Advances in World Psychiatry

Dr. Mesa of Cuba has done postmortem studies on the brains of schizophrenics. He has reported various findings including intranuclear bodies, membrane alterations, etc. He has studied the amygdala, the hippocampus and the primary auditory cortex. He found deposits of glycoprotein granules around the vessels. He found membrane proliferation.

Havana Findings

Mesa has reported "particles". He found intranuclear filamentous inclusion bodies. He works at the Psychiatric Hospital of Havana, Cuba. His full name is Dr. Segundo Mesa Castillo. He has experimented with antiviral drugs including interferon and aciclovir. He thinks that the particles are a virus. I disagree with this.

Dr. E. F. Torrey of the US has a similar theory. Torrey is worshiped by NAMI, which I feel is a mistake. Torrey is wrong. A British group found a toxic factor in the cerebrospinal fluid. It flunked all tests for a virus. They couldn't passage it. Treatments that would stop a virus did not stop it.

Ref. 25 documents the failure of an anti-viral drug to alleviate schizophrenia. Nevertheless Mesa's work should not be ignored. That would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Mesa claims to have a "cytopathological" test for schizophrenia. If this is true, this could be worthy of the Nobel prize.

Biological Test

Mesa's test was on platelets. The following were some of the changes reported:

"Increase of the size, in occasions up to three times the size observed in control platelets. b) Alterations in the form, acquiring rare forms with increase in the longitude of the filopodias and deformity of the same ones with increase of the traverse diameter. c) Vacuolation with formation of big vacuoles inside of and outside of the platelets."

My view is that these findings could be metabolic. He reported an "increase in the glycogen concentration occupying great part of the platelet and inside the big vacuoles". This to me indicates a partial failure of glucose metabolism. For some reason the platelets are not burning glucose properly.

Orthomolecular Theory

"Irwin Stone was totally in love with ascorbic acid. On behalf of all humanity, I thank the stars that he was." -Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D.

There are various schools of thought in orthomolecular medicine. One school is that many problems are deficiencies. This is true in Africa and other Third world countries. My theory is that mental illnesses are food allergies. This theory is not entirely original. Adelle Davis in the book "Let's Get Well" noted the similarities between mental illness and hypoglycemia. this influenced me. I feel that Davis was correct. She was one of the first to propose a diet for mental disease. She modified the Harris diet for hypoglycemia. At that time the word "orthomolecular" had not yet been invented.

The book "Orthomolecular Psychiatry" contained views similar to those of Davis. Unfortunately Davis died.

Conclusions

But what does orthomolecular medicine have to do with Mesa's work? My theory is that amino acids are flooding the brain cells. This does not explain all of Mesa's findings, but it does explain some of them. My theory suggests a diet very low in amino acids.

Alanine is a simple amino acid. Alanine is found in the following foods:

Beans, brewer's yeast, brown rice bran, caseinate, corn, dairy products, eggs, fish, gelatin, lactalbumin, legumes, meat, nuts, seafood, seeds, soy, whey, whole grains.

These foods are to be avoided on my diet. Other amino acids are discussed in my previous articles. Look up the Associated Content references. On Gather I have photo albums that show foods high in protein and foods high in tryptophan. I have another photo album for phenylalanine. This album is called the "PKU Diet".

References

1. Harrison PJ : The neuropathology of schizophrenia. A critical review of the data and their interpretation. Brain 1999; 122 :593-624.

2. Nelson MD, Saykin AJ, Flashman LA, Riordan HJ. Hippocampal volume reduction in schizophrenia as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. A meta-analytic study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998; 55:433-440.

3. Mesa CS, Martínez RP, Ancheta NO, Cabrera JA. Esquizofrenia. Estudio ultraestructural del sistema límbico. Hallazgos en el núcleo amigdalino. Rev Hosp Psiq Habana 1978; 19: 197-225.

4. Wierzba-Bobrowicz T, Lewandowska E, Kosno-Kruszewska E, Lechowicz W, Pasennik E, Schmidt-Sidor B. Degeneration of microglial cells in frontal and temporal lobes of chronic schizophrenics. Folia Neuropathol 2004; 42: 157-65.

