Posted by Bradley on March 25, 2001, at 23:01:17
In reply to New theories of mental disorders needed (long), posted by JasonL on March 25, 2001, at 18:15:06
A hormonal protein called Inhibin was identified in 1985. Not long after that I read about Inhibin and what was known about it. It seemed to fit into the puzzle of my condition and I wondered if fluctuating levels of Inhibin might have something to do with this. About 1988 I spoke with a researcher who was studying Inhibin hopeing to develope an Inhibin contraceptive because at that time all that was known about it was that it controled the level of FSH, which is the driving force for the reproductive system. This researcher(James Macglochlin) assured me that there was no evidence that Inhibin had any role in mood disorders. In 1991 I spoke with him again and he said his studies to develope an Inhibin contraceptive were stopped because Inhibin was found in reletive high concentrations in brain and spinal fluid where if it just controled FSH levels it should'nt be. He went on to elaborate that Inhibin was suspected to have a significant role in the central nervous system. That significant role has yet to be identified. Through these following years I have contacted many research groups trying to further research on Inhibin and its possible role in mood disorders. Thus far I have been ignored. Some like Thomas Wehr who was the head of NIMH Psychobiology branch had never heard of Inhibin. Others were certain that Inhibin had only a small role in controlling the level of FSH(I encouraging them to look at the most recent studies). At NIMH BEB(Behavioral Endocronology Branch) they don't respond at all. I have never had a theory about anything before or had a belief in something like this. But I now have a strong suscpicion that low levels of Inhibin are a key to my atypical refractory depression. It somehow effects my circadian rythym. I have condensed my theory but I hope you get the gist of it.
> I too am one of the treatment resistent folks out there. This whole thing is so frustrating to me. How is that some people can just be happier, more possitive than others?
>
> It just goes to show how little we understand about the human body. Depression or any sickness seems to be a symptom of a lack of balance. Somehow the body, the person, is not moving toward states of equalibrium. In disease, or dis-ease, the body has lost some of its ability to maintain homeostasis. How does this occur?
>
> The body is infinately complex. If one looks around today, there are so many other forms of illness and sickness that plague our society--despite our technological advancements.
>
> Its an interesting contradiction that goes on. When a person breaks a leg, they go in, get a cast and baring any complications, the body does the rest of the work over the next few months. No positive attitude, no analysis of childhood traumas needed.
>
> With depression it's different. It's the mind that is sick. But what is the difference between the mind and body? We can easily say that when a person breaks a leg, the body is broken. We wouldn't say "He has mental problems with his leg."
>
> In depression, it is not so obvious as to what is going on. Clearly there is some inbalance in the body that needs to be fixed, or "put a cast on." Hence we have science looking for drugs to help restore this balance. The major problem here are that we don't have a good understanding of "what is actually broken." We can see that the patient has symptoms of sickness, but from where do these symptoms emerge inside the body?
>
> Without the ability to see or understand what is trully going on, doctors and patients have a difficult time in knowing what to target. This can be seen in all kinds of illness that today remain "unsolved" in medicine. Aids, lupus, MS, cancer, heart disease, ect.
>
> Remember it wasn't long ago that the AMA did not endorse diet as having much to do with one's health. It was even less time ago that the AMA was suggesting that high cholestoral put people at risk for heart disease. In truth, doctors are now beginning to understand the importance of cholestoral (the good kind) in healthy living. I only wonder what we are missing today about depression.
>
> Perhaps the endocrine system will one day gain more attention, perhaps genes, perhaps the immune system. As we all know the amine theory of depression is just a theory. If you stop an think about it, ADs are working on enzymes in the brain. I wonder if it will one day be discovered that people with depression lack ceretain enzymes in their livers, ect. which are complicating things down the line in the brain. Its also interesting to note, having studied various other forms of natural medicine, that for instance in China medicine, look to treat mental and emotional problems by balancing the organs of the body. It is logical that if your stomach and gall bladder is out of whack, maybe your brain is starving of certain chemicals needed for optimal function.
>
> I recently found some interesting websites that are looking at human health a bit differently. One site, Biomedx.com looks at analysing live human blood and its relationship to PH blood levels. The idea here is that latent within the body are primal forms of bacteria, viruses, fungi, that lay dorment. But when the environment in the body changes, e.g. the ph of the blood, you can actually see these dormant organisms morph into agressive bacteria, viruses, fugus, ect. The site focuses on trying to establish the propper blood ph so that these micro organisms do not have an environment to flourish. For more information on this disease cycle, one might look into the current and seeming wrong paradigm of the disease process set forth by Louis Pasteur. Check out the site.
>
> Another interesing site I found dealt with the emerging field of bioaccoustics found at Soundhealthinc.com The company is using the voice patterns of patients to take an overall "snap shot" of their current state of health. You might say that the voice is a holographic representaion of yourself at any given moment. For isntance, when you are sad, your voice has a certain "footprint" as oppased to when you are happy, ect. Anyway, using the voice as a fingerprint of the human total, the technicians are then able to introduce certain sounds to cancel out or balance the abnormalities found in the voice. An example being that they can introduce the "sound of the vitamin niacin to patients and subjects report experiencing the same skin rash as if they had injested the actual vitamin. Work in bioaccoustics is emerging, but they are finding that certain pathogens respond and can be destroyed by sound. Even more exciting is that through voice recognition, computers are able to know where are person is lacking in the physiology...enabling them to create sounds to balance the physiology or reocommend certain drugs, suppliments.
>
> Sorry to go so long, but I'd like further ideas about depression and its causes and possible ways to cure this damn disease that we suffer from.
>
> Best wishes,
> JasonL
>
>
poster:Bradley
thread:57508
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010319/msgs/57541.html