Depression

The “battery” of the cell, the mitochondria, is crucial to good health. However, when mitochondrial function is compromised, it can lead to a host of health issues, ranging from neurodegenerative disorders to cardiovascular diseases. Understanding the intricate relationship between mitochondrial health and overall well-being is essential, particularly when it comes to brain and eye health. What roles do mitochondria play in memory, cognition, and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease? How do chronic stress and oxidative stress impact mitochondrial function? Do certain nutrients and dietary habits support these vital organelles? Can exercises help to maintain optimal mitochondrial health and, therefore, overall health?
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Exposure to electromagnetic fields has been considered a potential contributor or cause to many chronic illnesses for about 20 years.  What is becoming more apparent is that EMF pollution when combined with toxins and poor diet makes chronic disease more likely.

• Toxins are found in foods, the environment, and prescription drugs.
• Poor diet (standard western diet) is comprised of mostly carbohydrates, too much sugar, too much fat, and foods contaminated by pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

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A pilot study has found that for patients who were not responding well to depression medication, adding the over-the-counter supplement S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) improved their condition. The research appeared in the April 2015 edition of Advances in Integrative Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal.

About 40% of depressed patients who take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have mixed results, and 30% have poor results. SSRI is a standard pharmaceutical treatment for clinical depression, and the medication can have side effects
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 Homocysteine is an amino acid that can be measured with a simple blood test. The study, which appeared in the Journal of Affective Disorders in August 2013, studied 358 people aged 50 and up who had symptoms of depression.

They gave the subjects cognitive tests that looked at immediate and delayed memory, as well as global cognitive performance. They measured
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There is no cure for the degenerative brain disease called Alzheimer’s, and current conventional treatments have a limited effect. However, research into a drug used to treat skin cancer may show “stunning” potential to help with Alzheimer’s disease.

The drug is called bexarotene. So far, the experiments have only been done on mice. The research was done at Case Western Reserve University.

Alzheimer’s occurs in older people, and symptoms include a pattern of forgetfulness, disorientation,  misplacing things, short attention span, difficulty in performing routine tasks, poor judgment, language problems, problems with thinking, depression, irritability, paranoia, hostility, and lack of initiative. It is also called “Elderly Dementia.”
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A recent study showed that bipolar children spend less time making eye contact with people – looking at their eyes – versus typical children. Instead of looking at the eyes, bipolar children and children with severe mood dysregulation in the study spent less time looking at the eyes when observing faces. Instead, they spent more time with their eyes on the mouth and nose.

U.S. National Institute of Mental Health investigators suggested the eye contact habits of bipolar children as a possible explanation why these children have trouble determining  how other people feel.
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There is more evidence supporting the power of the mind-body connection.

A new study finds that depression can cause an increase in the pain associated with arthritis of the knee.

A study in South Korea of 660 men and women over age 65 suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees were evaluated using X-rays.  They were also screened for depression.  Those with joint damage were more likely to report high levels of pain, which one would expect.  Researchers also discovered, however, that people with depression who seemed to have mild cases of arthritis based on the X-rays had much higher levels of reported pain.
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