Treatment-resistant Depression    

   A professor of psychiatry and science at the University of Pittsburgh has studied neuroimaging markers of suicide risk in young people. She studied under one of the world's foremost experts on treatment-resistant depression and suicidal behavior in teens. 

   Wishing to help a certain 12-year-old, she looked for clues in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). What was in the central nervous system?

   The young girl showed a low level of biopterin, a chemical the body uses to make several neurotransmitters, the brain's chemical messengers. 

   With a replacement therapy regimen, over the next few months there was a gradual return of a chemical that is crucial to the production of serotonin, dopamine and more. After 10 weeks and adjustments to her medications, the girl was feeling "normal."  

   Three other teens underwent the same process. All three had similar metabolic disorders, and all three improved once their systems were "fed" a special form of what were essentially vitamins.

   This team expanded with a study of 33 patients with treatment-resistant depression. About two-thirds had a form of metabolic deficiency of the central nervous system. Once treated, the majority improved.

   A larger study is now underway, including possible genetic and environmental factors in these deficiencies. 

   PITT MAGAZINE reports this "effort is to understand some of the mechanics of depression and suicidal behavior. What clinicians and researchers now lump together under the umbrella of depression may be symptoms of many different diseases or disorders." 

   Note: Having overtaxed our central nervous system (OT-CNS) with all these big words, Monday and Tuesday, we're giving ourself a rest until after Labor Day. But, if a brainstorm arrives by the sea, we'll blog away, and alert you on Facebook. 
As always, we appreciate your interest.

       Jimmy