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==Prevalence==
Orthomolecular medicine is practiced by fewlicensed doctors who are medical practitionersspecialists,<ref name="cassileth">
{{cite book
|author=Cassileth Barrie R
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2009-03-02
}}</ref> butand megavitamin treatments are increasingly found in [[Over-the-counter drug|over the counter]] retail products and [[Naturopathic medicine|naturopathic]] textbooks.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}
A survey released in May, 2004 by the [[National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine]] focused on who used [[:Category:alternative medicine|complementary and alternative medicine]] (CAM), what was used, and why it was used in the United States by adults age 18 years and over during 2002. The survey reported uses in the previous twelve months that include orthomolecular related uses: Nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products 18.9%, Diet-based therapies 3.5%, Megavitamin therapy 2.8%.<ref name=NCCAMsurvey>
{{cite journal
|author=Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL
|title=Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002
|journal=Adv Data
|volume=
|issue=343
|pages=1–19
|year=2004
|month=May
|pmid=15188733
|format=PDF
|url=http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad343.pdf
}}</ref>
Another recent CAM survey reported that 12% of liver disease patients used the antioxidant [[silymarin]], more than 6% used vitamins, and that "in all, 74% of patients reported using CAM in addition to the medications prescribed by their physician, but 26% did not inform their physician of their CAM use."<ref>
{{cite journal
|author=Strader DB, Bacon BR, Lindsay KL, ''et al.''
|title=Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with liver disease
|journal=Am J Gastroenterol
|volume=97
|issue=9
|pages=2391–7
|year=2002
|month=September
|pmid=12358262
|doi=10.1111/j.1572-0241.2002.05993.x
}}</ref> The use of high doses of vitamins is also common in people who have been diagnosed with cancer, although usage depends of the type of cancer and ranges from 26% to 35% among [[prostate cancer]] survivors up to 75% to 87% in [[breast cancer]] survivors.<ref name=Velicer>
{{cite journal
|author=Velicer CM, Ulrich CM
|title=Vitamin and mineral supplement use among US adults after cancer diagnosis: a systematic review
|journal=J Clin Oncol
|volume=26
|issue=4
|pages=665–73
|year=2008
|pmid=18235127
|doi=10.1200/JCO.2007.13.5905
}}</ref>
==Medical and scientific reception==
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