Recovery Michigan

Includes an interesting description of metabolism of trytophan and serotonin

http://goo.gl/pVw2Q

"Metabolomics is teaching us about the differences in metabolic profiles of patients who respond to medication, and those who do not," said Rima Kaddurah-Daouk, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke Medicine and leader of the Pharmacometabolomics Research Network.

"This could help us to better target the right therapies for patients suffering from depression who can benefit from treatment with certain antidepressants, and identify, early on, patients who are resistant to treatment and should be placed on different therapies."

http://goo.gl/LuEaGT

University of Arizona researchers have found in a recent study that ultrasoundwaves applied to specific areas of the brain appear able to alter patients' moods. The discovery has led the scientists to conduct further investigations with the hope that this technique could one day be used to treat conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Thanks and a hat tip to Marty Raaymakers

http://goo.gl/qdC5eM

When looking at informed choice, sometimes what isn't said is more important, than what is said. The withholding of information may be unintentional. People can just forget things.

http://goo.gl/HloeW

Findings indicated participants with any level of paid employment had significantly lower rates of smoking and better quality of life; self-reported health status was significantly higher, while per person per month Medicaid expenditures were less. Employment, even at low levels, was associated with better health and health behaviors as well as lower costs. Participants reported being discouraged from working by medical professionals and federal disability policies.

http://goo.gl/lHlnp

There is evidence that mild dehydration has a negative effect on the brain's performance. Caroline Edmonds and colleagues from the University of East London and the University of Westminster here report that drinking water can improve performance on tasks that require a rapid response, particularly when thirsty.

http://goo.gl/7CUOK

But bipolar sufferers were also at raised risk of dying from heart disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, the flu and pneumonia, compared to the general population.

People with bipolar disorder who knew they had those physical illnesses, however, had death rates similar to people who were not bipolar, according to the researchers, who suggested "that timely medical diagnosis and treatment may effectively reduce mortality among bipolar disorder patients to approach that of the general population."

http://goo.gl/EAE49

Symptoms of the depersonalization disorder include:

• Feeling as if you are watching yourself as an observer - as if you're watching your life from a distance


• Feeling that you are not in control of your actions


• Feeling disconnected from your body


• Out-of-body experiences


• Feeling as though you are in a dream


• Feeling that everything around you isn't real


• Being able to recognize that these are only feelings and not reality

http://goo.gl/Kbe2f

A study published today in the American Medical Association’s journal JAMA Psychiatry reports that patients whose antipsychotic treatment was reduced or discontinued (DR) experienced a recovery rate twice that of patients maintained on antipsychotics (MT). “To our knowledge, this study is the first to identify major advantages of a DR strategy over MT in patients with remission of FEP,” the authors write. “Benefits that were not evident in short-term evaluations, such as functional gains, only appeared during long-term monitoring.”

Certainly true for me.

http://goo.gl/SGIEL

Neuroscientists have found that sleep deprivation amplifies anticipatory anxiety by firing up the brain's amygdala and insular cortex, regions associated with emotional processing. The resulting pattern mimics the abnormal neural activity seen in anxiety disorders. Furthermore, their research suggests that innate worriers - those who are naturally more anxious and therefore more likely to develop a full-blown anxiety disorder - are acutely vulnerable to the impact of insufficient sleep.

http://goo.gl/BmmNH

"A growing body of medical research is revealing that the disease process occurring within a person who is suffering from both chronic pain and depression is quite different from what is happening in a person who suffers from only one of these conditions. I expect that this new understanding will lead not only to big changes in treating those individuals who are dually diagnosed, but also to improved protocols for diagnosing and treating patients who currently are diagnosed with only chronic pain or depression."

(E)very treatment plan should include neuroregenerative therapies, including:

• Sufficient sleep (7-9 hours per day);
• Exercise (15-30 minutes aerobic activity per day);
• Meditation (20 minutes per day),
• Good nutrition (primarily low-carb diet with plenty of vegetables, fruit, low-fat protein, and supplements such as fish oil, vitamin D and magnesium), and
• Medication, as prescribed by your doctor.