Depression and Brain Injury

#0002
 Herb Discovery Newsletter 2-2-10 (February 2d week 2010)


I am not a doctor or health expert and do not recommend or prescribe, just collect scientific research so you can make a more informed decision based on scientific facts. You must accept responsibility to study the linked reports as well as other reports, then consult with you health professionals before changing or treating any health condition. This newsletter and Herb-Discovery web site is for education only.

Recently I discovered some fascinating information about the brain to go along with what I already had. I hope it will be as interesting to you as well. Did you know brain injuries can cause OCD, depression and many unsocial behaviors? Did you know that oxidative stress is reported to cause brain injury?

There are several aspects of the brain that few are aware of and not knowing these facts leads us to wrong treatments and the false assumption that our thoughts are the only cause of depression.

Depression can be the result of numerous diseases with little or nothing to do with our thoughts. This is in contrast to the popular beliefs that depression is strictly the result of thoughts. It does not mean thoughts cannot cause depression, it means that depression is a proven symptom of many diseases, allergies, chemical reactions, injuries and even oxidative stress.

We have all seen the new depression drug ads that state only a small percentage of people are responding to present drugs. Then they promote adding a new drug to the existing ones. The problem is that the new drug is reported to treat the same chemistry problem. There are numerous chemical causes of depression and it is reported that none of the existing dugs may treat more than one or two of the many chemical causes. This is proven by the ads and other research that claim only a fraction of people are being helped with present depression drug therapy.

To make this condition much worse few realize that other diseases cause depression and treating these diseases may eliminate depression.

Another sad consequence is that many OCB "Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors" are caused by brain chemistry or injury problems. Instead of these people being offered solutions they are ostracized and penalized by our justice system. Food additives such as aspartame and others contribute to these problems. see Hyper Sexuality - Obsessive Compulsive Behavior and Caffeine for just a few causes.

Oxidative Stress reported to cause depression: See Qizhu Tang PMID: 11379780 and Shengmai San "...formulation for treating cardiac disorders, inhibited cerebral oxidative damage." PMID: 14587874,  PMID: 12132665

Celiac Disease and IB "Irritable Bowel" or Malabsorbson reported to cause depression: "CONCLUSION: Our results shown that anxiety is present as a reactive form and personality trait anxiety has no effect in celiac and IBD patients. With regard to depression, our data confirm a possible link between brain functions and malabsorption." http://www.celiac.com/articles/630/1/Depression-and-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html

See our page on Depression and each of the items below for research reports to substantuate the statements in this newsletter that depression is not just our thoughts.

  • Aluminum Toxicity Did you know aluminum is in public treated water? It is reported to be the number one cause of alzheimer's disease according to many researchers. If you want to get healthy you may need to consider purified water that removes aluminum and other harmful toxins. Water
  • Aspartame A food additive that is one of the greatest and most dangerous hoaxes causing depression and many problems yet undiscovered. If you want to get rid of depression and are drinking diet sodas or any diet food with this additive you must first stop using it before any other treatment may work!!! The more research I collect the more I realize getting better health means first eliminate things that cause it. No amount of drugs or herbs can fully overcome the harm caused by things like aspartame.
  • Brain Fog
  • Brain Injury
  • Brain Swelling
  • Caffeine Consider removing this from your diet, it upsets the hormone balance in the brain.
  • Celiac Disease When I went on a celiac diet 90% of my former depression left. If I inadvertently eat any gluten, two days later I will be almost suicidal. Dr. Mark Hyman claims 30% of european descendants have celiac disease and do not know it.
  • Copper Copper is grossly misunderstood and is in almost every multi vitamin supplement. For many who suffer from autoimmune problems copper is very harmful. It can cause brain swelling, headaches and depression symptoms for those who cannot tolerate it. It is unfortunate that many who are taking multi vitamins to get healthier are unaware they may be increasing their problems.
  • Digestion and Gut Problems Reported to be the major cause of depression Heal the gut. "The Ultra Mind Solution" by Dr. Mark Hyman
  • Metallothionein If this protein in the body is not in its proper balance one may not be able to eliminate heavy metals
  • Heavy Metals This item is often overlooked in treating depression and the brain
  • Immune System
  • Lyme Disease
  • Metabolic Stress
  • Selenium Deficiency
  • Serotonin"low" This can be low due to caffeine and high dopamine.
  • Zinc deficiency
  • Brain Injury,concussions and strokes
  • Fungus See Iodine - Candida
  • Candida
  • Oxidative stress

Some researchers report the brain can be healed!! Few in the medical community recognize that herbs can heal the brain. In fact few realize any organ can be healed. This is one of the many reasons I have built Herb-Discovery web site. There are herbs that have scientific research stating they can repair or heal organs. See our page on the liver for an examle.

Below are some herbs reported to aid in treating depression. I have not completed research on the items that are black and offer them for your consideration. I have been working on using most of these herbs on myself and find that one or two such as St, John's Wort by its self is not enough for me. Blue items contain research reports. Do your own research by typing an herb into a search engine such as google. I welcome volunteers to help collect research.

St. Johns Wort
DHEA
GABBA
5-HTP
Selenium Almost everyone in the all the fields are missing the importance of the correct form of selenium. Researches and doctors report it is toxic at 400 icu but few recognize that is only for the mineral version. Researchers report the vegetable or organic version of selenium does not work until it reaches 800 icu and has been tested up to 1,200 icu.
Zinc Researchers report we may have plenty of zinc but that it does not absorb unless we have sufficient selenium. This makes the correct version or vegetable version of selenium much more important.
Valerian Root Tea
Passion Flower
Ginko Biloba
Meadow Sweet
Rosemary
Rhodiola Rosea
Valerian Root
Kava Kava
Melatonin
Mormon Tea (Also called; Brigham Tea, Cowboy Tea, Whorehouse Tea, Squaw Tea, Canyon Teawhore's tea) may help produce CRH. CRH is reported to be the most important hormone in the body to regulate the mind and the whole body. Ephedra is better but the FDA has banned its sale in the US.
Phosphatidylserine
SAMe

I hope this information gives greater hope for anyone who has depression or brain injuries. The first step in any health condition is first discover what may be causing it, then eliminate it from our diet or treat it. Too often we look at a disease as a stand alone disease when it may be interconnected to other diseases, oxidative stress, diet, allergies or exposure to chemicals and even food additives.

Joe Holmes