Biochemistry Week 11

Doctors prescribing placebos...

In the Western medical field I feel that prescriptions are given out way to easily, weather the patient is given a placebo or real drug. If someone is dealing with something like depression or anxiety and they go see a psychiatrist they will most likely be given something to take. The problem with this is only the symptom is being treated and not the cause. If a person is depressed there can be many reasons for it. They might have a real chemical imbalance in their brain or something very dramatic could have happened earlier in their life causing the depression. I think that the patient should receive other types of treatment for their alignment instead of a pill being the first option. We are taught in the U.S. to take pills to fix everything. I see a big problem with this. This makes people not take responsibility for their lives and their health.

Depression and Anti-depressants Project

Depression and anti-depressants

Depression affects 19 million people a year. One of the ways doctors treat depression is through prescribing anti-depressants. Anti-depressants are the 2^nd most prescribed drug in America.

Symptoms of depression

• Persistent sad, anxious or "empty" mood
• Sleeping too much or too little, middle of the night or early morning waking
• Reduced appetite and weight loss, or increased appetite and weight gain
• Loss of pleasure and interest in activities once enjoyed, including sex
• Restlessness, irritability
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment (such as chronic pain or digestive disorders)
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless
• Thoughts of suicide or death

Causes of depression

·       Biological - People with depression typically have too little or too much of certain brain chemicals, called "neurotransmitters."  Changes in these brain chemicals may cause or contribute to clinical depression.

·       Cognitive - People with negative thinking patterns and low self-esteem are more likely to develop clinical depression.

·       Gender - Women experience clinical depression at a rate that is nearly twice that of men.[3]  While the reasons for this are still unclear, they may include the hormonal changes women go through during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause.  Other reasons may include the stress caused by the multiple responsibilities that women have.

·       Co-occurrence - Clinical depression is more likely to occur along with certain illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and hormonal disorders.

·       Medications - Side effects of some medications can bring about depression.

·       Genetic - A family history of clinical depression increases the risk for developing the illness.

·       Situational - Difficult life events, including divorce, financial problems or the death of a loved one can contribute to clinical depression.

Side effects of anti-depressant medication

- agitation

- sexual dysfunction

- can be associated with movement disorders such as akathisia, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia (acute rigidity), dyskinesia (abnormal involuntary choreic movements) and tardive dyskiniesia

- upset stomach

- nausea

- HA

- fatigue

- tremor

- nervousness

- dry mouth

- insomnia

- weight gain

- improper bone development

- improper brain development

- gastrointestinal bleeding

- amotivational syndrome

 Doctors are prescribing additional medications to help control the side effects of the anti-depressant. For example:

            - ex. Prozac can cause agitation so a sedative might be prescribed with it

            - ex. If gastrointestinal bleeding occurs docs are prescribing acid-inhibiting drugs

            - these new drugs can cause side effects leading to the need for other drugs

Research

FDA admitted that “two to three children out of every hundred” could be expected to develop suicidal thoughts or actions as a result of antidepressant therapy (Harris 2004). The risk of suicide events for children receiving SSRIs has been three times higher than placebo. 2-4 times higher chance in adults then with placebo

In a study designed to investigate the anatomic effects of serotonergenic compounds, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University found that high-dose, short-term exposure to SSRIs in rats was sufficient to produce swelling and kinking in the serotonin nerve fibers (Kalia 2000). These side effect reversed after prolonged recovery period.

Research performed by a different team of investigators demonstrated a reduction in dendritic length and dendritic spine density, and in contrast to the previous study, these changes did not reverse even after a prolonged recovery period. The results were interpreted to suggest that chronic exposure to SSRIs may arrest the normal development of neurons.

Andrews et al. (2011), like El-Mallakh et al. (2011), stress what I had first described as compensatory mechanisms. SSRI antidepressants block the removal of serotonin from the synapses between neurons, in effect trying to flood these synapses with serotonin. Many studies confirm that the brain attempts to compensate for the impact of the SSRIs by reducing the brain's capacity to respond to serotonin. This leads to a loss of serotonin receptors that can reach 60 percent. Blockade of serotonin reuptake causes a potentially harmful adaptive response in the form of a persistent hypertrophy of the reuptake mechanism. Additional studies show persistent biochemical changes in the brain following exposure to SSRI antidepressants. 

