Posted by SLS on November 30, 2014, at 0:40:48
In reply to What If We're Wrong About Depression?, posted by Hugh on November 29, 2014, at 11:44:02
I think it is equally important to consider that inflammation might be the result of illness rather than its cause.
In bipolar disorder, hyperglutamatergic activity is seen in the frontal cortex. It seems to be the result of a deficiency in glial glutamate transporter (type 2) that would otherwise be able to clear synaptic glutamate. If this is an epigenetic phenomenon, I question the role that inflammation plays in the induction of glial transporter downregulation. To the contrary - excessive extracellular glutamate concentrations increase enzymes in the arachidonic acid cascade, leading to increases in neuronal inflammation in brain.
Genetic predisposition + chronic psychosocial stress -> epigenetic downregulation of glial glutamate transporter -> hyperglutamatergic state -> neurotoxicity -> arachidonic acid cascade response -> neuronal inflammation.
This scenario might not reflect reality, but it offers an alternate explanation whereby inflammation does not cause illness, but is the result of illness - much like inflammation is the result of a laceration injury produced by a sharp knife. We don't see inflammation picking up the knife and producing lacerations.
It is true that insect-borne pathogens can produce psychiatric symptom clusters, quite possibly via neuroinflammatory reactions. However, the similarities that exist in the symptomatologies of BD, MDD, SCH ADHD versus that of Lyme Disease. I do not think it is logical to assume that two people who present similar symptoms suffer from the same illness. Is the pathophysiology of BD the same as MDD, BD, or SCH?
It's 1:36 am, and my mind is getting mushy. I hope some of this made sense, even though other theories might offer more accurate
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1073833
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20141120/msgs/1073848.html