Pyroluria Self-Test (Answer Yes or No)
1. When you were young, did you sunburn easily?
2. Do you have pale or fair skin?
3. Do you have a reduced amount of head hair, eyebrows or eyelashes, or do you have prematurely grey hair?
4. Do you have poor dream recall or nightmares?
5. Are you becoming more of a loner as you age?
6. Do you avoid outside stress because it upsets your emotional balance?
7. Have you been anxious, fearful or felt a lot of inner tension since childhood but mostly hide these inner feelings from others?
8. Is it hard to clearly recall past events and people in your life?
9. Do you have bouts of depression and/or nervous exhaustion?
10. Do you have cluster headaches?
11. Are your eyes sensitive to sunlight?
12. Are you hypersensitive to loud noises?
13. Do you have reading difficulties (e.g. dyslexia)?
14. Do you belong to an all girl family, or have look-alike sisters?
15. Do you get frequent colds and infections, or unexplained chills or fevers?
16. Do you dislike eating protein?
17. Have you ever been a vegetarian?
18. Did you reach puberty later than normal?
19. Are there white spots/flecks on your fingernails, or do you have opaquely white or paper-thin nails?
20. Are you prone to acne, eczema or psoriasis?
21. Do you prefer the company of one or two close friends rather than a gathering of friends?
22. Do you have stretch marks on your skin?
23. Have you noticed a sweet smell (fruity odor) to your breath or sweat when ill or stressed?
24. Do you have - or did you have, before braces - crowded upper front teeth?
25. Do you prefer not to eat breakfast, or even experience light nausea in the morning?
26. Does your face sometimes look swollen while under a lot of stress?
27. Do you have a poor appetite, or a poor sense of smell or taste?
28. Do you have any upper abdominal, splenic pain?
29. As a child, did you get a "stitch" in your side when you ran?
30. Do you tend to focus internally (on yourself) rather than on the external world?
31. As an infant, were you breast fed?
32. Do you frequently experience fatigue?
33. Do you feel uncomfortable with strangers?
34. Do your knees ever crack or ache?
35. Do you overreact to tranquilizers, barbiturates, alcohol or other drugs - does a little produce a powerful response?
36. Does it bother you to be seated in a restaurant in the middle of the room?
37. Are you anemic?
38. Do you have cold hands and/or feet?
39. Are you easily upset (internally) by criticism?
40. Do you have a tendency towards morning constipation?
41. Do you have tingling sensations or muscle spasms in your legs or arms?
42. Do changes in your routine (travelling, new situations) provoke stress?
43. Do you tend to become dependent on one person whom you build your life around?
44. Do you have histrionic (dramatic) tendency?
45. Are you argumentative/enjoy argument?
46. Are new situations or changes in routine (i.e., traveling) particularly stressful to you?
47. Are you much more capable and alert in the evening, compared to mornings?
48. Is there a history of mental illness or alcoholism in family?
49. Are you easily upset by criticism?
50. Do you have a tendency toward being a loner and/or avoiding larger groups of people?
51. Do you feel very uncomfortable with strangers?
52. Do you have a tendency toward feeling anxious, fearful and carrying lifelong inner tension?
53. Do you have bouts of depression or nervous exhaustion?
Again, if you have answered yes to 15 or more of these then consider testing further using a hair mineral analysis OR a urinary screening test for the presence of elevated kryptopyrroles, by contacting us.
Testing for this condition is simple, relatively inexpensive and readily accessible to anyone without a prescription.
NOTE: It’s important that a clear laboratory diagnosis is determined before attempting high dose supplementation with zinc and/or B6, which happens to lower copper in the body.
"We find that truly balancing copper in the body usually takes much more than just zinc and vitamin B6, which are really just symptomatic remedies for copper imbalance and do not get to the cause of the problem in a deep way." Dr. Lawrence Wilson
Working closely with a qualified health care provider knowledgeable about this condition is strongly suggested.
You can click here to read more.
For additional reading or research:
2. Do you have pale or fair skin?
3. Do you have a reduced amount of head hair, eyebrows or eyelashes, or do you have prematurely grey hair?
4. Do you have poor dream recall or nightmares?
5. Are you becoming more of a loner as you age?
6. Do you avoid outside stress because it upsets your emotional balance?
7. Have you been anxious, fearful or felt a lot of inner tension since childhood but mostly hide these inner feelings from others?
