Abram Hoffer

Early life and education

Abram Hoffer was born in 1917 in the small Jewish farming settlement of Sonnenfeld in southern Saskatchewan, the youngest of four children of Israel Hoffer. His early interest in agriculture led him to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where he earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in agricultural chemistry. Following his master's, Hoffer undertook a year of postgraduate work on a scholarship at the University of Minnesota. He then worked at a wheat products laboratory in Winnipeg, developing assays to measure niacin levels, which provided practical experience in nutritional biochemistry. Hoffer returned to academia to complete a PhD in biochemistry in 1944, with a focus on B vitamins and their effect on the body, solidifying his academic interest in nutrition. This interest in the biochemical basis of health prompted him to pursue medicine, and he enrolled at the University of Manitoba in 1945. He completed two years of clinical work at the University of Toronto and earned his MD in 1949, having married Rose Miller in 1942 and started a family during his studies. During his medical training, Hoffer's focus shifted from an original intention to become a general practitioner to a deep interest in psychiatry, a field he felt was in need of a more scientific, physiological foundation.

Career in Saskatchewan and early research

In 1950, Hoffer was hired by the Saskatchewan Department of Public Health to establish a provincial psychiatric research program. He joined the Regina Psychiatric Services Branch in 1951 and served as the Director of Psychiatric Research until 1967. Disillusioned with the prevailing psychoanalytic approaches, Hoffer believed psychiatry should be grounded in biochemistry and human physiology. His early research in Regina was conducted in collaboration with British psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, who coined the term 'psychedelic'. Together, they investigated the potential therapeutic uses of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD, part of a broader scientific search for medicinal applications. This work included personal experimentation by Hoffer, Osmond, and their wives consuming LSD in an effort to become better acquainted with its effects, later joined by other experimenters and their spouses. Their work began attracting notoriety within professional and political circles, drawing attention from groups seeking to restrict peyote and from Native American groups that used the substance in religious ceremonies.

Their most notable clinical application was using LSD to treat alcoholism, with Canadian scientists reporting a fifty percent success rate in one study. Hoffer speculated that it was the psychedelic experience of LSD, rather than any simulated delirium tremens, that convinced the alcoholics to stop drinking. Concurrently, Hoffer began developing his signature theory on the cause of schizophrenia, which he called the adrenochrome hypothesis. He proposed that schizophrenia might be caused by the body's inability to remove adrenochrome, a hallucinogenic catecholamine metabolite, from the brain. Hoffer thought niacin could be used as a methyl acceptor to prevent the conversion of noradrenaline into adrenaline and that Vitamin C could prevent the oxidation of adrenaline to adrenochrome.

In the mid 1950s, while working at Regina General Hospital with James Stephen, Hoffer began testing high dose niacin on patients with schizophrenia. Around the same time, pathologist Rudolf Altschul in Saskatoon was exploring the use of high doses of niacin to lower cholesterol in rabbits and patients with degenerative vascular disease. The three men combined their research, leading to a seminal 1955 paper entitled 'Influence of nicotinic acid on serum cholesterol in man.' The paper summarized their research showing high dose niacin significantly lowered cholesterol in both high cholesterol patients and low cholesterol control subjects. The results were replicated by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and in Germany the following year, establishing niacin as a treatment option for high blood cholesterol and related dyslipidemias.

Orthomolecular psychiatry and private practice

In 1967, Hoffer resigned his academic and administrative positions to enter private psychiatric practice in Saskatoon. That same year, he created the Journal of Schizophrenia, which he later renamed the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in 1986. He used this publication as a platform for his ideas on what he called 'nutritional psychiatry', later orthomolecular psychiatry, claiming his ideas were consistently rejected by mainstream journals because they were unacceptable to the medical establishment. In 1976, Hoffer relocated his practice to Victoria, British Columbia, where he continued to see patients until his retirement in 2005. Hoffer remained an active figure in the orthomolecular movement, serving as editor of his journal, providing nutritional consultations, and acting as President of the Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Centre in Victoria. In 1994, he founded the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine, holding its inaugural conference in Vancouver in April of that year.

