Inflammation may play key role in mental health disorders

USA Today (12/1, Karen Weintraub) reported that studies now "suggest a tighter link than was previously realized between ailments of the mind and body" in that immune system activation, including inflammation, may play a role in both. Researcher Georgia Hodes, of the Icahn Medical Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, stated, "One of the things we need to stop thinking is that mental health is just a disorder of the brain." Just by "adding inflammation to their thinking has helped neuroscientists cast a broader net when searching for causes of and possible treatments for mental illness, mood disorders and neurodevelopmental conditions," according to researchers.

"Last time you had a bad cold, you likely had less energy than usual. You lay around and didn't have any enthusiasm for your usual activities. After it dragged on for a day or two, a sense of helplessness probably set in. It was hard to remember what feeling good felt like or how you could ever bound off the couch again.

In short, for a few days, you probably felt a lot like someone with depression.

And increasingly, scientists think it's no coincidence that a mental illness feels like a physical one.

A growing body of research on conditions from bipolar disorder to schizophrenia to depression is starting to suggest a tighter link than was previously realized between ailments of the mind and body. Activation of the immune system seems to play a crucial role in both."

Full article here:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/01/immune-inflammation-mental-health/3712121/