Posted by curtm on May 2, 2006, at 13:31:45
In reply to Re: What if........., posted by blueberry on April 29, 2006, at 19:10:33
>> I was reading about a guy who tried to fix his depression with the common amino acids...tryptophan, tyrosine, dlpa, gaba...but whenever one was boosted it only worsened the problem by creating a new imbalance or else it pooped out quickly. He figured why not supply the body with all of the amino acids it needs to do its job, in synthetic form instead of natural form to get around the problems of intestinal or metabolic faults, instead of just 3 concentrated amino acids. So he takes large doses of amino acid supplements with all of amino acids (at least 20 different ones in a capsule) and lets the miracles of the body use them as it was designed to. He claims to be well.
>> But then, there are many other things we know about or don't know about, such as cortisol, hormones, toxic metals, faulty intestinal absorption, faulty vitamin metabolism, faulty liver metabolism, etc. The drugs suppress the symptoms but don't fix the problem, I agree.
>> Chinese medicine says that psychiatric conditions originate in the gut and the liver, not the brain. Which could make sense, because that is where everything is metabolized and distributed, and where any so-called imbalance might originate.
Lamictal is a used to treat epilepsy by stabilizing electrical activity in the brain. When abnormally rapid and repetitive electrical signals are released in the brain, the brain becomes over-stimulated and normal function is disturbed. This results in fits or seizures.
Lamictal prevents excessive electrical activity in the brain by preventing sodium from entering nerve cells when they begin to fire rapid and repetitive electrical signals. A build up of sodium in the nerve cells is necessary for the electrical signal to build up and be passed on to other nerve cells. As Lamictal prevents this, it helps stabilize the electrical activity in the brain. In addition to its licensed use for treating epilepsy, Lamictal is used off-license by specialists as a mood stabilizer for treating people with the psychiatric illness, bipolar affective disorder. This use is not licensed, but the medicine has been shown to be effective in people with bipolar disorder who have not responded to the traditional mood stabilizer. It is not fully understood how Lamictal works in this illness, but is thought to be to do with the reduction of glutamate in the brain.glutamic acid, or glutamate, is one of the 20 standard amino acids used by all organisms in their proteins. glu is critical for proper cell function, but it is not an essential nutrient in humans because it can be produced from other compounds. glutamate is present in a wide variety of foods. the sodium salt of glutamic acid, monosodium glutamate (msg) is extensively used as a food additive and general-purpose flavor enhancer.
**curtm: (hint) Watch your MSG intake! Read on…**glu is the most abundant EXCITATORY neurotransmitter in the nervous system. in excess, glutamic acid triggers a process called excitotoxicity, the pathological process by which neurons are damaged and killed by the overactivation of excitatory neurotransmitter. Glutamic acid overstimulation is associated with diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, lathyrism, and Alzheimer's disease. Glutamic acid has been implicated in epileptic seizures.
**curtm: …and bipolar disorder?
poster:curtm
thread:638194
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060429/msgs/639225.html