Throughout his career, Abram Hoffer was a prolific author who wrote and co authored numerous books. These publications were aimed at both professional audiences and the general public. His work consistently promoted megavitamin therapy and nutritional approaches for a wide range of conditions. These conditions included mental illness, cancer, and hospital care. His body of work reflects a sustained effort to document and argue for his orthomolecular perspective. Hoffer used his own publication, the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, to promote these ideas.

• Chemical Basis of Clinical Psychiatry (1960, with Humphry Osmond)
• Niacin Therapy in Psychiatry (1962)
• How to Live With Schizophrenia (1966)
• New Hope for Alcoholics (1966)
• The Hallucinogens (1967, with Humphry Osmond)
• Hoffer-Osmond Diagnostic Test (1975, with Humphry Osmond and Kelm H.)
• Megavitamin Therapy: In Reply to the American Psychiatric Association Task Force Report on Megavitamins and Orthomolecular Psychiatry (1976)
• Orthomolecular medicine for physicians (1989)
• Vitamin B-3 and Schizophrenia: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy (1996)
• Healing Cancer: Complementary Vitamin & Drug Treatments (2004)
• Orthomolecular Medicine For Everyone (2008, with Andrew W. Saul)
• The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism (2009)
• Niacin: The Real Story (2015, with Andrew W. Saul and Harold D. Foster)

Scientific contributions and legacy

Hoffer's legacy is a complex mix of rejected hypotheses and one major, accepted therapeutic discovery. His adrenochrome and transmethylation hypotheses for schizophrenia, while initially intriguing, were ultimately rejected by mainstream science for two primary reasons: the alleged neurotoxins were never conclusively identified, and the cause of schizophrenia became attributed to dysfunctions in neurotransmitters. Despite this, subsequent research suggested some merit in his ideas, as people with schizophrenia have been found to have defects in the genes that produce glutathione S-transferase, an enzyme that eliminates the byproducts of catecholamines from the brain. Hoffer's promotion of megavitamin therapy for schizophrenia and cancer became his most controversial stance, leading to significant and sustained criticism from the psychiatric establishment. Multiple studies in the United States, Canada, and Australia failed to find benefits of megavitamin therapy for schizophrenia, and follow up studies did not confirm the benefits Hoffer and Osmond reported for nicotinic acid.

In stark contrast, his work on niacin for cholesterol management represents a clear and lasting contribution to conventional medicine. The 1955 paper he co authored was foundational, demonstrating that high dose niacin acts as a drug to effectively lower serum cholesterol and treat dyslipidemias. This use of niacin became a standard treatment option, cementing Hoffer's role in its discovery, though at such high doses it can have side effects including intense flushing of the face and torso and, rarely, liver toxicity. His early research into LSD for alcoholism, while not adopted into mainstream practice, remains a notable chapter in the history of psychedelic research in Canada. Hoffer's greatest impact may be as the founder of the orthomolecular medicine movement, which continues to influence practitioners of nutritional and complementary therapies worldwide, maintaining a presence through the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine and related publications.

Criticism and mainstream rejection

Hoffer's theories and clinical practices were met with sustained and organized criticism from the mainstream medical and psychiatric communities. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association published a task force report that criticized the methodological flaws in Hoffer's work on niacin as a schizophrenia treatment and referred to follow up studies that did not confirm any benefits of the treatment, prompting at least two published responses from Hoffer and his supporters. Numerous subsequent studies in the United States, Canada, and Australia similarly failed to find benefits of megavitamin therapy to treat schizophrenia. Critics argued the term 'orthomolecular' was labeled a misnomer as early as 1973. Prominent psychiatrist and critic Thomas Szasz, author of The Myth of Mental Illness, believed Hoffer's view of schizophrenia as a physical disease treatable with vitamins and self help therapy to be 'pure quackery'. The central controversy surrounded Hoffer's departure from established medical research protocols and his creation of his own publishing and institutional channels after feeling ostracized by the mainstream, which he claimed consistently rejected his ideas.

