FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Feb 19, 2026

I had no desire to die

An update on my self-experiment with Pauling therapy

Report by Hans W. Diel

I have experienced sudden cardiac death twice. With a lot of luck and thanks to the immediate resuscitation efforts of experienced first responders, I was brought back to life. I don't like to think back on it, but the traumatic memories of these near-death experiences are difficult to suppress.

After the two heart attacks I had suffered, the doctors could offer me no hope of recovery. Their prognosis was poor due to my advanced coronary heart disease. They told me that, given my blocked coronary arteries, I would have to accept that I would not live much longer. But I had no desire to die, having already faced death twice.

Although the hospital doctors and cardiologists threatened that they would see me back in the hospital very quickly if I did not follow their instructions, I decided at that point to stop taking the numerous medications that had been prescribed, which I knew would not cure me anyway, and to try to cure my heart disease with the so-called Pauling therapy. The renowned German physician Dr. Ulrich Strunz had led me to this therapy and to orthomolecular medicine with his treatments. I am certain that this saved my life. At least for 10 years now.

What I started as a self-experiment with Pauling therapy, initially limited to 5 years, has now become a permanent part of my life. The orthomolecular substances recommended by Prof. Linus Pauling, the scientist and two-time Nobel Prize winner, for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases are now an integral part of my daily nutritional supplement regimen (and my whole family has joined in). Monitored by regular measurements, I give my body what it needs, and it thanks me with increasing health and zest for life.

The list of successes achieved with this approach is astonishing and incomprehensible to those involved in textbook medicine, who, in accordance with guidelines and bound by guidelines, rely solely on pharmaceutical drugs and treat only the affected organs and symptoms, not the whole person:

• My heart condition has improved significantly.
• My lipoprotein(a) (according to Dr. Strunz, the biggest risk factor) has been reduced by more than 55 percent. I now only have the value measured occasionally. It is currently 40 mg/dl (which corresponds to about 96 nmol/l) and is therefore below the threshold value recommended by international professional associations (50 mg/dl or 120 nmol/l).
• My performance is hardly limited (although I no longer run ultramarathons over 100 km :-), even though cardiologists had diagnosed me with heart failure.
• No angina pectoris symptoms, no shortness of breath, no palpitations (rapid heartbeat, heart pounding), no circulatory disorders (no more blue fingernails, which I used to get often when it was cold).

Incidentally, a number of additional healing successes have occurred in the course of the therapy, which I have described in my new book as "miraculous side effects." This has already been reported in the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service under the title "Side Benefits. Not Side Effects." The list of these additional healing successes includes the following conditions, all of which doctors had previously failed to treat:

• Raynaud's syndrome (a painful circulatory disorder that occurs primarily in the fingers) cured
• Vitiligo ("White spot disease" a pigmentation disorder of the skin. Considered an autoimmune disease) stopped, partially eliminated
• High blood pressure disappeared
• Cardiac arrhythmia corrected
• No more colds or flu for 10 years
• Thyroid disease (hypothyroidism with Hashimoto's thyroiditis improved and even cured)

It cannot be pure coincidence that all these successes have occurred after I optimized my intake of essential nutrients and compensated for existing nutrient deficiencies. It can therefore be assumed that there must be a connection between nutrient deficiencies and the diseases listed above, some of which are even considered incurable. This is not only proven by a large number of studies, but also confirmed by doctors and patients familiar with the subject who have achieved similar successes with the use of orthomolecular medicine.

While the actual Pauling therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases essentially focuses on the daily use of the following substances:

• 6 to 18 g of vitamin C or until the intestinal tolerance limit is reached (Since my intestinal tolerance limit has decreased, I currently take 20 g of vitamin C, divided into 5 individual doses, which is roughly the amount recommended by Pauling, which he himself is said to have taken daily. At the beginning of my self-experiment, after my second heart attack, I needed 30-40 g to reach my intestinal tolerance limit. I consider this reduction to be a result and confirmation of the ongoing healing process.)
• 5 to 6 g of the amino acid lysine,
• supplemented by 2 g of the amino acid proline,

According to my findings and the studies already mentioned, the other healing successes were primarily achieved through the additional substances with which I supplemented my personal therapy package in the course of the self-experiment. These are in particular:

• Vitamin D: Optimization of my vitamin D level to 100-120 ng/ml. Daily maintenance dose: currently 10,000 IU
• Magnesium: I take 1 to 1.5 g daily in various forms.
• Potassium: I take 315 mg in addition to my diet in the form of 600 mg potassium chloride.
• The amino acids arginine, citrulline, taurine (My daily "blood pressure cocktail": 6 to 9 g arginine, 3 g citrulline, 4 g taurine, 5 g glycine for sweetening)
• Omega-3 fatty acids: 1.5 g in addition to a fish-rich diet

My experiences with this are summarized in my new book "Wundersame Nebenwirkungen meines Selbstversuchs mit der Pauling-Therapie" (Miraculous Side Effects of My Self-Experiment with Pauling Therapy) (currently only available in German).

