, businessman, and vitamin salesman. He earned his medical degree in Germany. Rath claims that a program of nutritional supplements, including formulations that he sells, can treat or cure diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. These claims are not supported by any reliable medical research. Rath runs the Dr. Rath Health Foundation, has been closely associated with Health Now, Inc., and founded the Dr. Rath Research Institute.
Ben Michael Goldacre is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford. He is a founder of the AllTrials campaign and OpenTrials, aiming to require open science practices in clinical trials.
Orthomolecular psychiatry is the use of orthomolecular medicine for mental illness. Orthomolecular psychiatry has been rejected by evidence-based medicine and has been called quackery. The approach uses unorthodox forms of individualized testing and diagnosis to attempt to establish an etiology for each patient's specific symptoms, and claims to tailor the treatment accordingly, using a combination of nutrients, dietary changes and medications that are claimed to enhance quality of life and functionality as well as to reduce or eliminate symptoms and the use of xenobiotic drugs. Scientific studies have shown mixed results; although there are some promising results from nutritional psychiatry, some forms of orthomolecular psychiatry are ineffective.
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health is a book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II. The book argues for health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet. It was first published in the United States in January 2005 and had sold over one million copies as of October 2013, making it one of America's best-selling books about nutrition.
Joseph Michael Mercola is an American alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and Internet business personality. He markets largely unproven dietary supplements and medical devices. On his website, Mercola and colleagues advocate unproven and pseudoscientific alternative health notions including homeopathy and opposition to vaccination. These positions have received persistent criticism. Mercola is a member of several alternative medicine organizations as well as the political advocacy group Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which promotes scientifically discredited views about medicine and disease. He is the author of two books.
Thiomersal is a mercury compound which is used as a preservative in some vaccines. Anti-vaccination activists promoting the incorrect claim that vaccination causes autism have asserted that the mercury in thiomersal is the cause. There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The idea that thiomersal in vaccines might have detrimental effects originated with anti-vaccination activists and was sustained by them and especially through the action of plaintiffs' lawyers.
The health freedom movement is a libertarian coalition that opposes regulation of health practices and advocates for increased access to "non-traditional" health care.
The Food for the Brain Foundation is a non-profit educational campaign, claiming to have been created by a group of nutritionists, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, teachers and scientists to promote a purported link between nutrition and mental health. It is an initiative led by the author and entrepreneur Patrick Holford.
Vitamin C megadosage is a term describing the consumption or injection of vitamin C in doses well beyond the current United States Recommended Dietary Allowance of 90 milligrams per day, and often well beyond the tolerable upper intake level of 2,000 milligrams per day. There is no strong scientific evidence that vitamin C megadosage helps to cure or prevent cancer, the common cold, or some other medical conditions.
Claims of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism have been extensively investigated and found to be false. The link was first suggested in the early 1990s and came to public notice largely as a result of the 1998 Lancet MMR autism fraud, characterised as "perhaps the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years". The fraudulent research paper, authored by discredited former doctor Andrew Wakefield and published in The Lancet, falsely claimed the vaccine was linked to colitis and autism spectrum disorders. The paper was retracted in 2010 but is still cited by anti-vaccine activists.
Bad Science is a book written by Ben Goldacre which criticises certain physicians and the media for a lack of critical thinking and misunderstanding of evidence and statistics which is detrimental to the public understanding of science. In Bad Science, Goldacre explains basic scientific principles to demonstrate the importance of robust research methods, experimental design, and analysis to make informed judgements and conclusions of evidence-based medicine. Bad Science is described as an engaging and inspirational book, written in simple language and occasional humour, to effectively explain academic concepts to the reader.
Ian Marber, is a nutrition therapist, well-known author and one of the founders of The Food Doctor, developing the brand from its inception in 1999 until his departure in December 2011. The Food Doctor positioned itself in the field of healthier eating with a range of both of fresh and dried food products, online consultancy as well as personal consultations.
Big Pharma conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that claim that pharmaceutical companies as a whole, especially in terms of big corporations, act in dangerously secretive and sinister ways that harm patients. This includes concealing effective treatments, perhaps even to the point of intentionally causing and/or worsening a wide range of diseases, in the pursuit of higher profits and/or other nefarious goals. The general public supposedly lives in a state of ignorance, according to such claims.
Hear the Silence is a 2003 semi-fictional TV drama based around the discredited idea of a potential link between the MMR vaccine and autism. By then, a contentious issue, the supposed connection originated in a paper by Andrew Wakefield published in 1998. The film debuted on 15 December 2003 at 9 pm on the British network Five. Produced on a budget of £1 million, it stars Hugh Bonneville as Wakefield and Juliet Stevenson as Christine Shields, a fictional mother who discovers the possible MMR-autism link when her son is diagnosed as autistic.
The Lancet MMR autism fraud centered on the publication in February 1998 of a fraudulent research paper titled "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children" in The Lancet. The paper, authored by now discredited and deregistered Andrew Wakefield, and twelve coauthors, falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest. It was exposed in a lengthy Sunday Times investigation by reporter Brian Deer, resulting in the paper's retraction in February 2010 and Wakefield being struck off the UK medical register three months later. Wakefield reportedly stood to earn up to US$43 million per year selling diagnostic kits for a non-existent syndrome he claimed to have discovered. He also held a patent to a rival vaccine at the time, and he had been employed by a lawyer representing parents in lawsuits against vaccine producers.