The rejection of his core hypothesis was based on empirical failure. Though Hoffer and Osmond reported nicotinic acid could help with the treatment of schizophrenia, others reported that they could not replicate these results. Despite the apparent face validity of Hoffer's 'transmethylation hypothesis', in which it was thought that the production of catecholamines could sometimes go awry and produce a hallucinogenic neurotoxin, it lacked the conclusive identification of the toxins themselves. This methodological and evidential gap, combined with the shift in scientific consensus toward neurotransmitter models, ensured his schizophrenia research remained outside accepted medical practice.

Later life, death, and archival collection

After retiring from active practice in 2005, Hoffer remained intellectually engaged, continuing to write, edit the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, and provide nutritional consultations. He lived in Victoria, British Columbia, until his death at the age of 91 on May 27, 2009. His remains were buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Victoria. His personal and professional papers, known as the Abram Hoffer Orthomolecular Collection, are archived at the University of Saskatchewan, providing a comprehensive resource on his life and work. This collection includes the full scope of his research, correspondence, and publications related to the orthomolecular approach. Hoffer's ideas continue to be debated and discussed within specific communities. Proponents in the orthomolecular, naturopathic, and some complementary medicine fields uphold his work as visionary and foundational. The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine Press published several of his later works, including Naturopathic Nutrition in 2006 and Healing Children's Attention and Behavior Disorders in 2015. Meanwhile, the majority of the psychiatric and medical establishment regards his core claims about vitamin therapy for mental illness as unproven and his methods as scientifically flawed, a division that defines his complex legacy.

Questions about Abram Hoffer

What is Abram Hoffer known for?

Abram Hoffer is known for his adrenochrome hypothesis of schizoaffective disorders. He advocated for megavitamin therapy and nutritional interventions as treatments for schizophrenia and cancer. He was involved in studies of LSD as an experimental therapy for alcoholism. Hoffer also played a key role in the discovery that high dose niacin can be used to treat high cholesterol and other dyslipidemias.

What is the adrenochrome hypothesis?

The adrenochrome hypothesis was Abram Hoffer's theory on the cause of schizophrenia. He proposed that the condition might result from the body's inability to remove adrenochrome, a hallucinogenic metabolite of adrenaline, from the brain. He believed niacin could act as a methyl acceptor to prevent the formation of adrenaline and that vitamin C could prevent its oxidation to adrenochrome. This theory, which he began developing in the 1950s, was controversial and ultimately not accepted by mainstream psychiatry due to a lack of identified neurotoxins and a shift in research focus.

Did Abram Hoffer discover that niacin lowers cholesterol?

Yes, Abram Hoffer, along with James Stephen and Rudolf Altschul, combined their work on niacin. In 1955, they produced a paper showing that high dose niacin significantly lowered serum cholesterol in human patients. Their results were replicated by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and in Germany the following year. High dose niacin has since become a treatment option for individuals with high blood cholesterol and related blood lipid abnormalities.

What is orthomolecular medicine?

Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine promoted by Abram Hoffer. The term describes the concept of treating disease by providing the optimal molecular environment for the body, primarily through high dose vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Hoffer applied this approach most famously to psychiatry, advocating megavitamin therapy for conditions like schizophrenia. He founded the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine to advance these ideas, which remain controversial and unproven by mainstream medical standards.

What was Hoffer's connection to LSD research?

In the 1950s and 1960s, while working in Saskatchewan with Humphry Osmond, Hoffer researched the potential therapeutic uses of LSD. They personally experimented with the drug to understand its effects and used it clinically to treat alcoholism, reporting a fifty percent success rate in one study. Hoffer believed the psychedelic experience could motivate alcoholics to stop drinking. This work attracted notoriety and was part of Canada's early period of psychedelic research before such substances became heavily restricted.

Where are Abram Hoffer's papers kept?

Abram Hoffer's papers are held at the University of Saskatchewan. This collection is known as the Abram Hoffer Orthomolecular Collection. It was archived there after his career. The collection includes his correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, and publications. These materials document his work in orthomolecular psychiatry and nutrition. The collection was referenced in a 2012 article in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.

Sources and further reading

• Abram Hoffer (Wikipedia)
• Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD (isom.ca)
• 2007 Co-Winner (drrogersprize.org)
• Dr. Abram Hoffer worked to unlock secrets of the human brain (leaderpost.com)

Checked by the Your Space Hamilton desk. Last updated 2026-11-01.