New Developments in Schizophrenia Research

  "The future may teach us how to exercise a direct

influence by means of particular chemical

substances on the apparatus of the mind." Freud

Introduction

  Unfortunately there are problems with psychiatric drugs. For one thing, they can be used to attempt suicide. This does not always work, but, unfortunately, sometimes it does.

A Unified Theory to Reconcile Available Evidence

  There is a massive amount of evidence available (see references). Up until now there has been no unified theory to reconcile much of the available evidence. One piece of evidence, and an important one, is the fact that amino acid feedings have made schizophrenics worse. This strongly suggests that schizophrenia is one or more errors in amino acid metabolism.

  One of the errors has been described extensively by Ridges and her Liverpool group. It is called the "pink spot". 

"It was suggested that the active factor in the

schizophrenic urine might be a small heteropeptide

containing a catecholamine residue."

A. Pauline Ridges, Ph.D., M.Sc, A.R.I.C.

 

Senior Lecturer in

Biochemical Psychiatry

Department of Psychiatry

University of Liverpool

Life Sciences Building

Crown Street

Liverpool 7, England

  The "pink spot" is DMPEA, an abnormal metabolite of dopamine. According to my own theory, this toxic substance causes amino acids to flood the brain cells in schizophrenia. Dopamine is an important brain neurotransmitter. 

Hoffer

 

"It is obvious after one has read this book and

many others which are beginning to appear that

no physician can properly practice his craft if he

is not familiar with the science of nutrition." Dr. Abram Hoffer

  This quote is a reference to the Roger Williams book "Nutrition Against Disease". The book was published by Pitman Publishing Corporation of New York. At that time Hoffer was in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is now in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Hoffer's review of the Williams book was published in Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry in 1972.

Illicit Drug Use

 

"Among the possible problems which may arise

from drug usage are perceptual disturbances,

conceptual confusion, loss of emotional control, 

psychotic episodes and drug dependence."

Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.

 

   This quote was from the same issue of Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry, which is now called Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. The drugs he referred to included "amphetamines, heroin, LSD-type drugs, alcohol, barbiturates, hashish, marijuana" etc. 

Neuropathology

  In 1915 Southard reported "internal hydrocephalus" and various other findings in the cortex. Southard was a Harvard neuropathologist and psychiatrist. He studied "dementia praecox", which is now called "schizophrenia". Almost countless positive neuropathology findings have been reported in schizophrenia (see the references).

  It was from neuropathology data that I was able to figure out that amino acids are flooding the brain cells in schizophrenia. Something like this is difficult to determine by biochemistry because it is hard to do biochemistry experiments on the living brains of people. One can do these on rats, but how do you get schizophrenic rats? The neuropathology studies are usually done postmortem.

Conclusions

  My unified theory explains schizophrenia, but how do you treat it? My view is that nutrition should be used. A very strict diet low in amino acids is suggested. Also I favor the use of polyphenols. The justification for the use of polyphenols is that they inhibit a critical enzyme called COMT. This enzyme metabolizes dopamine and can form DMPEA, the toxin that causes the amino acids to flood the cells.

References

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