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posted by mrpg on Friday March 02 2018, @01:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the get-help-now dept.

Research shows that longstanding depression alters the brain -- treatment may require different approaches depending on not just the severity of the depression but also on its longevity:

Is clinical depression always the same illness, or does it change over time?

New brain imaging research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that the brain alters after years of persistent depression, suggesting the need to change how we think about depression as it progresses.

The study, led by senior author Dr. Jeff Meyer of CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, is published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

The research shows that people with longer periods of untreated depression, lasting more than a decade, had significantly more brain inflammation compared to those who had less than 10 years of untreated depression. In an earlier study, Dr. Meyer's team discovered the first definitive evidence of inflammation in the brain in clinical depression.

This study provides the first biological evidence for large brain changes in long-lasting depression, suggesting that it is a different stage of illness that needs different therapeutics - the same perspective taken for early and later stages of Alzheimer's disease, he says.

"Greater inflammation in the brain is a common response with degenerative brain diseases as they progress, such as with Alzheimer's disease and ParkinsonĀ“s disease," says Dr. Meyer, who also holds Canada Research Chair in the Neurochemistry of Major Depression. While depression is not considered a degenerative brain disease, the change in inflammation shows that, for those in whom depression persists, it may be progressive and not a static condition.

Over years, depression changes the brain, new study shows
Depression Can Actually Leave Long-Term Changes in Your Brain, Study Shows

More information: Elaine Setiawan et al, Association of translocator protein total distribution volume with duration of untreated major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional study, The Lancet Psychiatry (2018). DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30048-8


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by meustrus on Friday March 02 2018, @05:31PM (1 child)

    by meustrus (4961) on Friday March 02 2018, @05:31PM (#646489)

    Being that it's very unlikely for anybody reading this to have the exact same set of issues, could you provide more information/resources on how you constructed this elaborate regimen for yourself? How does one diagnose "adrenal fatigue" or any of the deficiencies you are treating with supplements? What are all the chemicals you are avoiding, how did you decide to try avoiding them, and what specific harm can they inflict?

    --
    If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 02 2018, @10:09PM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday March 02 2018, @10:09PM (#646656) Journal

    To be completely honest, it's been "search my symptoms" and "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks," with a healthy dose of "don't put supplement even the least bit harmful at doses of up to 500% of the RDA in yourself." Well, that combined with long study of how particular systems and cycles in the body work.

    The information I've found on methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase SNPs in particular hit me like a truck, as the symptoms several people were mentioning that were as disparate as brain fog, fatigue, random aches, anxiety disorders, depression, constantly being pissed off, and *pulmonary goddamn embolism* all happened to me. About 10% have some form of MTHFR polymorphism, and while I can't afford the genetic testing to confirm or deny it, on a lark I decided to try substituting standard B complex for individual B vitamins, several in their methyl forms, and felt almost instant relief. So, test or no test, I'm guessing there is a problem with my muthafuckin' MTHFR production.

    Since this enzyme is involved in epigenetic expression and gene regulation via methylation, and is very important for converting homocysteine back to cysteine and methionine, loss-of-function polymorphisms would imply constant inflammatory problems, which would translate into cancer, cardiovascular disease, and likely dementia, if left untreated. My entire body feels, I don't know how to say this, "cooler" and "wetter" since starting this regimen, and I've got a lot more tolerance for peoples' and life's absurdities now.

    The magnesium is actually prior to this, and was something I tried because I'd heard it was good for reducing anxiety and promoting good sleep. It was, it just isn't the entire picture.

    Finally, the turmeric/black pepper thing is a component of much of my cooking to begin with, and reading about how piperine massively increases bioavailability of anti-inflammatory curcumins made a lightbulb go off. Eating home-cooked curry always makes me feel wonderful, beyond just what a satisfying meal would do, and I wondered for a long time exactly why. Supposedly towns and villages in India that cook with a lot of turmeric have near-zero rates of Alzheimer's, which might explain it.

    All of these things work synergistically. Magnesium is involved in literally hundreds of enzymatic reactions in the body, and I would bet good money the soil is depleted in Mg compared to even 50 years ago. The B vitamins all have different effects, and folate and cobalamins (B12) have interactions such that supplementing B12 can actually mask a folate deficiency because they're cofactors in some methylation cascades.

    What this all adds up to, in my lay(wo)man's mind, is 1) inflammation is bad and 2) my body is particularly prone to certain types of it (hyperhomocysteinaemia) due to low MTHFR activity among other reasons.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...