Posted by jrbecker on July 12, 2004, at 14:12:59
In reply to Re: McMan's Depression/Bipolar Weekly: Genetics, posted by SLS on July 12, 2004, at 13:12:53
Oh come on Scott. We know you better than that than to not stay optimistic.
Think of this knowledge as positive rather than pessimistic. They're learning so much right now. We're on the threshold of something big here. Psychiatry will be making leaps and bounds in these formative years. And they will translate to truly innovative treatments. I know that's not the solution you want for the here and now, but consider it hope.
By the way, some of this new research is being put into practice in early drug treatments (e.g., PDE4 inhibitors, CRF1 inhibitors, triple reuptake inhibitors, mitochondrial enhancers, glucocorticoid modulators, and much more in pre-clinical research). http://www.neurotransmitter.net/newdrugs.html
For more on what McMan was talking about, see...http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/npp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/1300506a.html
keep hope.JB
> I was not happy to read this. It leaves me with the feeling that my brain is damaged beyond repair. It probably is. I don't know what to do. I am trapped.
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> - Scott
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> > There is likely no one-to-one association or simple cause and effect, say the authors. Instead, we have a sort of chaos theory turned loose inside the brain. Mutations in the serotonin transporter gene and the NMDA receptor gene, for example, may result in a decrease in amygdala volume and/or an increase in amygdala activity, associated with fear. This, combined with stress, may either lead to impaired learning and memory, which in turn triggers major depression, or may travel a different path to the same end via an inclination toward negative moods. In the meantime, stress is the proverbial bull in the china shop, this time beginning with genetic misprints in proteins responsible for cell maintenance - including BDNF, MR, CREB, and bcl-2 - that results in a trail of brain cell damage in the hippocampus, involved in emotional response. A shorted out hippocampus, in turn, combines with stress to feed into the chemical storm sweeping in from the amygdala. On and on it goes
poster:jrbecker
thread:365292
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040712/msgs/365355.html