Posted by Hugh on March 3, 2015, at 13:00:00
In reply to Re: Neurobiology of OCD - speculation, posted by Bill82 on February 26, 2015, at 14:16:23
Dr. James Greenblatt, a Boston-area psychiatrist, had a puzzling case: a teenager arrived in his office with severe obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and an array of digestive problems.
"Mary's parents had been running around for many years and she'd had a poor response to medicine," said Greenblatt, founder of Comprehensive Psychiatric Resources Inc. in Waltham, Mass. "When a patient doesn't respond, that's a red flag."
Greenblatt first did a simple urine test for the metabolite HPHPA, the chemical byproduct of the clostridia bacteria, and found that it was elevated. He put her on a course of high-powered probiotics to boost her good bacteria, followed by antibiotics, and her levels began to "dramatically" go down, he said.
After six months, Mary's symptoms began to disappear. And by a year, they were gone. Today, three years later, Mary is a senior in high school and has no sign of either mental disorder.
Greenblatt said he had treated hundreds of patients for dysbiosis, a condition of microbial imbalances on or inside the body. "It's a more common scenario than we know," he said.
Scientists are so far unable to identify every strain of bacteria, but they can test for the chemical byproducts that they produce, according to Greenblatt.
He said he checks every patient for HPHPA with a simple organic acid urine test before moving ahead with medications to treat symptoms.
"Eight out of 10 people are fine," he said. "But in the two patients where it's elevated, it can have profound effects on the nervous system."
"I don't know why this test isn't done on every psychiatric patient," he said. 'I question that every day."
HPHPA causes deactivation of an enzyme so that dopamine cannot be converted to the neurotransmitter neuroepinephrine, Greenblatt said, and that causes a build-up of dopamine.
"We know elevated levels in the dopamine gene cause agitation," he said, citing medical literature and case studies.
In one 2010 study at McMaster University in Canada, published in the journal Communicative and Integrative Biology, scientists found a link between intestinal microbiota and anxiety-like behavior.
The complete article:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/anxiety-head-gut/story?id=20229136
poster:Hugh
thread:1075804
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150223/msgs/1077296.html