Posted by Ritch on January 27, 2002, at 11:52:34
In reply to Re: Here's link reporting on Manji's work, good, posted by Lorraine on January 25, 2002, at 15:27:43
Thanks everybody for the link and the grand round. I didn't have the bandwidth to watch it-but I did find the slides interesting. I always have wondered why I respond to lithium better for depression than I did to Depakote. Perhaps this snippet from the depression.com link has a clue:
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"Recently, Dr Manji and his associates found that in the rat frontal cortex, both lithium and Depakote doubled bcl-2 levels. As Dr Manji told this Newsletter: "The effects were most pronounced in layers II and III - the very same regions that investigators studying bipolar disorder have found evidence for loss or atrophy of cells." In other areas of the brain - the striatum and hippocampus - lithium increased bcl-2 levels, but Depakote did not. ""
-----------------------------------------I also respond to Neurontin for depression quite well, also. Neurontin is supposed to have its primary site of action in the hippocampus. I am BP-II and never had a full blown manic episode. Perhaps BP-II's problems involve the hippocampal part of the brain more so than BP-I's???
Anybody have any thoughts about that? Lithium and Neurontin are the only two mood stabilizers that clearly help my depression.
thanks in advance,
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:91073
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020124/msgs/91755.html