Recovery Michigan

Acts of patient violence declined at several psychiatric hospitals in London following a comprehensive cigarette smoking ban implemented in conjunction with access to nicotine replacement therapies, researchers reported.

Bad news for bread lovers! A new study has found that certain proteins in wheat (hint: not gluten) may aggravate symptoms of people who suffer from inflammatory conditions, like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma. These proteins, called amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) are also linked to non-celiac gluten sensitivity, the scientists concluded.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, determined that the ATIs found in wheat cause an immune response in the gut that can spread to and affect the kidneys, lymph nodes, spleen, and brain.

If the researchers’ conclusion is confirmed with future studies, the condition “non-celiac gluten sensitivity” might need to be renamed, the lead researcher Professor Detlef Schuppan stated, since it’s possible the ATIs are causing the sensitivity rather than gluten itself.

These kinds of findings will continue to expand......

https://goo.gl/F8bCdI

Up to 75 percent of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus -- an incurable autoimmune disease commonly known as lupus -- experience neuropsychiatric symptoms. But so far, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying lupus' effects on the brain has remained murky. Now, new research from Boston Children's Hospital has shed light on the mystery and points to a potential new drug for protecting the brain from the neuropsychiatric effects of lupus and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The team has published its surprising findings in Nature.

"We've found a mechanism that directly links inflammation to mental illness," says Carroll. "This discovery has huge implications for a range of central nervous system diseases."

Study leader Ivana Buric, of the Centre for Psychology at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues found that mind-body interventions (MBIs) "reverse" changes in our DNA that cause stress.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the use of MBIs in the United States is on the rise. Yoga is the most common MBI; figures show that since 2002, the number of U.S. adults aged 18 to 44 who practice yoga has almost doubled.

One of the main reasons why people practice yoga, meditation, and other MBIs is to help alleviate stress, and an overwhelming number of studies have demonstrated the benefits of MBIs for stress relief.

But what are the mechanisms that underlie this association? Previous research has primarily focused on how MBIs affect the brain in order to relieve stress, but Buric and colleagues wanted to find out whether or not there is a molecular explanation.

For their study, the researchers looked at whether MBIs influence gene expression, the process by which genes create proteins and other molecules that affect cellular function.

The team reviewed 18 studies that had investigated the effects of numerous MBIs - including yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, and mindfulness - on gene expression.

The studies included a total of 846 participants, who were followed up for an average of 11 years.

MBIs reduce production of pro-inflammatory molecules

From their analysis, the researchers found that people who practice MBIs experience reduced production of a molecule called nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), which is known to regulate gene expression.

The researchers explain that stressful events trigger activity in the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is responsible for the "fight-or-flight" response.

This SNS activity leads to the production of NF-kB, which produces molecules called cytokines that promote cellular inflammation. If this molecular reaction is persistent, it can lead to serious physical and mental health problems, such as depression and cancer.

The study suggests that MBIs, however, lower the production of NF-kB and cytokines. This not only helps to alleviate stress, but it also helps to stave off the associated health conditions.

"Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don't realize is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business," says Buric.

Women are routinely prescribed more opioid painkillers than they need after Cesarean sections, creating a high risk for misuse, a trio of new studies suggests.

C-sections are the most common inpatient surgery in the United States, with 1.3 million procedures performed a year, according to the researchers. But there is little data on how much medicine patients actually need to manage their pain. To that end, how many pills are prescribed varies from provider to provider, the researchers added.

More care is needed to limit the amount of leftover drugs that could wind up in the wrong hands, the studies concluded. Most people who use opioids for nonmedical reasons get them from friends and relatives who have unused medication. And patients may not lock their leftovers away, putting young children at risk.

"We are the source of these excess opioids, and we need to do more to restrain that, but we really need to tailor that so the individual gets what they need. Our take-home point is we don't want one-size-fits-all prescribing," said Dr. Sarah Osmundson, who led one of the three studies. She's an assistant professor of maternal-fetal medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Addiction to prescription opioids such as oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicoprofen) is a growing epidemic in the United States. The number of opioid overdose deaths has quadrupled in the past 15 years, according to one of the studies.

Though women are unlikely to get hooked on opioids after a C-section, an addiction expert said non-opioid pain relief should always be the first treatment of choice.

This is interesting, to say the least....

https://goo.gl/FBc23Q

Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has been demonstrated to reduce symptom severity in conditions such as fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and complex regional pain syndrome. We review the evidence that LDN may operate as a novel anti-inflammatory agent in the central nervous system, via action on microglial cells. These effects may be unique to low dosages of naltrexone and appear to be entirely independent from naltrexone’s better-known activity on opioid receptors. 

As a daily oral therapy, LDN is inexpensive and well-tolerated. Despite initial promise of efficacy, the use of LDN for chronic disorders is still highly experimental. Published trials have low sample sizes, and few replications have been performed. We cover the typical usage of LDN in clinical trials, caveats to using the medication, and recommendations for future research and clinical work. LDN may represent one of the first glial cell modulators to be used for the management of chronic pain disorders.

https://goo.gl/sMY3Lf 

Inflammatory responses play a central role in the development and persistence of many diseases and can lead to debilitating chronic pain. In many cases, inflammation is your body's response to stress. Therefore, reducing "fight-or-flight" responses in the nervous system and lowering biological markers for stress can also reduce inflammation.

Typically, doctors prescribe medications to combat inflammation. However, there's growing evidence that another way to combat inflammation is by engaging the vagus nerve and improving “vagal tone.” This can be achieved through daily habits such as yoga and meditation—or in more extreme cases of inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA)—by using an implanted device for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).

The vagus nerve is known as the "wandering nerve" because it has multiple branches that diverge from two thick stems rooted in the cerebellum and brainstem that wander to the lowest viscera of your abdomen touching your heart and most major organs along the way. Vagus means "wandering" in Latin. The words vagabond, vague, and vagrant are all derived from the same Latin root.

In 1921, a German physiologist named Otto Loewi discovered that stimulating the vagus nerve caused a reduction in heart rate by triggering the release of a substance he coined Vagusstoff (German for "Vagus Substance”). The “vagus substance” was later identified as acetylcholine and became the first neurotransmitter ever identified by scientists.

Prisoners who have had head injuries are more likely to experience a variety of mental health problems including severe depression and anxiety, substance use disorders, anger and suicidal thoughts.

Surprisingly, it is only relatively recently that researchers have started investigating brain injury within the criminal justice context. But those
studies show higher rates of TBI within incarcerated populations compared to the rate found in the general population.