Could Depression Be an Allergic Reaction?

Gracie

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Could Depression Be an Allergic Reaction

Most people are still locked into the theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalancein the brain ― a shortage of feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin that deliver messages from one neuron to another. That explanation works well for public consumption because it’s simple and it makes for great pharmaceutical commercials.

But depression is a whole lot more complicated than that.

For starters, there’s faulty brain wiring. On functional MRIs, depressed brains display lower activity levels in the frontal lobes, responsible for cognitive processes, and higher levels of activity in the amygdala region of the brain (fear central). Depression can be associated with the loss of volume in parts of the brain, namely the hippocampus, which belongs to the limbic system (the emotional center of the brain). The more severe the depression, the greater theloss of brain volume. The endocrine system plays a significant role in mood disturbances. Some studies on depression have indicated a default in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis, the region that manages the body’s response to stress. Chronic activation of the HPA is no good, as anyone with thyroid or pituitary issues will tell you.

And there’s another theory has been lurking in the background for quite awhile, but is finally gaining the trust and attention of the public: that depression is an allergic reaction to inflammation.
 
PET scan of the brain for depression - Mayo Clinic

I think feeling blue and having a "blue" brain are the same thing.

When the brain powers down it takes a LOT to get back up to speed.

Doable, but so not easy.



There is a similar postulation that it's is inflammation of blood vessels rather than cholesterol and lipids that causes heart disease.

Makes sense to me.

Regards from Rosie
 
Either the human animal, all at once and en masse' is falling apart for all our psychiatric and physical problems we supposedly have, or the various explanation of how screwed up we are is wrong.

But before taking the word of a holistic website's claims (and I bet they have something to cure ya for a nominal donation) I'd consider the source.
 
If one feels bad, one often feels depressed. Isn't that just part and parcel, an inherent attribute?
 
Catching depression in adolescence...

U.S. panel reaffirms depression screening for adolescents
8 Feb.`16 - Adolescents between 12 and 18 years old in the U.S. should be screened for depression, according to guidelines reaffirmed by a government-backed panel of prevention experts.
"From a parent's perspective, I think it’s important for them to know that depression can be relatively common in adolescence and we have ways to treat it," said Dr. Alex Krist, a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The USPSTF says about 8 percent of U.S. adolescents experience major depression each year. Less is known about how common the condition is among younger children, however. Children and adolescents with depression typically have problems at school, work and home. Being depressed early in life is also linked to increased risks - of the condition recurring in adulthood, of suicide and of other mental disorders.

Previously, the USPSTF recommended screening for depression among kids ages 12 to 18 years if their doctor's office had systems in place for accurate diagnosis, psychotherapy and follow-up care. To update its recommendation, the panel commissioned researchers at RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to review existing research up to February 2015. The review found no direct evidence of harms in screening adolescents for depression. They researchers also found evidence supporting the effectiveness of two particular screening tools when used for adolescents. The Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents and the Beck Depression Inventory are both questionnaires that teens can answer on their own. "If they score high on those instruments, the next step would be to make a formal diagnosis," Krist said.

The final USPSTF report also states there are several ways to treat depression in adolescents, including medications and psychotherapy. The authors acknowledge there are some risks in treating adolescents with medications, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), but those potential harms are small when patients are closely monitored. Known side effects of SSRIs include weight gain, nausea, dizziness, insomnia, agitation or restlessness and headaches. "I think what we want clinicians to hear is that there is pretty good evidence that routine screening in adolescents for depression and making sure they get the appropriate follow-up improves outcomes," Krist said. In an editorial accompanying the new recommendation, Dr. John W. Williams, Jr. of the Durham VA Medical Center in North Carolina and Dr. Gary Maslow of Duke University, also in Durham, said improving the recognition and treatment of depression in primary care would have an enormous benefit.

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Enlisted Troops Get Less Consistent Care for Depression...

Study: Enlisted Troops Get Less Consistent Care for Depression
Feb 20, 2016 | Enlisted troops sometimes get less consistent care for depression than officers, according to a new Rand Corporation study.
For example, after being prescribed anti-depressants, only about two-thirds of junior enlisted troops in the ranks of E-1 through E-4 fill the medication for at least two months; by comparison, more than eight in 10 officers do, the research shows. Kimberly Hepner, lead author of the study, said enlisted troops were less likely to receive adequate duration of medication -- that is, for a long enough time for it to be most helpful for them. "Where we did see some differences more frequently, but not across the board ... is that enlisted service members, when we compared them with officers, at times did receive less consistent care, particularly when we looked at care for depression," she said. The enlisted also were less likely to get the adequate initial treatment following a diagnosis, Hepner said.

The study found that officers were more likely than enlisted members to receive the recommended four psychotherapy visits and four evaluation and management visits within the first eight weeks of discharge from hospital. In general, the study found that the military health care system performs well when it comes to initiating psychotherapy and follow-up after troops are hospitalized with PTSD or depression but weaker in terms of medication management and ongoing care. Within that broader picture, researchers discovered some differences in the quality of care, though Hepner said none of the data suggested race or gender played a part in the care received. "We did not find systematic differences that are telling us, for example, that women are getting worse care or that minorities are getting worse care" because they are women or minorities, she said.

