Depression

Why are depressed patients inflamed? ¹⁾

It is my opinion that early and prominent symptoms of Th1 diseaseAny of the chronic inflammatory diseases caused by bacterial pathogens. are psychological which have been interpreted as anxiety, depression, insomnia, learning disabilities etc. These symptoms like physical ones are exacerbated during effective treatment of Th1 [diseases].

By understanding this, one can lessen some of the impact of those symptoms, just as one can with the physical symptoms. Not knowing why one is 'suffering' increases the stress of the situation which then, actually intensifies the problem. By understanding, one can remain more relaxed which lessens the intensity and supports recovery. Also, by accepting the temporary limitations imposed, it is again less stressful and more beneficial for recovery.

Greg Blaney, MD

Depression and Insomnia study (Trudi Heil) with Recovery Charts on Olmesartan

Some research indicates that parasites can affect levels of neurotransmitters, and hence behaviour. The implication is that this could apply to humans too.²⁾

Understanding how parasites and pathogens alter brain function and behaviour may also help us understand the suspected links between some infectious diseases and mental illness in humans.

Shelly Adamo, New Scientist

Impact of microbiota on brain function

The effects of cytokinesAny of various protein molecules secreted by cells of the immune system that serve to regulate the immune system. are not all bad, though. Naiomi Eisenberger at the University of California in Los Angeles and her colleagues have found that some people become more sensitive to social pain when they are injected with a bacterial toxin that also boosts inflammatory cytokines. In particular, a cytokineAny of various protein molecules secreted by cells of the immune system that serve to regulate the immune system. called IL-6 seems to boost activity in brain regions involved in empathy (Neuroimage, vol 47, p 881).

Depression may also cause the patient to avoid social interaction, physical exertion. Either of these reactions could be useful in various ways; conserving energy for the body to deal with real problems, avoiding contact with extra or new bacteria.

Gut bacteria spotted eating brain chemicals

How gut bacteria mess with your mind

The gut microbiota plays an important role in modulating small RNAs that influence hippocampal gene expression, a process critical to hippocampal development.³⁾

Psychoneuroimmunology is starting to think that the immune system can also affect our psychology

In the research field of psychoneuroimmunology, accumulating evidence has indicated the existence of reciprocal communication pathways between nervous, endocrine and immune systems. In this respect, there has been increasing interest in the putative involvement of the immune system in psychiatric disorders. Cytokines and major depression ⁴⁾

Association with R.A. ⁵⁾

These preliminary results suggest that chronic depression, in contrast to acute melancholic depression, might be characterized by increased ACTH response to CRH challenge. Short-term treatment with vagus nerve stimulation was associated with normalization of this response. ⁶⁾

Action of SSRIs ⁷⁾

High-Dose Vitamin D Does Not Prevent Depression

May 13, 2011 — Women 70 years and older who received a high dose of vitamin D3Form of vitamin D made in the skin when exposed to light. Also available in fish and meat. This secosteroid is sometimes converted into 25-D. Also known as cholecalciferol and activated 7-dehydrocholesterol. once a year for up to 5 years did not show any improvement in symptoms of depression, according to a new studypublished in the May issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The finding, from the Vital D trial, calls into question the hypothesis that an annual high dose of vitamin D3 is a practical intervention to prevent depressive symptoms in older individuals, the study authors, led by Kerrie M. Sanders, PhD, of the University of Melbourne, Australia, write.

About half of community-dwelling older women in Australia have vitamin D insufficiency (< 50 nmol/L), and it has been postulated that low levels of vitamin D, which are common in winter, may contribute to seasonal affective disorder and also that older adults with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to have depressed mood.

In addition, the biochemical pathways in the brain are consistent with vitamin D playing a part in mental well-being, Dr. Sanders told Medscape Medical News.

The Vital D study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving 2258 women 70 years or older who were randomized to receive either an oral dose of vitamin D3, 500,000 IU, or placebo once a year every autumn or winter for 3 to 5 years.

The primary endpoint of the study was falls and fractures, and the women were recruited on the basis of hip fracture risk. Results of that study, which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2010 and reported by Medscape Medical News at the time, showed that high-dose vitamin D was associated with an increased risk for falls and fractures.

In the present study, Dr. Sanders and her group assessed a subgroup of 150 women for the effect of vitamin D on mental health. These women completed various mental health questionnaires, including the General Health Questionnaire, the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, the World Health Organization Well-Being Index, and the Patient Global Impression Improvement scale.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured before receiving the annual dose and again at 1 and 3 months afterward.

No Impact on Mental Health

The results showed no differences between the vitamin D and placebo groups in any of the measured outcomes of mental health, even though serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in the women in the high-dose vitamin D group were 41% higher than in the placebo group when measured 1 year after their annual dose.

In an interview Dr. Sanders said she and her team were surprised by the study findings. “We considered that better vitamin D status would be associated with improved mood.

“However,” she added, “the study was originally designed to show a reduction in falls and fractures in those on the vitamin D, but very surprisingly our results showed increased falls and fractures using the once-a-year large dose of vitamin D. So that unexpected outcome raised doubts that we would show benefit of mental health in the vitamin D group.”

For now, people should not take large doses of vitamin D, Dr. Sanders said. However, the jury is still out on small doses.

“This is particularly important as we actually found more falls and fractures in the vitamin D group. But we must remember that the adverse results relate to annual large doses and not smaller regular doses of vitamin D,”she said.

“Having adequate vitamin D status (ie, serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels between 60 and 75 nmol/L) is beneficial, but people should obtain their vitamin D in smaller regular doses of 800 to 1000 IU per day.”

Commenting on this study for Medscape Medical News, Glenn Currier, MD, MPH, from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, suggests that these findings are important but should not necessarily be extrapolated to other age groups and clinical populations.

“Findings in elderly women in high sun climates may not be relevant to younger depressed patients in the Great Lakes Cloud Belt, for example,” he said.

Br J Psychiatry. 2011;198:357-364.

many don't respond to existing therapies and so some scientists are now exploring a new frontier - whether the immune system could be causing depression.

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<html> <div class=“patientinterviewboxl”> <div class=“patientinterviewimage”></html><html></div> <div class=“patientinterviewtext”> <div class=“patientinterviewname”></html>Doreen V. (patient's mother)<html></div></html>

autism, ADHD, depression, severe anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

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<html> <div class=“patientinterviewboxr”> <div class=“patientinterviewimage”></html><html></div> <div class=“patientinterviewtext”> <div class=“patientinterviewname”></html>Paul Albert<html></div></html>

chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), depression, food sensitivities

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Interviews of patients with other diseases are also available.

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There is limited and controversial evidence that changes in the expression of cytokines and other molecules usually associated with immune function may be involved in the pathogenesis of depression. Cytokines are expressed in the brain, and during development they play important roles in normal brain embryogenesis.

A recent study revealed that induction of increased cytokine activity was associated with depressed mood in normal volunteers (Duman et al 1997). Elevated IL-6 concentrations in plasma have been reported in depressed patients (Musselman et al 2001). Should further work confirm a relationship between cytokines and depression, medications directed at cytokines might represent novel antidepressants. See Depression

Here is another scholarly article making the connection between depression and inflamation. http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/04/01/chronic-infection-may-spawn-depression/5079.html