Posted by bleauberry on October 26, 2009, at 17:54:21
In reply to Why antidepressants don't work for so many, posted by jrbecker76 on October 25, 2009, at 10:44:54
As with all scientific studies, this one has some merits and some flaws, but overall...like all others...is much too narrow and limited in scope.
For example...
Is a neurotransmitter deficiency involved in SOME depressions? Yes. We know this because SOME people feel immediate relief within hours of taking 5htp and it continues for months, until they realize they now have too much serotonin, at which time they get remission back by lowering the dose or adding tyrosine to it. Those people had low serotonin.
Is stress involved with SOME depressions? Yes. We know this because stress will cause things like hypoadrenalism, where people's depressions disappear with adrenal extract supplements, adaptogen herbs, and improved lifestyles, and in stubborn cases low replacement doses of hydrocortisone.
Are hormones of all kinds involved in SOME depressions? Yes. We know this from women's monthly cycles and menopause. Treat the hormones correctly and the depression disappears. Wait for the few days a month to pass, and the depression disappears.
We also know that because when someone has the symptoms of hypothyroid, yet their lab tests appear ok, but they are given thyroid therapy anyway based on clinical symptoms (smart doctor), their depresesion goes away along with all the other hypothyroid symptoms. (the test was wrong...but that's another story in itself)
Is sunlight involved in SOME depressions? Yes. We know this because some people respond well to bright light therapy.
Are infectious diseases involved in SOME depressions? Yes. We know this because their depression disappears on antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals. This happens A LOT in other forums.
Are heavy metals involved in SOME depressions? Yes. We know this because a lot of people feel a ton better when amalgams are removed and/or they have undergone some rounds of oral chelation.
And well, this list could go on for another couple hours. The causes of depression are not simply either neurotransmitters or stress. It is a bigger picture than that.
With all this in mind, I see this particular study as being like so many others...too narrow.
We do know that the chelation drug DMSA easily crosses the rat's blood brain barrier but it is still of debate whether it crosses the human blood brain barrier...most researchers say it does not, and that the rat BBB is not the same as the human BBB. With just that one tidbit of info, one has to kind of at least be a little bit suspicious when any researcher tries to make implications for the human brain based on what happens in a rat brain. And other than doing certain behavioral tests with rats that we SUPPOSE mimic depression, we can't actually ask the rats how they feel, so we don't even know if the supposed depression they feel is the one we feel.
Interesting study, but not useful.
poster:bleauberry
thread:922361
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091021/msgs/922697.html