In a meta-analysis of 46 studies, Andrews et al. (2011) found the relapse rate for antidepressant-treated patients (44.6 percent) was much higher than for placebo-treated patients (24.7 percent). Andrews also found that the more potent antidepressants caused an increased risk of relapse on drug discontinuation. A 2010 Minnesota evaluation of patient care in the state found that only 4.5 percent of more than 20,000 patients were in remission at 12 months, indicating that they had become chronically afflicted with depression during and probably as a result of their treatment.

Although many negative opinions have been stated, some people do have a serious chemical imbalance and need anti-depressants. In some studies anti-depressants did show to improve people’s lives. Anti-depressants have also not been linked to any serious diseases like cancer and heart disease. In my opinion people should seek counseling if they are having problems with depression. Working out also shows to have positive results with improving depression. I think if a person is trying to get help for depression without taking anti-depressants and their depression is not getting better then trying anti-depressants might be a good idea.

 Sources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc-4zhqViQ4 

http://chriskresser.com/the-dark-side-of-antidepressants

http://www.madinamerica.com/2012/09/things-your-doctor-should-tell-you-about-antidepressants/

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/depression

http://psychcentral.com/lib/side-effects-of-antidepressant-medications/000318

Week 9

1. I found the pH balance article to be interesting and useful. I was surprised about some of the things that were more alkaline like lemons. Again what this articles proves like many others that we have read this semester is that unrefined food are better for you. As the list got to more acidic the foods were more refined and had more sugar. It was also interesting that some of the foods that were more alkaline were sweeter. And that same food that was less sweet is more acidic. What I learned from this article once again is that I need to keep improving my diet. I need to keep incorporating more and more vegetables and fruits. This article does help show me some different things I might like to buy at the store.

2. The discussion on Tuesday had some good information. I think I got most of how to balance equations. But what I liked the most was learning further about pH. In school I have heard the reference to pH many times and it was nice to learn about it in a little bit more depth. The first pH article showed great importance of why we should try to keep our diets more on the alkaline side. We here a lot in society about diet and things like obesity, but we do not hear about the effects of our bodies becoming more acidic due to our diets. I did not know that one of the causes of osteoporosis was our body using calcium from our bones to try to compensate for a high acid state in our bodies. I also did not know that a acid pH can cause things like diabetes, lupus and RA. Now knowing this, I have yet another way to present to a patient or anyone why we should eat less refined and more greens and vegetables. Telling someone they are making their bodies pH more acidic might help them to want to eat healthier.

Week 8

1. Under my kitchen sink I found dish soap, dish washer detergent, whips, all purpose cleaner, stove cleaner, trash bags and spunges. The all purpose cleaner is an environment friendly cleaner. It is made from plant and minerals. Through looking at the products under my sink I am going to try to buy more environmental friendly items.


2.  The Mediterranean article was an article comparing a low fat intake diet versus the Mediterranean diet looking at cardiovascular risk. Studies showed that a low fat intake does lower cholesterol levels but it does not lower the incidence of heart attacks and coronary heart disease deaths. The mediterranean diet showed to be a more whole diet including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasta, fish and eating less meat. This diet showed to have better results in preventing cardiovascular disease. I think that this is a given. With a low-fat diet many times people are not eating the nutrients that their body needs. The mediterranean diet shows to be an all around healthy diet. The mediterranean diet also has a low intake of meat. Some studies have shown that eating high intakes of meat can be linked with cancer. So I found this interesting.

Week 7

1. The semiconductor that I chose is Silicon. Silicon has an atomic number of 14. 25.7% of the earth's crust is made of silicon. It is the second most abundant element on earth, oxygen being the first most abundant. Silicon is also present in the sun and starts . Silicon can be found largely as silicon oxide and in things such as quartz, agate, jasper and opal. It also can be found in minerals such as asbestos, clay and mica. Silicon is important for plant and animal life. Silicon can be found in steel.

2. I think that alchemy can fall under science, magic and art. When looking up the definition of alchemy the word magical was used saying, "any magical process of transmuting a common substance". Alchemy should be considered a type of science too. Alchemy can before chemistry and medicine and was big help in those fields developing. It also takes a lot of science to be able to transform substances. I see how people can see alchemy as art also. Transforming substances into other things can be considered an art to people.

3. I thought this weeks topic was very interesting. I did not know what alchemy was before. It is nice to learn where some of the roots of medicine and chemistry come from. I would like to hear a little more about alchemy in our Western society. But it seems that most of the time people are more into hearing hard scientific fact.