Posted by klein on May 1, 2014, at 0:41:23
In reply to Re: relapse and brain damage, posted by linkadge on April 30, 2014, at 16:15:09
> Depressive episodes, for instance, are associated with elevate whole brain glutamate levels.
>
> It could be that lowering glutamate, is an effective strategy to prevent depression induced brain alterations.
>
> LinkadgeHey Linkadge, right on! This one is a classic:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701287/
"(blahblah) These findings resonate with research in depressed patients, which indicates that these individuals have an overactive HPA axis and abnormal brain glutamatergic levels"
And apparently tianeptine reverses and even prevents stress-induced damage to the hippocampus and regulates glutamate levels as you mentioned:
"We conclude with a discussion of findings which indicate that tianeptine accomplishes its anti-stress effects by normalizing stress-induced increases in glutamate in the hippocampus and amygdala."
They also blast SSRIs:
"Daily administration of tianeptine blocks the chronic stress-induced reduction of hippocampal volume, as well as the retraction of CA3 (neurons) dendrites in the hippocampus. In contrast, the SSRIs fluoxetine and fluvoxamine were ineffective in preventing the stress-induced changes in CA3 morphology"
Tianeptine is one weird drug. Of course Big Pharma have the resources to brush away the drug which contradicts their inhibitor model.
Anyway, it does sound like ADs work in a roundabout way to stabilize the glutaminergic system (among other things I guess).
Fortunately the damage can be reversed with drugs and other stuff, such as exercise, proper nutrition, maybe even spiritual practice etc. But still, -reversible or not- sometimes I still struggle a lot to acccept that my seemingly endless depression is caused by a damaged brain.
poster:klein
thread:1064979
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140419/msgs/1065007.html