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posted by mrpg on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-comment dept.

Study links depression to low blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine

Investigators at Stanford and elsewhere have shown, for the first time in humans, that low blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine track with the severity and duration of depression.

People with depression have low blood levels of a substance called acetyl-L-carnitine, according to a Stanford University School of Medicine scientist and her collaborators in a multicenter study.

Naturally produced in the body, acetyl-L-carnitine is also widely available in drugstores, supermarkets and health food catalogs as a nutritional supplement. People with severe or treatment-resistant depression, or whose bouts of depression began earlier in life, have particularly low blood levels of the substance.

The findings, published online July 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, build on extensive animal research. They mark the first rigorous indication that the link between acetyl-L-carnitine levels and depression may apply to people, too. And they point the way to a new class of antidepressants that could be freer of side effects and faster-acting than those in use today, and that may help patients for whom existing treatments don't work or have stopped working.

Acetylcarnitine.

Also at The Rockefeller University.

Acetyl-l-carnitine deficiency in patients with major depressive disorder (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1801609115) (DX)


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:37AM (7 children)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:37AM (#716117) Journal

    so, which way is the causality? Low acetyl-L-carnitine worsens and/or prolongs depression, OR depression supresses acetyl-L-carnitine, OR something that supresses acetyl-L-carnitine also causes or prolongs depression?

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:41AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:41AM (#716118)

    Depression: One 2014 review assessed the use of ALCAR in fourteen clinical trials for various conditions with depressive symptoms; the trials were small (ranging from 20 to 193 subjects) and their design was so different that results could not be generalized; most studies showed positive results and a lack of adverse effects. The mechanism of action by which ALCAR could treat depression is not known. A meta-analysis from 2014 concluded that ALCAR could only be recommended for the treatment of persistent depressive disorder if publication bias was deemed improbable.

    from wiki link

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:08AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:08AM (#716126)

    At least with the tracking data there should now be an objective way to measure depression that doesn't involve cracking open skulls.

    • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Thursday August 02 2018, @12:12PM (4 children)

      by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Thursday August 02 2018, @12:12PM (#716157)

      Well, it will be useful but I don't think we can objectively state that Bob has a lower level than Alice, so his depression (and thus risk of, say, suicide) must be higher than hers.

      • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday August 02 2018, @05:31PM (3 children)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 02 2018, @05:31PM (#716345) Journal

        It's not that simple. People who are really depressed don't commit suicide...until they start to recover. When they're really depressed they're too down to think that would help, or too innervated to act or some such.

        I've never been there, so I can't detail it, but this is one of the major risks in treatments of depression.

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        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:08PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:08PM (#716399)

          It's not that simple. People who are really depressed don't commit suicide...until they start to recover. When they're really depressed they're too down to think that would help, or too innervated to act or some such.

          I've never been there, so I can't detail it, but this is one of the major risks in treatments of depression.

          I expect you mean well, so I'll put this as politely as I can: I have been there. Your statement runs counter to my experience. Unless you have a citation to back that up, please stop spreading misinformation.

          In hopes it may help someone else who is struggling, let me share a bit of my story.

          Clinical major depression is nothing like "feeling down" or "having the blues". It is a stupendous, overwhelming sense of gloom. So much so that any activity bears no joy. There might be a momentary glimmer of pleasure, but it is quickly muffled and the darkness quickly returns to snuff it all out. Nothing seems worthwhile. Everything feels beyond one's ability to attempt. "I'm already at the end of my rope and am only holding on by the thinnest of threads. If I try doing this (whatever it may be), and it doesn't work, that would just be too much and I would lose it. I can't even fathom how I am enduring this right now."

          Helpless.

          Hopeless.

          I was a passenger in a car on a divided highway. We were travelling a good clip. The thought crossed my mind that I needed only to open the car door and drop to the ground and it would be over. If the initial impact didn't do it, then getting run over by the rear tires, and any following vehicle would surely finish the task. That thought scared me enough to make me literally sit on my hands until we got to the destination for fear I would actually carry out that thought.

          In those circumstances, suicide truly seemed like a reasonable choice... *anything* was better than that persistent, never-ending pain.

          The only thing which keep me from committing suicide was my family. I knew it would destroy them. Besides, anything that I was certain would work would also leave a bloody mess. And, knowing my luck, anything else I might try would just succeed in making me into a mindless vegetable and I would *still* be alive and in even worse shape.

