Vitamins & Nutritional Supplements for Schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia may have a greater tendency to be deficient in folic acid, than the general population and they may show improvement when given supplements. A preliminary trial found that, among schizophrenic patients with folic acid deficiency, those given folic acid supplements had more improvement, and shorter hospital stays than those not given supplements. In a double-blind trial, a very high amount of folic acid (15 mg daily) was given to schizophrenic patients being treated with psychiatric medications who had low or borderline folic acid levels. The patients receiving the folic acid supplements had significant improvement, which became more significant over the six-month course of the trial. The symptoms of folic acid deficiency can be similar to those of schizophrenia, and two cases of wrong “schizophrenia” diagnoses have been reported. In one of these cases, an initial supplement of 20 mg daily of folic acid and a maintenance supplemental intake of 10 mg daily, led to resolution of symptoms.

In another double-blind study, daily supplementation with folic acid (2 mg), vitamin B6 (25 mg), and vitamin B12 (400 mcg) for three months improved symptoms of schizophrenia compared with a placebo. All of the participants in this study had elevated blood levels of homocysteine, which can be decreased by taking these three B vitamins. Based on this study, it would seem reasonable to measure homocysteine levels in people with schizophrenia and, if they are elevated, to supplement with folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12...