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According to the study, the percentage of service members with at least 12 weeks of newly prescribed antidepressant medication was highest among white, non-Hispanic service member (68 percent), followed by Hispanic (60 percent) and black, non-Hispanic service members (53 percent). The percentage of service members with at least six months of newly prescribed antidepressant for continuation treatment was also highest among white, non-Hispanic service members, followed by Hispanic and black, non-Hispanic service members, at 47, 41 and 33, respectively, the study found. In looking at the treatments among men and women such as medication durations, post-hospital visits and care, the study found none to be statistically significant.

For a PTSD diagnoses and treatment, for example, both were prescribed up to 60 says of a new medication at about the same rate (70 percent). Forty percent of women were given a follow-up visit within 30 days and 46 percent of men. Hepner said the study did not explore the causes of the differences but it does recommend they be explored, both by demographic groups, service branches and Tricare facilities. "Understanding differences can also help inform how health care can be improved as well," she said.

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New device to detect depression, tumors, other ailments...
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Device IDs tumors, illnesses early on
Fri, May 20, 2016 - PRE-EMPTIVE: The device can detect biomarkers of depression even before a person starts to suffer from its symptoms, lead researcher Chou Chia-fu said
Academia Sinica researchers have developed a biomolecular analysis device they say can detect tumors, neurodegenerative diseases and mental illnesses at early stages through disease biomarkers in very low concentrations. A team led by Chou Chia-fu on Wednesday unveiled the multifunctional biodetection system at a Ministry of Science and Technology news conference, displaying biosensors made with nano-constriction devices — “molecular traps” and “molecular dams” — which they said could manipulate and concentrate target DNA and proteins to enable analysis even with very low concentrations of molecules.

The electrochemical-based device can accelerate molecular concentration by using an electric field, Chou said. “The system can detect biomarkers of prostate cancer, or prostate-specific antigen [PSA], in very low concentrations — as low as one-thousandth of the PSA concentration regarded as an indicator of the disease — in 30 seconds,” he said. It takes about 90 minutes to run a PSA test with devices currently on the market, Chou said. The ability to detect biomarkers in very low concentrations can be used to detect diseases at a very early stage, giving patients a better chance of survival and recovery, he said.

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A biomolecular analysis device developed by Academia Sinica researchers, left, is displayed on Wednesday at a Ministry of Science and Technology news conference in Taipei.​

The system is also able to detect biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and neuropeptides related to stress and depression, as well as those associated with alertness, somberness and appetite, he said, adding that the analysis takes less than five minutes. “That means the system can detect potential depression disorders even without patients showing the symptoms. Analysis of depression-related neuropeptides has the potential to be used in evaluating the physical and mental status of pilots to avoid accidents like the Germanwings crash last year [in which the copilot deliberately crashed the plane],” he said.

Early detection, especially of tumors and neurodegenerative diseases, has been a major goal in the field of healthcare research, as cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan and Alzheimer’s disease is of growing concern to the aging population, the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Chien Chung-liang said. “However, it is extremely difficult to detect those diseases at early stages when the number of disease biomarkers are low. Chou and his team developed an interdisciplinary solution by utilizing nanotechnology used in the semiconductor industry to create nano-biomolecular sensors that can detect target molecules faster than all existing devices in the world, which is a great achievement,” Chien said.

Device IDs tumors, illnesses early on - Taipei Times

See also:

HPA warns young people over high blood pressure
Wed, May 18, 2016 - Approximately 360,000 people aged between 18 and 39 in Taiwan have high blood pressure (hypertension), Health Promotion Administration statistics showed, and about two-thirds of them are not aware of it.
On World Hypertension Day yesterday, the administration released data from its Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan 2013-2015, which showed that hypertension affected 24.1 percent of people aged 18 or older, meaning that about one in four, or 4.62 million, people in the age group have high blood pressure. While hypertension most often occurs in middle-aged or elderly people, the survey showed that the prevalence in young people — aged 18 to 39 — was 4.7 percent, or about 360,000 people. “Among the estimated 360,000 [young] people with hypertension, two-thirds were not aware of it and three-fourths did not control their blood pressure properly,” HPA Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said, adding that only about 13 percent measured their blood pressure in the past year. “Young people tend to enjoy rich food, thus increasing their risk of developing heart or kidney disease, or having a stroke,” she said.

Chiou said that 36,595 people died of heart disease, cerebral stroke or other cardiovascular diseases, last year, with about one in every 4.5 deaths caused by cardiovascular disease associated with hypertension, while diabetes and kidney disease — other common causes of death — are also associated with high blood pressure. HPA surveys showed that people with high blood pressure are respectively 1.93, 1.66 and 2.84 times more likely to develop heart disease, kidney disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure. A telephone survey conducted by the agency last year showed that less than 50 percent of people aged between 18 and 39 knew the blood pressure values that define hypertension.

As the theme for World Hypertension Day this year was “Know Your Numbers,” Chiou said the agency encourages people 18 or older to measure their blood pressure at least once per year, consult a doctor if their blood pressure is above 140 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) systolic and 90mmHg diastolic. Remember not to talk, hold back urine, cross your legs or allow the blood pressure cuff to be below the heart, and keep your upper body straight and feet flat on the floor when measuring blood pressure, she added. The HPA urged people to stick to a low-sodium diet with no more than 2.4g per day, avoid preserved or processed food, maintain a healthy body weight and regularly exercise to help prevent hypertension.

HPA warns young people over high blood pressure - Taipei Times
 
Addressing inflammation through diet and remaking my gut bacteria has changed my life.
 

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