Derrick Lonsdale (April 22, 1924 – May 2, 2024) was a British-born American pediatrician and researcher into the benefits of certain nutrients in preventing disease and psychotic behavior. He was a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (FACN), and also a Fellow of the American College for Advancement in Medicine (FACAM). Lonsdale is known for his research into

thiamine Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B1, is a vitamin – an Nutrient#Micronutrients, essential micronutrient for humans and animals. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosp ...

and his controversial theory that

thiamine deficiency Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhala language, Sinhalese phrase (bæri ...

is widespread among Americans and predictive of

anti-social behavior Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours ...

Positions

Lonsdale was a practitioner in

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Academic health science center, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an O ...

for 20 years. He became Head of the Section of Biochemical Genetics at the Clinic. In 1982, Lonsdale retired from the Cleveland Clinic and joined the Preventive Medicine Group to specialize in

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

-based therapy. Lonsdale was also on the Scientific Research Advisory Committee of the American College for Advancement in Medicine and was an editor of their Journal.

Research work

Lonsdale hypothesized that healing comes from the body itself rather than from external medical interventions. Lonsdale studied the use of nutrients to prevent diseases.Thiamine's Mood-Mending Qualities
, Richard N. Podel, Nutrition Science News, January 1999 He was particularly interested in Vitamin B₁, also known as

. The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

have cited three of Lonsdale's thiamine deficiency papers on

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and ...

. Lonsdale spoke at

orthomolecular medicine Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine that claims to maintain human health through nutritional Dietary supplement, supplementation. It is rejected by evidence-based medicine. The concept builds on the idea of an optimal nutrit ...

conferences.

Autism

Lonsdale led an uncontrolled study on the treatment of

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

children with thiamine. He also led a study (uncontrolled) of secretin, which he and Shamberger say led to an improvement in behaviour and bowel control of autistic children in his study. Both of these studies are controversial because they link nutrition with autism. Analysing the findings in the latter study, autism researchers say that while secretin may have "affect d gastrointestinal function,

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

may have influenced bowel function that in turn limited the discomfort children feel, but this does not constitute a substantial behavioural change".

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.

Personal life and death

Lonsdale was born on April 22, 1924, in

The Fylde The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England, to Edward and Kate Lonsdale. He

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

on April 22, 2024, and died in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, on May 2, 2024.

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'' * ''A Nutritional Approach to a Revised Model for Medicine: Is Modern Medicine Helping You?'' * ''Thiamine Deficiency Disease, Dysautonomia, and High Calorie Malnutrition''Co-authored with Chandler Marrs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, Derrick 1924 births 2024 deaths American health and wellness writers American men centenarians American nutritionists American pediatricians Autism researchers Orthomolecular medicine advocates Vitamin researchers British emigrants to the United States People from Lancashire British men centenarians