Derrick Lonsdale

Derrick Lonsdale (born 1924) M.D., Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (FACN), Fellow of the American College for Advancement in Medicine (FACAM) is a pediatrician and researcher into the benefits of certain nutrients in preventing disease and psychotic behavior.

Positions
Dr Lonsdale was a practitioner in pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic for 20 years. He became Head of the Section of Biochemical Genetics at the Clinic. The Cleveland Clinic is rated as the third best hospital in the United States.

In 1982, Lonsdale retired from the Cleveland Clinic and joined the Preventive Medicine Group to specialize in nutrient-based therapy.

He is also on the Scientific Research Advisory Committee of the American College for Advancement in Medicine and is an editor of their Journal.

Research work
Lonsdale has written over 100 published papers and the conclusions tend to support the idea that healing comes from the body itself rather than from external medical interventions.

Lonsdale has studied the use of nutrients to prevent diseases and his work has been favorably reviewed. He is particularly interested in Vitamin B1, also known as thiamine. Lonsdale's research on the effect of high doses of thiamine has been described as 'pioneering'.

Autism
Lonsdale lead a successful (uncontrolled) study on the treatment of autism spectrum children with thiamine. This work is controversial, because it links diet with autism.

The study, ''Lonsdale D and Shamberger R J (2000) "A clinical study of secretin in autism and pervasive developmental delay." Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Vol 10 (4), pp 271-280'', has been cited by the National Autistic Society.

Sudden deaths
Several of Lonsdale's papers on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are cited at SIDS Research Summaries.

The World Health Organisation have cited three of his papers on sudden deaths:
 * ''Lonsdale D. Thiamine deficiency and sudden deaths. Lancet. 1990 Aug 11;336(8711):376.
 * ''Lonsdale D. Erythrocyte transketolase activity and sudden infant death. Am J Clin Nutr. 1981 Oct;34(10):2326-7.
 * Lonsdale D, Shamberger RJ. Red cell transketolase as an indicator of nutritional deficiency. Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 Feb;33(2):205-11.

Child violence
In 2002 Lonsdale caused controversy when he linked child violence (children killing other children) to dietary deficiencies rather than the accepted social causes. Lonsdale put this down to 'high calorie malnutrition' where children overeat high calories foods that lack vital nutrients resulting in an upset to 'brain balance'. He pointed the finger at a range of 'normal' foods as well as generally accepted junk foods.

Books
Lonsdale has written several books, including:
 * A Nutritionist's Guide to the Clinical use of Vitamin B-1.
 * Why I Left Orthodox Medicine: Healing for the 21st Century
 * Free Oxygen Radicals and Disease