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Photo by Sam Owoyemi on Unsplash Depression is a disorder that affects around 6.7% of adults in the United States each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 300 million people currently live with the disorder. This disorder is not a normal …
Turmeric is the herb that gives curry its major culinary characteristics. The turmeric root supplies many constituents related to ongoing good health; curcuminoids and essential oils often referred to generically as curcumin. Unfortunately these constituents are difficult to absorb. BioCurcumin is an extremely well absorbed …
Healthy gut microbiota and bacteria helps digest food, fight infection, and plays an important role in keeping the immune system healthy. It is influenced by genetics, but more so by diet, stress and other environmental factors. Numerous studies have investigated the claim that intestinal bacteria can affect behavior. However, a new study has made a discovery regarding the link between intestinal bacteria and depression.
Published in Nature Communications, the study explores the role of intestinal microbiota in the altered behavior brought on by early-life stress. Premysl Bercik, senior author of Nature Communications and associate professor of medicine at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine explains, “We have shown for the first time in an established mouse model of anxiety and depression that bacteria plays a crucial role in inducing this abnormal behavior. But it’s not only bacteria, it’s the altered bi-directional communication between the stressed hosts [in this case mice subjected to early-life stress] and its microbiota that leads to anxiety and depression, which is leading many to look to professionals on how they can reduce these conditions.”
First, researchers subjected the mice to early-life stress using maternal separation during an 18 day period. Newborn mice were separated from their mothers for three hours a day to induce stress, then rejoined them. Bercik and his team then confirmed that mice containing complex microbiota (that had been maternally separated) displayed “anxiety and depression-like behavior with abnormal levels of the stress hormone corticosterone.” The test was repeated in germ-free conditions and found there was an absence of bacteria in the mice that were maternally separated but showed no sign of anxiety or depression. Mice that has been separated in germ-free environments, were exposed to bacteria and within several weeks, tests shows the bacterial composition and metabolic activity had changed. The mice then started exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Bercik says that with this new research, “We are starting to explain the complex mechanisms of interaction and dynamics between gut microbiota and its host. Our data shows that relatively minor changes in microbiota profiles or its metabolic activity induced by neonatal stress can have profound effects on host behavior in adulthood.” The next step, Bercik says, is conducting this experiment on humans.
This research suggests that keeping your intestinal bacteria healthy could help if you struggle with mental health problems like anxiety and depression. Of course, until it has been tested on humans, we cannot say for certain.
Levels of probiotics tend to decrease with age and are lowered by other factors including poor diet and obesity. As the level of probiotics decrease, problematic bacteria in the gut generally thrive and increase. According to Archana Gogna, MS, CNS, MBA, healthy bacteria have been studied in numerous clinical trials and have been shown to –
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/
A major focus of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month is “mindfulness”, which means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and present environment. Mindfulness also entails tuning into current emotions without judgment of whether they are “right” or “wrong” in the present …
Photo by Mitch Lensink on Unsplash Bullying today is more than just name-calling on the playground. With the advancement of technology, bullying has been taken off of the playground and brought into your home. Generally, factors such as teasing, exclusion, rumors, public shaming and intimidation …
An international group of researchers found that no matter what the other factors may be, childhood abuse is the top cause of depression later in life. Those who suffer an abusive childhood are far more likely to be diagnosed with clinical depression, and the risk increases if other factors are involved, such as genetic predisposition. The results of this study were recently published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.
Genetic testing over a three year period showed that study participants who displayed a low functioning BDNF gene (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), along with low serotonin transmission, were deeply sensitive to the impact of child abuse – much more so than the average individual, though most of us tend to feel the same about this issue. This heightened sensitivity remained present whether the abuse was psychological, physical or sexual.
Low BDNF function and decreased serotonin levels are both generally present in those with depression, whether they have been abused or not. But this genetic activity, when combined with the damaging psychological impact of an abusive childhood, causes the risk of clinical depression to skyrocket.
Blanca Gutiérrez, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Granada, says that these findings are significant when it comes to developing new, more effective treatment for depression.
Source: Yahoo Health