Can an Antibiotic Fight Schizophrenia?

BEFORE I GET INTO The BLOG, I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND OUR READERS THAT The RECOVERY BLOG IS MOVING TO A NEW LOCATION: OUR BLOG WILL CONTINUE FROM OUR NEW HOME:  http://www.mhcd.org/blog That is what this article says that maybe it can lead to a new discovery for this type of antibiotic. “Five years ago, a Japanese psychiatrist and his colleagues observed something peculiar regarding two schizophrenia patients. One was a 23-year old man who had been hospitalized for a first episode of schizophrenia. While in the hospital he developed a severe case of pneumonia, which was treated with the antibiotic minocycline. Two weeks later, his schizophrenia symptoms resolved along with his pneumonia.” Is it only this type of antibiotic or is it all of them? This was this man’s first episode so I wonder if that has something to do with it also.
The article says there was a second person: “The other was a 61-year old man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 20. During his most recent hospitalization for it, he developed a bedsore that was treated with minocycline. Two weeks later, the bedsore healed, and minocycline was discontinued. The patient’s schizophrenia symptoms worsened. Minocycline was resumed; within three days, the patient’s schizophrenia symptoms improved.” It has nothing to do with just the first time so this is pretty exciting news. Of course they will need more research. Although something made it work twice.
The article goes on to say: “I was surprised by these developments,’ the psychiatrist-Tsuyoshi Miyaoka, M.D., an associate professor of psychiatry at Japan’s Shimane University School of Medicine- told Psychiatric News. ‘Could minocycline have antipsychotic properties? I wondered.” It must be just this one antibiotic. I only take antibiotics when I get a sinus infection at least twice a year. I never feel different except I am sick. Maybe this one antibiotic does have antipsychotic properties.
In the article they go on to talk about how they gave this antibiotic to patients who had severe schizophrenia and it worked even one stayed out in the community. It even helps with negative symptoms and a lot of schizophrenia patients hate those negative symptoms they cannot get rid of. “So what about this antibiotic is leading to hope that it can be a weapon against schizophrenia, and especially the usually intractable negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of the illness? ‘We don’t really know for sure,’ Kelly acknowledged. ‘But minocycline is known to be capable of countering inflammation and of crossing the blood-barrier into the brain, and there is growing evidence that inflammation might play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. So minocycline might be able to counter schizophrenia by countering inflammation in the brain.” It is just this antibiotic. To help with negative symptoms would be an improvement in the fight of schizophrenia.
They are not stopping here there are more randomized trials going on to see if this really works. “Since all [experimental drugs for negative symptoms or cognitive deficits in schizophrenia] have failed to date, you’ve got to bet that the next one will fail as well… ‘But…if minocycline has efficacy for negative symptoms, cognitive impairment, or both, that would be terrific…and transformative for the field.” A person can only hope that it will bring relief to those that have negative symptoms. A last word from the doctor that found this antibiotic property: “From our experience and clinical research, I believe that minocycline will turn out to be a truly revolutionary treatment for schizophrenia,’ Miyaoka declared.” A lot of things are found out by accident we can only hope this is one of them.  Please do not try and get an infection.  Please wait till they find out if it works or not. JUST A REMINDER THAT THE RECOVERY BLOG IS MOVING TO A NEW ADDRESS: OUR NEW HOME IS: http://mhcd.org/blog

Mental Illness

I came across this article on the web this week. It is titled “The beginnings of mental illness” it talks about what they believe causes mental illness such as schizophrenia. “Schizophrenia, for example, is often thought as a genetic disorder. But environmental factors can also boost risk-sometimes considerably.” It goes on to talk how stress is involved in mental illness. I believe it might have a lot to do with stress.
They go on and talk about why they think stress and inflammation caused by the stress has something to do with mental illness. “Inflammation is a key part of the stress response. It has also been linked to a variety of bodily ills, from diabetes and heart disease to depression and Alzheimer’s disease. I see inflammation as one of the chief evils in mammalian biology, Pace says.” It has so much to do with other diseases. It should be considered also in bringing about mental illness.
One of my triggers for mental illness is anger. That is what brought on my mental illness the first time. It was the angriest I had ever been. I thought at the time that the prison officials were doing be wrong. I just remember being taken to the hole in prison and I was just angry and they locked me in the hole and that is the last I remember until I woke up on another tier after my time in the hole was done. One of the guards that wrote me up for gambling in the first place said he did not write me up because of me. He said he did because he was scared I would get hurt.
At the time I did not understand I was just angry at the fact that I was going to the hole and going to have to start my time at the beginning of prison and work by way back all the way to the place I was at in the prison system there. I was at the top of the prison system where you could wear street clothes.
Later when I thought about the guard was right he knew me and everything else that was going on at that time made me make the wrong decisions that I did. I cannot change what happened. Although it was the right time to bring this mental illness on me or I would not have made the changes I did in my life if it would have happened at a later time in my life.
Stress brings on so much in our lives that is not good. I believe that this article for me explains a little of what havoc stress can play.