Bipolar Disorder Research

Introduction

  I have written a great deal on schizophrenia, so I decided to do a piece on bipolar disorder for variety. My view is that the two diseases are very similar. Suicide is seen in both disorders as well as in major depression. All three diseases have anxiety.

"Drug Resistance"

  Often the drugs do not work, unfortunately, and this is often blamed on the patient. The patient is called "drug resistant". Rather than admitting that the drugs are inadequate, which would offend the drug companies, the term "drug resistance" is used. If the drug companies are offended, the article may not make it into publication! This shows the tremendous power that they have.

  With psychotherapy this is not a problem. However, psychotherapy is not always effective either, unfortunately.

Schizophrenia

"Neurological disease such as temporal lobe epilepsy, Huntington's chorea, and brain tumor all present symptoms similar to schizophrenia."

Robert L. Siblerud M.S.; John Motl; Eldon Kienholz, Ph.D. The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 14, 4th Quarter 1999

"The fact that tiny amounts of LSD could produce a major psychosis suggested similar small quantities of an endogenous hallucinogen could be formed."

A. Hoffer, M.D. Ph.D. and H. Osmond, M.D.  The Adrenochrome Hypothesis and Psychiatry The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 14, 1st Quarter 1999

  A great deal of information on schizophrenia is presented in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. Old issues can be seen online at www.orthomolecular.org, an outstanding website. Also information is given about orthomolecular treatments.

Atypical Antipsychotics

  Unfortunately there have been severe problems with atypical antipsychotics (see Ref. 2). These drugs have dangerous side effects, unfortunately. Also the patient can use them to attempt suicide, which is another problem. Risperidol can be given by injection, which prevents the patient from using it to commit suicide.

Fish Oil

  This treatment, recommended by the late Dr. Horrobin (1939-2003)
and by Dr. Andrew Weil, does not work, unfortunately. This is one of the few differences that I have witn Dr. Weil. Fish oil is good for the heart, but it does not correct the chemical imbalances in bipolar disorder. Neither does St. John's wort.

  Although fish oil is an orthomolecular treatment, it is the wrong orthomolecular treatment for bipolar disorder. 

Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center

  This center is in the South End of Boston. It is at 85 E. Newton St. This is an unusual center in that a conservative center run by the DMH houses the Transformation Center, which is an alternative mental health program. The center is located in Boston Medical Center. It is between Albany St. and Harrison Ave. E. Newton St. is two blocks from Mass. Ave. 

My Theory

  My theory is that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are like twins. From a biochemical point of view, they are both diabetes of the brain. In both diseases brain glucose metabolism is slow. This is due to amino acids flooding the cells. I came to this conclusion after years of studying biochemistry data and neuropathology data, including a brilliant article by Roizin in Ref. 18. It seems that there are fat deposits in the brain. From this I concluded that the brain cells are overeating some macronutrients.

  In Ref. 13 more neuropathology information is presented. The Nissl bodies are being destroyed. From this I concluded that the macronutrients are amino acids. The Nissl bodies house amino acids. Ref. 14 relates that the mitochondria are swollen due to a toxic factor in the cerebrospinal fluid. Swelling of the mitochondria is consistent with amino acids flooding the cells because amino acids can enter the mitochondria.

Conclusions

  Biochemistry data is presented in other references including my own articles. My own articles are available free full text on the Internet. This is difficult to get for academic articles because they usually charge for full text articles on the Internet. The medical journal will charge you unless you have a subscription.

  But what are the right treatments? I favor orthomolecular treaments. I favor a diet very low in amino acids with flavonoids as beneficial substances. This diet is described in my previous articles in the references (3, 4, 5, & 6).

References

1.

Anhedonia as a phenotype for the Val158Met COMT polymorphism in relatives of patients with schizophrenia.

Docherty AR, Sponheim SR.

J Abnorm Psychol. 2008 Nov;117(4):788-98.

2.

Apparent seizure and atrial fibrillation associated with paliperidone.

Schneider RA, Lizer MH.

Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2008 Nov 15;65(22):2122-5.

3. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1371783/a_history_of_psychiatric_theory.html

4. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1366198/why_psychodietetics.html

5. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1360443/amino_acids_and_health.html

6. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1355565/advances_in_medical_science.html

7. "White matter abnormalities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia detected using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging." Bipolar Disorders 11.1 (Feb 2009): 11(8). Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 Jan. 2009 
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=HRCA.

8. "Bipolar disorder.(Disease/Disorder overview)." CareNotes (Nov 2008): NA. Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 Jan. 2009 
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=HRCA.

9. Zieman, Gayle. "Bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder.(Behavioral Health Advisor)(Disease/Disorder overview)." Clinical Reference Systems 2008.3 (Nov 2008): NA. Health Reference Center Academic. Gale. Newton Free Library. 16 Jan. 2009 
http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=HRCA.

10. Hollandsworth JG: The Physiology of Psychological Disorders, Plenum Press, New York, 1990: 67-107.

11. Meltzer HY, Stahl SM: The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia: a review. Schizophren Bull, 1976; 2: 19-76.

12. Wyatt, R J, Murphy, DL, Belmaker, R, Cohen, S, Donnelly, CH, Collin, W: Reduced monoamine oxidase activity in platelets: A possible genetic marker for vulnerability to schizophrenia, Science, 1973; 179: 916-918.

13. Henn, FA, Nasrallah, HA: Schizophrenia as a brain disease. Oxford University Press, New York, 1982.

14. Tyrell, DA, Parry, RP, Crow, TJ, Johnstone, E, Ferrier, IN: Possible virus in schizophrenia and some neurological disorders, Lancet I, 1979; 839-841.

15. Brown, R, Colter N, Corsellis, J, Crow, TJ, Frith, CD, Marsh, J: Postmortem evidence of structural brain changes in schizophrenia: differences in brain weight, temporal horn area, and para-hippocampal gyrus compared with affective disorder. Arch Gen Psychiat, 1986; 43: 36-42.

16. Osmond, H, Smythies, J: Schizophrenia: A new approach. J Ment Sci, 1952; 98: 309-315.

17. Sullivan, JL, Cavenar, JO, Stanfield, CN, Hammett, EB: Reduced MAO activity in platelets and lymphocytes of chronic schizophrenics. Am J Psychiat, 1978; 135: 597-598.

18. Arieti, S: (Ed.) American handbook of psychiatry. New York: Basic Books, 1959.

19. Bellak L: Dementia praecox. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1948.

20. Bellak L: Schizophrenia: A review of the syndrome, logos- New York, 1958.

21. Bleuler EA: Textbook of Psychiatry. (Trans. A. A, Brill). The MacMillan Go., New York, 1924.

22. Bleuler E: Dementia praecox the group of schizophrenias. (Trans. Zinkin J.). New York: International University's Press, 1950.

23. Jaspers K: (Trans. Hoenig J, Hamilton MW): General psychopathology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963.

24. Kraepelin E: Lectures in clinical psychiatry (Trans. Johnstone, T.). London: Balliere Tindall & Cox, 1904.