A few more comments on the question of any other side effects, such as those that occur with all pharmaceutical drugs:

Despite all the warnings from hospital doctors, I have never experienced any such side effects in my ten years of self-experimentation with vitamins and other natural substances. Neither with high-dose vitamins nor with minerals or amino acids. I did not die from it and did not become ill in any way. No kidney damage, no kidney stones, no allergic shock, no toxic effects or anything else. Absolutely none of the things I was warned about.

References:

1. Pauling L. 1986, 2006. How to live longer and feel better. Oregon University Press

2. Pauling L. Vitamin C and Heart Disease, Stanford Medical School. Video. Feb 1992, available on youtube.com

3. Rath M., Pauling L. 1991. A unified theory of human cardiovascular disease, J Ortho Nutrition. https://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/pdf/1992-v07n01-p005.pdf

4. Rath M, Pauling L. 1990a. Hypothesis: Lipoprotein(a) is a surrogate for ascorbate. PNAS USA 87:6204-6207. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2143582

5. Rath M. 1992c. Lipoprotein(a) reduction by ascorbate. J Orthomolecular Med. 7:81-82. https://isom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JOM_1992_07_2_04_LipoproteinA_Reduction_by_Ascorbate.pdf

6. Cathcart RE. Vitamin C, titrating to bowel tolerance, anascorbemia, and acute induced scurvy. Med Hypotheses. 1981 Nov; 7(11):1359-76. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7321921

7. Hickey S, Saul AW. 2008. Vitamin C: The Real Story. Basic Health Publications, Inc., ISBN 978-1-59120-223-3

8. Hoffer A, Saul AW. 2008. Orthomolecular Medicine For Everyone. Basic Health Publications, Inc., ISBN 978-1-59120-226-4

9. Levy TE. 2002. Curing the Incurable. Xlibris Corp, ISBN 978-1401069643

10. Holick M. 2010. The Vitamin D Solution. Plume Books, ISBN 9780452296886.

11. Dean C. 2016. The Magnesium Miracle-Discover the missing link to total health. Random House Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0399594441

12. Moore RD, Webb GD. 1986. The K-Factor. Reversing and Preventing High Blood Pressure without Drugs. MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, New York, ISBN 0-02-586190-5

13. Ignarro LJ. 2005. NO More Heart Disease. St. Martin's Griffin, New York. ISBN 978-0-312-33582-3

14. Dyerberg J, Passwater R. 2012. The Missing Wellness Factors-EPA and DHA. Basic Health Publications, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59120-300-1

15. Strunz U. 2014. Wunder der Heilung (Miracles of Healing). Heyne Verlag. ISBN 978-3453200647

16. Houston M, Fox B. 2003. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypertension. Warner Books Inc., ISBN 0-446-69084-8

17. von Helden R. 2011. Gesund in sieben Tagen. Erfolge mit der Vitamin D-Therapie (Healthy in Seven Days. Success with Vitamin D Therapy). Hygeia Verlag Dresden. ISBN 978-3-939865-12-4

18. Diel HW, Maki J. 2022. Lipoprotein(a) - Der größte Risikofaktor für Herzinfarkt und Schlaganfall? (Lipoprotein(a) - The Biggest Risk Factor for Heart Attack and Stroke?) Druckpunkt Verlag, ISBN 9783982424507

19. Diel HW. 2022. Lipoprotein(a): The biggest risk factor for heart attack and stroke? My self-experiment with the Pauling therapy and vitamin C. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v18n27.shtml

Important note (Disclaimer)

The information in this article is not a substitute for medical advice. You should not change or discontinue any prescribed medication without your doctor's consent. This applies to all diseases described here, but especially to cardiovascular diseases. Please talk to your doctor if you would like to try something based on the recommendations and experiences from the self-experiment described above.

(Hans W. Diel is the author of " Lipoprotein(a) - Der größte Risikofaktor für Herzinfarkt und Schlaganfall?" [German language] Druckpunkt Ruhr, 2022 and "Wundersame Nebenwirkungen meines Selbstversuchs mit der Pauling-Therapie" [German] Druckpunkt Ruhr, 2025, ISBN 978-3-9827864-2-1)

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