orthomolecular medicine

orthomolecular medicine 1 A type of medicine that, according to biochemist Linus Pauling, is concerned with “the preservation of good health and the treatment of disease by varying the concentration in the human body of substances that are normally present in the body.” The treatment of diabetes with the injection of insulin and the prevention of goiter with iodine are examples of orthomolecular medicine. 2 A form of alternative medicine in which practitioners try to prevent and cure disease by using specific doses of vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, trace minerals, electrolytes, and other natural substances.