Soil Bacteria Might Help with Depression

There are a number of medications available these days for depression and researchers are continuously working on new pharmaceuticals all the time. Depression seems to be more pervasive in today's society than ever before, necessitating the need for new treatments all the time. Just as one medication is introduced, another soon follows, claiming to be better and more effective. Psychiatrists and therapists prescribe certain medications depending on their patient's symptoms or sensitivity and then have to monitor their patients carefully to make sure the medicine works. But what would happen if there was a more natural treatment available? Say, a microbe that lives in the soil.

Most people would prefer to use a natural treatment for an illness if they could, but homeopathic medicine isn't generally highly thought of and is dismissed as 'new age', but studies have found some surprising results from Mycobacterium vaccae. This bacteria had been tested on patients with cancer, but while it didn't do any harm, it also didn't provide a cure or extension of life. Although doctors decided not to continue using the microbe to treat cancer patients, they found that the patients reported that while taking the bacteria, they felt more energized and didn't experience as much pain. These results were interesting enough to make the researchers study its effects further.

Studies on mice have shown that mice treated with Mycobacterium vaccae were more likely to handle stressful situations, while untreated mice gave up sooner and accepted their situation. Scientists believe that the bacteria actually have a direct effect on the brain by stimulating nerves when they cause immune cells to release certain chemicals. The chemicals are called cytokines and they make the nerve cells of the brain release the mood altering serotonin. Studies on serotonin have indicated that decreased levels of serotonin might be the main cause of depression.

With the positive link between the Mycobaterium vaccae and depression, researchers have come up with the possibility that childhood exposure to bacteria is probably a good thing and may help with boosting the immune system in adulthood. Not only that, but it could also help with depression. It's interesting to think that there might be a link between the current increase of depression cases and how advertising bombards modern parents with the idea that they must keep their children out of the dirt, use antibacterial soaps and detergents and stay as clean as possible. Maybe a little dirt isn't so bad after