8. Is it hard to clearly recall past events and people in your life?
9. Do you have bouts of depression and/or nervous exhaustion?
10. Do you have cluster headaches?
11. Are your eyes sensitive to sunlight?
12. Are you hypersensitive to loud noises?
13. Do you have reading difficulties (e.g. dyslexia)?
14. Do you belong to an all girl family, or have look-alike sisters?
15. Do you get frequent colds and infections, or unexplained chills or fevers?
16. Do you dislike eating protein?
17. Have you ever been a vegetarian?
18. Did you reach puberty later than normal?
19. Are there white spots/flecks on your fingernails, or do you have opaquely white or paper-thin nails?
20. Are you prone to acne, eczema or psoriasis?
21. Do you prefer the company of one or two close friends rather than a gathering of friends?
22. Do you have stretch marks on your skin?
23. Have you noticed a sweet smell (fruity odor) to your breath or sweat when ill or stressed?
24. Do you have - or did you have, before braces - crowded upper front teeth?
25. Do you prefer not to eat breakfast, or even experience light nausea in the morning?
26. Does your face sometimes look swollen while under a lot of stress?
27. Do you have a poor appetite, or a poor sense of smell or taste?
28. Do you have any upper abdominal, splenic pain?
29. As a child, did you get a "stitch" in your side when you ran?
30. Do you tend to focus internally (on yourself) rather than on the external world?
31. As an infant, were you breast fed?
32. Do you frequently experience fatigue?
33. Do you feel uncomfortable with strangers?
34. Do your knees ever crack or ache?
35. Do you overreact to tranquilizers, barbiturates, alcohol or other drugs - does a little produce a powerful response?
36. Does it bother you to be seated in a restaurant in the middle of the room?
37. Are you anemic?
38. Do you have cold hands and/or feet?
39. Are you easily upset (internally) by criticism?
40. Do you have a tendency towards morning constipation?
41. Do you have tingling sensations or muscle spasms in your legs or arms?
42. Do changes in your routine (travelling, new situations) provoke stress?
43. Do you tend to become dependent on one person whom you build your life around?
44. Do you have histrionic (dramatic) tendency?
45. Are you argumentative/enjoy argument?
46. Are new situations or changes in routine (i.e., traveling) particularly stressful to you?
47. Are you much more capable and alert in the evening, compared to mornings?
48. Is there a history of mental illness or alcoholism in family?
49. Are you easily upset by criticism?
50. Do you have a tendency toward being a loner and/or avoiding larger groups of people?
51. Do you feel very uncomfortable with strangers?
52. Do you have a tendency toward feeling anxious, fearful and carrying lifelong inner tension?
53. Do you have bouts of depression or nervous exhaustion?
Again, if you have answered yes to 15 or more of these then consider testing further using a hair mineral analysis OR a urinary screening test for the presence of elevated kryptopyrroles, by contacting us.
Testing for this condition is simple, relatively inexpensive and readily accessible to anyone without a prescription.
NOTE: It’s important that a clear laboratory diagnosis is determined before attempting high dose supplementation with zinc and/or B6, which happens to lower copper in the body.
"We find that truly balancing copper in the body usually takes much more than just zinc and vitamin B6, which are really just symptomatic remedies for copper imbalance and do not get to the cause of the problem in a deep way." Dr. Lawrence Wilson
Working closely with a qualified health care provider knowledgeable about this condition is strongly suggested.
You can click here to read more.
For additional reading or research:
- The Relationship Between an Unknown Factor (US) in the Urine of Subjects and HOD Test Results. J Neuropsychiatry 2:363-368, 1961. (by Abram Hoffer MD, PhD & Humphry Osmond, M.D.)
- The Presence of Unidentified Substances in the Urine of Psychiatric Patients 2:331-362, 1961 (by Abram Hoffer M.D, PhD, et al)
- The Presence of Malvaria in Some Mentally Retarded Children. Amer J Ment Def 67:730-732, 1963. (by Abram Hoffer M.D, PhD, et al)
- Malvaria: A New Psychiatric Disease. Acta Psychiat Scand 39:335-366, 1963. (by Abram Hoffer MD, PhD & Humphry Osmond, M.D.)
- Malvaria and the Law. Psychoso-matics, 7:303-310, 1966. (by Abram Hoffer M.D, PhD, et al)
- Mauve spot and schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 125(6):849-851, 1968.
- Biochemical relationship between kryptopyrrole (mauve factor and trans-3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid schizophrenia odor). Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol 1973 (by Carl Pfeiffer MD, PhD, et al.)
- Studies on the occurrence of the mauve factor in schizophrenia [article in Polish]. Psychiat. Pol., 7(2):153-9, 1973.
- Treatment of pyroluric schizophrenia (malvaria) with large doses of pyridoxine and a dietary supplement of zinc. J. Orthomolecular Psychiatry3(4):292 1974 (by Carl Pfeiffer PhD, MD & Arthur Sohler PhD)
- A rapid screening test for pyroluria; useful in distinguishing a schizophrenic subpopulation. J. Orthomolecular Psychiatry 1974 3(4):273 (by Arthur Sohler PhD)
- Neurological and behavioral toxicity of kryptopyrrole in the rat., Pharmacol Biochem Behav 3(2):243-50 1975
- Zinc and Manganese in the Schizophrenias. J. Orthomolecular Psychiatry 12(3):215 1983 (by Carl Pfeiffer PhD, MD and Scott LaMola, BS)
- A new prostaglandin disturbance syndrome in schizophrenia: delta-6-pyroluria., Med Hypotheses 19(4):333-8 1986
- Pyroluria – Zinc and B6 deficiencies. Int Clin Nutr Rev 1988 (by Carl Pfeiffer MD, PhD, et al.)
- The Discovery of Kryptopyrrole and its Importance in Diagnosis of Biochemical Imbalances in Schizophrenia and in Criminal Behavior J. Orthomolecular Medicine 10(1):3 1995 (by Abram Hoffer M.D, PhD)
- Fatty Acid Profiles of Schizophrenic Phenotypes, 91st AOCS Annual Meeting and Expo San Diego, California 2000 (by William Walsh PhD of the Pfeiffer Treatment Center)
- Urinary Pyrrole (Mauve Factor): Metric for Oxidative Stress in Behavioral Disorders, presented to the Linus Pauling Institute, 2003 (by Woody R. McGinnis MD)