Alternative Medicine in Psychiatry

One of the reasons I favor alternative medicine in psychiatry is that there have been a number of reports of abnormal tryptophan metabolism in depression (1-7). Tryptophan is found in the diet. Much of this depression work was done by a British group led by Coppen & Wood. At that time depression was the fashionable diagnosis in the UK just as schizophrenia was in fashion in the US. If someone diagnosed as schizophrenic in the US went to England, they would have been diagnosed with depression.

"Plasma free tryptophan is significantly decreased in monopolar, depressed patients. No evidence was found to suggest that poor nutritional history prior to hospital admission was responsible for these low levels." Coppen A, Wood K. (1978)

The above quote is from Ref. 4. One possible explanation for this result is that an active transport error may be causing tryptophan to flood the cells (2). This could be some kind of emergency response, with depression being a perpetual state of emergency in the body and brain. In other words, the body may be trying to correct something that it thinks is wrong.

Tryptophan and Depression

The UK group thought that tryptophan was deficient, so they tried it as a therapy. Unfortunately this failed. For some reason they chose to ignore the data that they get from platelets (2), where tryptophan was flooding the cells. They seemed determined to show a deficiency of serotonin in depression, which was an old theory that has been proven wrong by postmortem studies. The old theory was based on the slight similarity in structure between serotonin and LSD. The theory was that serotonin should fight LSD.

The SSRI drug companies use the discredited serotonin theory in their advertizing. The SSRIs increase serotonin causing a disastrous side effect called the serotonin syndrome, which can even result in death.

Tryptophan and Schizophrenia

"Thus, elevated levels of KYNA have been found in the CSF as well as in the post-mortem brain of patients with schizophrenia." Erhardt S, Olsson SK, Engberg G.

These Swedish scientists are from the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm which awards the Nobel prizes in medicine. the quote is from Ref. 10. KYNA is a metabolite of tryptophan. This is an abbreviation for kynurenic acid.

"Increased levels of kynurenic acid (KYN-A), an endogenous NMDA receptor antagonist, resulting from disturbed tryptophan/kynurenine metabolism can explain psychotic symptoms and cognitive deterioration." Müller N.
Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Hospital for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Nussbaumstr 7, 80336 Munich, Germany

The above quote is from Ref. 11.

Postpartum Depression

"Low postpartal mood is associated with continuously low serum tryptophan after delivery due to an increased degradation to kynurenine, but is independent of the postpartal course of neopterin."

Kohl C, Walch T, Huber R, Kemmler G, Neurauter G, Fuchs D, Sölder E, Schröcksnadel H, Sperner-Unterweger B.

Department of Psychiatry, Innsbruck Medical University, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria

The above quote is from Ref. 15.

Alternative Medicine

My own articles on Associated Content have explained certain types of alternative medicine including orthomolecular medicine (16-20). These articles are available free full text at Associated Content. Ref. 1 could also be considered alternative medicine. I believe in those forms of alternative medicine, including "integrative medicine", that use nutrition. Herbalism uses plants, but they haven't used nutritional science.

Foxglove was an herb used to treat van Gogh, but it failed. Van Gogh shot himself to death in 1890. He was given the herb in an asylum in France.

Conclusions

The government spends massive amounts of money on healthcare, and a lot of it is on drugs. Riperidone goes for around $500 per bottle. Massive amounts of money could be saved with alternative medicine such as orthomolecular psychiatry. This approach is cheaper, safer, and more logical. If tryptophan is flooding the cells, then the logical treatment would be a diet low in tryptophan. This diet would save money because the most expensive foods are meats such as steak. Steak is high in tryptophan. The cheapest foods such as fruit, vegetables, and grains, are relatively low in tryptophan and healthier for your heart.

References

1. The biology of folate in depression: implications for nutritional hypotheses of the psychoses.

Abou-Saleh MT, Coppen A.

J Psychiatr Res. 1986;20(2):91-101. Review.

2. Tryptophan accumulation by blood platelets of depressed patients.

Wood K, Swade C, Coppen A.

J Neural Transm Suppl. 1979;(15):161-3.

3. Decreased tryptophan excretion by depressive patients.

Wood K, Harwood J, Swade C, Coppen A.

Clin Chim Acta. 1978 Aug 15;88(1):57-61.

4. Tryptophan and depressive illness.

Coppen A, Wood K.

Psychol Med. 1978 Feb;8(1):49-57.

5. Tryptophan in depression.

Coppen A, Wood K.

Scott Med J. 1978 Jan;23(1):75-6.

6. Relationship between mood disturbances and free and total plasma tryptophan in postpartum women.

Stein G, Milton F, Bebbington P, Wood K, Coppen A.

Br Med J. 1976 Aug 21;2(6033):457.

7. Tryptophan concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid of depressive patients.

Coppen A, Brooksbank BW, Peet M.

Lancet. 1972 Jun 24;1(7765):1393.

8. Abnormalities of indoleamines in affective disorders.

Coppen A, Prange AJ Jr, Whybrow PC, Noguera R.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1972 May;26(5):474-8.

9. CHANGES IN 5-HYDROXYTRYPTOPHAN METABOLISM IN DEPRESSION.

COPPEN A, SHAW DM, MALLESON A.

Br J Psychiatry. 1965 Jan;111:105-7.

10. Pharmacological manipulation of kynurenic acid: potential in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Erhardt S, Olsson SK, Engberg G.

CNS Drugs. 2009;23(2):91-101. doi: 10.2165/00023210-200923020-00001. Review.

11. Inflammation and the glutamate system in schizophrenia: implications for therapeutic targets and drug development.

Müller N.

Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2008 Dec;12(12):1497-507. Review.

12. Prepartum Depressive Symptoms Correlate Positively with C-Reactive Protein Levels and Negatively with Tryptophan Levels: A Preliminary Report
Debra A. Scrandis, Patricia Langenberg, Leonardo H. Tonelli, Tehmina M. Sheikh, Anita C. Manogura, Laura A. Alberico, Tracey Hermanstyne, Dietmar Fuchs, Hugh Mighty, Jeffrey D. Hasday, Kalina Boteva, and Teodor T. Postolache
Int J Child Health Hum Dev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2008 October 15.
PMCID: PMC2567806
Published in final edited form as: Int J Child Health Hum Dev. 2008 August; 1(2): 167-174.

13. Maes M, Verkerk R, Bonaccorso S, Ombelet W, Bosmans E, Scharpe S. Depressive and anxiety symptoms in the early puerperium are related to increased degradation of tryptophan into kynurenine, a phenomenon which is related to immune activation. Life Sci. 2002;71:1837-48.

14. Kling MA, Alesci S, Csako G, et al. Sustained low-grade pro-inflammatory state in unmedicated, remitted women with major depressive disorder as evidenced by elevated serum levels of the acute phase proteins C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A. Biol Psychiatry. 2007;62(4):309-13.

15. Kohl C, Walch T, Huber R, et al. Measurement of tryptophan, kynurenine and neopterin in women with and without postpartum blues. J Affect Disord. 2005;86:135-42.

16. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1728112/mental_illness_and_homelessness.html 17. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1698919/advances_in_biological_psychiatric.html 18. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680090/cuban_research_on_schizophrenia.html
19. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1680380/the_virus_theory_for_schizophrenia.html
20. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1676885/new_ideas_in_psychiatry.html