One of the purposes of an anniversary is to rejoice and reminisce. We can congratulate ourselves because orthomolecular medicine is alive and well. This is underscored by Eisenberg in The New England Journal of Medicine. He makes the point that in 1990 Americans made an estimated 425 million visits to providers of unconventional therapy at an out-of-pocket cost of $27.60 per visit. Two other points should be noted. First, the total number of persons visiting alternative doctors was significantly larger than those attending traditional practitioners. Secondly, the vast majority of such persons had already consulted an allopathic or osteopathic practitioner.

The other consideration in a celebration is to reflect on a number of pertinent questions. What is the purpose of orthomolecular medicine? How does one meas ure ones success or failure? What are the common denominators in the different expressions oforthomolecular medicine and dentistry? What happens to an individual who is successfully versus unsuccessfully managed? 0n this, the twenty-fifth birth day of orthomolecular medicine and dentistry, we shall look at some of these questions and hopefully come up with some reasonable answers. If you are lost, you might try a map. It may help you identify where you are, where you want to go, and the direction and distance. The same is true medically. For example, there is the incontestible fact that seemingly similar people subjected to the same external stressors so often behave differently. Why is it that similar people treated by the same therapist with the same regime react widely? One gets much better; one is unscathed; and there is the possibility of even getting worse.