Depression = allergic reaction to inflammation?

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dianthus
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19 Feb 2015, 3:25 pm

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle ... une-system

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Is depression a kind of allergic reaction?

So if people with depression show classic sickness behaviour and sick people feel a lot like people with depression – might there be a common cause that accounts for both?

The answer to that seems to be yes, and the best candidate so far is inflammation – a part of the immune system that acts as a burglar alarm to close wounds and call other parts of the immune system into action. A family of proteins called cytokines sets off inflammation in the body, and switches the brain into sickness mode.

Both cytokines and inflammation have been shown to rocket during depressive episodes, and – in people with bipolar – to drop off in periods of remission. Healthy people can also be temporarily put into a depressed, anxious state when given a vaccine that causes a spike in inflammation. Brain imaging studies of people injected with a typhoid vaccine found that this might be down to changes in the parts of the brain that process reward and punishment.

There are other clues, too: people with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis tend to suffer more than average with depression; cancer patients given a drug called interferon alpha, which boosts their inflammatory response to help fight the cancer, often become depressed as a side-effect.



http://www.feelguide.com/2015/01/06/new ... lammation/

Quote:
New Research Discovers That Depression Is An Allergic Reaction To Inflammation

New research is revealing that many cases of depression are caused by an allergic reaction to inflammation. Tim de Chant of NOVA writes: “Inflammation is our immune system’s natural response to injuries, infections, or foreign compounds. When triggered, the body pumps various cells and proteins to the site through the blood stream, including cytokines, a class of proteins that facilitate intercellular communication. It also happens that people suffering from depression are loaded with cytokines.” Inflammation is caused by obesity, high sugar diets, high quantities of trans fats, unhealthy diets in general, and other causes.

By treating the inflammatory symptoms of depression — rather than the neurological ones — researchers and doctors are opening up an exciting new dimension in the fight against what has become a global epidemic. Caroline Williams of The Guardian writes: “The good news is that the few clinical trials done so far have found that adding anti-inflammatory medicines to antidepressants not only improves symptoms, it also increases the proportion of people who respond to treatment, although more trials will be needed to confirm this. There is also some evidence that omega 3 and curcumin, an extract of the spice turmeric, might have similar effects. Both are available over the counter and might be worth a try, although as an add-on to any prescribed treatment – there’s definitely not enough evidence to use them as a replacement.”

Eleanor Morgan of VICE adds: “Cytokines skyrocket during depressive episodes and, in those with bipolar disorder, halt in remission. The fact that ‘normal,’ healthy people can become temporarily anxious or depressed after receiving an inflammatory vaccine — like typhoid — lends further credence to the theory. There are even those who think we should re-brand depression altogether as an infectious disease … Carmine Pariante, a Kings College psychiatrist who is quoted in The Guardian report, says that we’re between five and ten years away from a blood test that can measure levels of inflammation in depressed people. If both Pariante’s estimate and the inflammation-depression theory are correct, we could potentially be just five years from an adequate ‘cure’ for depression.”



olympiadis
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19 Feb 2015, 5:09 pm

This is VERY interesting information and I tend to agree about the connection.

In one sense you could say that yes of course it makes sense that someone with a chronic pain condition would also have chronic depression too.

It also makes sense from a natural selection point of view that it could be selectively advantageous for an individual to take on different behavioral characteristics such as depression when the body is signaling that there is an illness or physical distress. Perhaps the depressed state is meant to be a natural period of isolation and healing.

I know that whenever I physically feel good, I do not seem depressed.
The problem is that I have chronic pain due to arthritis/inflammation, so it's very rare that I physically feel good.



SecretSavant
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19 Feb 2015, 5:11 pm

Could be a breakthrough, if not oversimplified.

I've certainly been flossing more. ;)


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B19
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20 Feb 2015, 3:10 pm

The studies that have come through over the past year or two are very interesting. Most researchers seem to be saying that it is the level of overall inflammation in the body (including the brain) that is the issue in triggering a depressive response, in some people, not an allergic process.

Inflammation is easily checked by a single blood test for C-Reactive Protein, and maybe request this from a doctor before the conventional Prozac etc is automatically handed out.

When inflammation gets to sky high levels (mine was 100 a few years ago) then you need a course of steroids to put the fire out - it's like the cells being on fire, inflamed - or you can undertake extensive nutritional overhaul and take lots of supplements etc - these are much slower to work though, so a short course of steroids may be a better option for some (though they have some dangers too). It is complex.

I think endogenous depression is a brain-body disease which does have an inflammatory factor, while reactive depression may activate illness in the body or not depending on the health status of the person when the precipitating event, loss, or trauma happened.

But the conventional ideas and treatment are so entrenched that people will continue to regard this as the correct treatment for a brain disorder.



mr_bigmouth_502
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20 Feb 2015, 3:43 pm

This makes a lot of sense. I used to call in sick from school all the time, when I was really just too depressed to handle leaving the house. I would actually feel physically ill, but instead of it being caused by a virus or other pathogen, it was all in my head.