It is common sense to take a method and try it.
If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.
But above all, try something. (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
Introduction
Tom Cruise, a Scientologist, has called psychiatry “pseudoscience”. This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black because Scientology is the real pseudoscience. This is not to say that psychiatry is perfect. It isn’t. There is some pseudoscience in psychiatry, but it isn’t all pseudoscience.
Amphetamine
“It’s known that amphetamine psychosis can’t be distinguished from schizophrenia (7,8).” Ruth Whalen (from the article CAFFEINE ALLERGY: Past Disorder or Present Epidemic?)
Her Ref. 7 and Ref. 8 are my Ref. 1 and 2.
Tryptophan and Stress
Altered tryptophan metabolism has been reported as a result of stress (3). The kynurenine levels were increased in various parts of the brain including the prefrontal cortex. Kynurenine is the main metabolite of tryptophan. Serotonin metabolism was also altered.
This report confirmed previous work (4) by the Japanese group. The group is from the
Department of Psychiatry, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan. [email protected]
Cuban Research
Some very interesting and controversial work has been done in Havana, Cuba by Dr. Segundo Mesa Castillo and his colleagues. Dr. Castillo is bilingual and publishes in both Spanish and English (5). Castillo and his colleagues have studied this subject for 33 years! They have used the electron microscope to study the brains and platelets of schizophrenics. They have reported many positive findings.
They reported nuclear bodies, membrane alterations and particles. Much of this work was done on brains of dead patients.
The Cuban group reported a virus in schizophrenia (6). In 1988 they demonstrated an unknown toxic factor in the cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenics (7). They considered this to be support for their virus theory. This does indeed support the virus theory, but it could also represent a metabolic toxin, which is my own theory and was that of Kraepelin and many others including Jung.
The very controversial Dr. E. Fuller Torrey has supported the virus theory (8).
Much of Dr. Castillo’s work is available for free online at the World Psychiatric Association website (9), which is outstanding.
British Work on the Virus Theory
A British group found an “agent” in the cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenics and patients with Huntington’s chorea. They attempted to prove that the “agent” was a virus, but all tests for a virus failed except for a cytopathic effect in tissue cultures. The agent was toxic, but it appeared to be a metabolic toxin (10). Unfortunately they were unable to identify this toxin. They seemed to give up on it because the results didn’t come out the way they wanted them to.
Conclusions
Dr. Castillo never gave up on his theory, as many have done in this controversial area of work. Ref. 11 and 12 are articles by him in Spanish.
Refs. 13-18 show brain tissue loss in schizophrenia. Enlarged ventricles are due to tissue loss in nearby structures. This supports the virus theory, but it also supports the metabolic toxin theory. It also could represent a medication artifact. SInce hydrocephalus has been observed long before the drugs were invented, the medication theory, favored by Breggin, probably is not the explanation.
The tryptophan theories are explained in Ref. 19, which is my main website. Since tryptophan is found in the diet, nutritional treatments are suggested. A metabolic toxin may cause tryptophan to flood the brain cells and possibly also peripheral cells. The metabolic toxin may be related to stress.
References
1. Arieti, Silvano. Interpretation of Schizophrenia. New York: Basic Books, Inc. 1974.
2. Lukas, Scott. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs: Amphetamines: Danger in the Fast Lane. New York: Chelsea House. 1985.
3. Stress. 2011 Feb 6. [Epub ahead of print] Long-lasting effects of inescapable-predator stress on brain tryptophan metabolism and the behavior of juvenile mice. Miura H, Ando Y, Noda Y, Isobe K, Ozaki N.
4. Stress. 2008;11(2):160-9. Changes in brain tryptophan metabolism elicited by ageing, social environment, and psychological stress in mice. Miura H, Ozaki N, Shirokawa T, Isobe K.
5. 12º Congreso Virtual de Psiquiatría. Interpsiquis 2011
www.interpsiquis.com – Febrero-Marzo 2011
Psiquiatria.com
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Rev Hosp Psiq Habana 1979; 10: 725-36.
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Second World Conference on Viruses, Immunity and Mental Health. Mont Gabriel. Quebec 4-7
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http://www.wpanet.org/education/wpaeln3.html, Mayo, 2005, consulted 3/11/2010
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3/11/2010
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19. www.CraigOlson.bizhosting.com.