          Thank goodness for a friend's intervention that get me professional care with hospitalization, medication, and therapy.

          As I climbed out of that hell-hole and started to see positive things in my life, I finally had some hope. I gained willingness to keep up whatever it was that was keeping the abyss at bay.

          Today, I am able to recognize the symptoms and take steps to divert the progression. CBT, DBT, making a "gratitude list", sharing my feelings with others... all of these things help.

          tl;drIf you are reading this and any of it rings true for you... please please please please Please get help. There were some false leads along the way, but knowing I was not alone, and learning that there were many different treatment possibilities, so if one thing did not work, there were others to try. That gave me hope and that ultimately Saved My Life.

          • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:56PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:56PM (#716449)

            And then there's times when you're too depressed to do anything and just waste away in bed nearly all day. That's when you're too depressed to commit suicide. You don't have the physical nor mental energy to do so. It takes too much effort to come up with a way that'll work and carry out those actions. Clinical depression is a long-term depressive state. It doesn't need to be an extremely deep depressive state.

            I've experienced both states. Gaining some hope for the future (listening to podcasts about financial freedom and starting my path towards that. Holding a job is very difficult for me due to a different medical issue), taking probiotics (this helped a surprising amount), better food (more veggies, start with microwavable mixed-frozen ones), better sleep, random meditation/hypnosis, and looking behind and seeing all the things I've survive has helped me to slowly get better. I've been clinically depressed from around 11 to 31 years old. Two suicide attempts around 26. Didn't recognize the depression (thought it was just my personality) until around 22. I'm 32 now and no longer consider myself clinically depressed. I still feel depressed if I don't sleep well or screw up something, but I'm no longer constantly thinking of suicide. I'm still not happy, but I'm not down either nor am I completely emotionally numb like when I was 16-23. I'm starting to learn and improve my social skills (more podcasts) so I could potentially have some friends in the future. I've never taken anti-depressants and I've been pulling myself up from my bootstraps. Not that I would recommend it, but it is possible to fix yourself by yourself. It just takes lots of time and some education. If you're going to lie in bed doing nothing, put on some headphones and start out with the Optimal Living Daily podcast. That podcast has a bunch of branches into more specific things.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:44PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:44PM (#716466)

              Thank-you for sharing your first-hand experiences. There is an old adage: "Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one and they stink." Speaking from experience is something else entirely. I commend you for your perseverance and am grateful your prior suicide attempts were unsuccessful, thereby allowing you to share a glimmer of hope to someone else who may be facing the same struggles. I know you helped *me* today!

              As for improving social skills, it's hard to beat immersion.

              (Background: I was one of the gawky, nerdy, ill-coordinated kids that the others liked to pick on. Add bullies to the list and childhood was no picnic. As the pecking order went, I was darn near at the bottom.)

              So, it's no wonder I excelled and spent years working in software development and QA/test. My ideal job was one where I would be given a project and then go to my fully-floor-to-ceiling walled office, close the door and focus. And, whatever you do, do NOT interrupt me! It may only be a 1-minute question and a 1-minute answer, but it would take me 15-20 minutes to get all the details back together in my mind before I could again begin to proceed.

              Now, I work retail! =)

              All day at work, I'm dealing with *gasp* people! As the years have passed, I've developed a huge circle of friends and acquaintances who know me and seek me out. They know I will tell them the truth about any product we carry. They trust my judgement on what works for their situation. They come around the corner, see me, and... smile! They are *happy* to see me. I now have far more interactions with people in the course of a day that are positive rather than anxious experiences that are to be endured. Just. Plain. Wow.

              It did not come easily or naturally, but I put myself out there, and genuinely tried to help people. Even if the words came out wrong, most people could see I meant well and made allowances. I am now much more comfortable meeting new people, carrying on casual conversations, and the normal interactions of life in a world of people.

              Granted, there are still times when it is a struggle -- usually when I am hungry or tired. But, those times are, thankfully, increasingly rare.

              Key to my progress has been: Taking the long-term view, being grateful for each attempt, however successful it may or may not have been, and trying to help others.

              Oh, and working retail has given me a whole new perspective on people who work in whatever service industry position they may have. Be it janitorial, food service, toll collector, whatever. I greet *them* with a smile, thank them, and trust that I have made someone else's day a little bit brighter.

              At the end of the day, I would like to think that the world is a better place for my having been a part of it.

              I guess you touched a nerve. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to share a bit of *my* experience.

              I wish you the very best on your path of growth and recovery!