Noticed this headline online – and although reallise it is important to be cautious and not get excited at the possibility that new research may lead to a breakthrough in the treatment of schizophrenia – nevertheless it is nice to have hope.
Remember hearing and reading about the impact of glutamic acid, a neurotransmitter in the brain which is a thousand times more abundant in the brain then dopamine or serotonin, at a conference to do with healthy eating in London run by Patrick Holford.
At this meeting there were many very emminent people discussing a possible link between a leaky gut and autism and possibly schizophrenia. Came home this day with a book “Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and other common mental disorders” by Eva Edelman and think a way forward could be better nutrition. Well – it cant do any harm.
Looking about online – Patrick Holford has his detractors and it is important to look at things from several points of view – but the new research mentioned below, in its early days, is coming from University College London (UCL) and is focused on genes. The headlines in last day or two:
“A rare gene variant discovered by UCL scientists is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and alcoholism, confirms new research.”
“At present, schizophrenia is treated with drugs that reduce the activity of the chemical dopamine. Dopamine is important for transmitting messages between brain cells, but over-active dopamine signalling may cause parts of the brain that are supposed to be separate to communicate with each other”
“Yet dopamine is not the only chemical that brain cells use to communicate with each other. Glutamate is also involved and GRM3 codes for a protein which brain cells use to detect glutamate. Brain cell activation is controlled by calcium ‘channels’. The latest research implicates both glutamate transmission and calcium channels in schizophrenia development”
sunnypolarbear 