5. Ong WY, Garey LJ. Ultrastructural features of biopsied temporopolar cortex (area 38) in a case of schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 1993; 10: 15-27.

6. Mesa CS. Schizophrenia. Electron microscopy studies. Published in Educational Material. World Psychiatric Association. Available at http://www.wpanet.org/sectorial/edu14-3.html, June, 2004.

7. Xalabarder C. Abnormal thrombocytes in schizophrenia: electron microscopy observation. Agressologie 1973; 14: 275-279.

8. Kessler A, Shinitzky M, Kessler B. Number of platelet dense granules varies with age, schizophrenia and dementia. Dementia 1995; 6: 330-3.

9. Mesa CS. Schizophrenia: cytopathological diagnosis valuation scale. Carib Med J 1998; 60: 29-32.

10. Mesa CS. Inoculación de embriones de pollo con líquido céfalo-raquídeo de pacientes esquizofrénicos. Estudio inmuno-electromicroscópico. WPA Educational Section. Available at http://www.wpanet.org/education/wpaeln3.html, Mayo, 2005.

11. Stone I. The Healing Factor: Vitamin C against Disease. Grosset and Dunlap, New York, 1972.

12. Pauling L: How to Live Longer and Feel Better. New York: W. H. Freeman, 1986.

13. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1384841/new_developments_in_schizophrenia_research.html

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

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

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

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

18. TORREY, E.F.: Functional Psychoses and Viral Encephalitis. Integr. Psychiatry, 4: 224-36, 1986.

19. LIBIKOVA, H.: Schizophrenia and Viruses: Principles of Etiologic Studies. Adv. Biol. Psychiat, 12: 20-51, 1983.

20. BAKER, H.F., BLOXHAM, C.A. CROW T.J., ET AL: The Viral Hypothesis: Some Experimental Approaches. Adv. Biol. Psychiat., 12: 1-19, 1983.

21. MESA CASTILLO, S., GONZALEZ, E., PEREZ, J.L., ET AL: Análisis digital de las imágenes obtenidas por inmuno-electromicroscopía en cerebros de pacientes psicóticos, en su descendencia y en animales experimentalmente inoculados. Primeros resultados (Digital Analysis of the Images obtained by Immunoelectronmicroscopy of the Brains of Psychotic Patients, their Offspring and Animals Inoculated Experimentally. Initial Results). Rev. Hosp. Psiq. Habana, 30: 343-48, 1989.

22. YOLKEN, R.H., TORREY, E.F.: Viruses, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. Clin. Microb. Review, 1: 131-45, 1995.

23. MESA CASTILLO, S.: Presencia dc macrófagos y estructuras semejantes a episomas en la sangre periférica de pacientes psicóticos (Presence of Macrophages and Structures Similar to Episomes in the Peripheral Blood of Psychotic Patients). Rev. Med. de Oriente, Venezuela. 4: 4-6, 1994.

24. MESA CASTILLO, S.: Schizophrenia. Agglutination Test (II). 9th World Congress of Psychiatry. June 6-12, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Abstracts. Session 56. New Research. p. 77, 1993.

25. DELISI, L.E., GOLDIN, L.R., NURNBERGER, J.I., ET AL: Failure to Alleviate Symptoms of Schizophrenia with the Novel Use of an Antiviral Agent, Acyclovir (Zovirax). Biol. Psychiatry, 22(2); 216-20, 1987.

26. MESA CASTILLO, S.: A transcultural study between schizophrenic and control population of Cuba and Spain. WPA Educational Section available at http://www.wpanet.org/education/docs/atranscultural.doc, May, 2005.

27. Mesa Castillo, S. "Schizophrenia: Cytopathological Diagnosis Valuation Scale". Proceedings of the IV Symposium on the Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia. 10-13 November 1998, Guarujá, São Paulo. Brazil.

28. Mesa Castillo, S. Schizophrenia: Cytopathological Diagnosis Valuation Scale". Caribbean Medical Journal, Vol. 60 Nº 3 & 4, 1998.