Megavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia: a randomised, controlled trial

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of adjunctive m egavitamin and dietary treatment in schizophrenia. Method: A random allocation double-blind, controlled comparison of dietary supplement and megavitamin treatment, and an alternative procedure was give n for 5 months to 19 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. In addi tion to usual follow-up, the experimental group received amounts of megavit amins based on their individual serum vitamin levels plus dietary restricti on based on Radioallergosorbent (RAST) tests. The control group received 25 mg vitamin C and were prescribed substances considered allergenic from the FAST test. Results: Five months of treatment showed marked differences in serum levels of vitamins but no consistent self-reported symptomatic or behavioural dif ferences between groups. Conclusions: This study does not provide evidence supporting a positive rel ationship between regulation of levels of serum vitamins and clinical outco me in schizophrenia over 5 months.