Dopamine and the Left Brain

In dopamine primers 1 and 2, I introduced this useful neurotransmitter and key to the thinking style of humanity. Today we'll go over the different neurotransmitters on the different sides of the brain, and why that matters.Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that is not only responsible for modulating a lot of our physical movement, but also sex, aggression,...

Read More..

Acne, Depression, Omega 3, Vitamins, and Minerals

In 2008 some folks from a Beverly Hills skin clinic wrote up a short paper in Lipids in Health and Disease called Acne vulgaris, mental health and omega-3 fatty acids: a report of cases (free full text). The experiment itself was an open-label trial of a mineral/omega-3 supplement on five patients, so useful only as a reason to do further research. But a lot of interesting science tidbits on acne,...

Read More..

Happy Thanksgiving! Chow Down on Dopamine Primer 2

Hope you are having a great time on your Turkey Day (assuming you celebrate it as the majority of my blog readership does). I baked a paleo pumpkin pie last night, and today I'll make (and eat) the crab stuffed mushrooms (finally, a use for the oregano plant we mostly killed in the fall) from the same Everyday Paleo page. We're having our turkey (I'm...

Read More..

Depression and Diabetes, Together Again

Waaay back in June I wrote up Depression 1, which referenced a few of the studies linking depressive disorders to metabolic syndrome and diabetes.  Today a new study came out from some of our favorite epidemiologists, Frank Hu and crew.  Dr. Hu actually wrote an editorial questioning the wisdom of population-wide nutritional advice that resulted in replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates. ...

Read More..

Dopamine Primer

Hi! Tonight a quick basic post for some necessary background. I will try to make it as painless as possible. But we need to examine dopamine more closely. Why? Well, dopamine may well be the secret to what makes us human. Meaning awfully bright, able to plan ahead, and resist impulses when necessary. What is dopamine? It's a neurotransmitter. It controls...

Read More..

Cleaning Up

In lieu of a new and interesting post, something possessed me to organize the place this morning. So up on the right there I now have some more advanced disclaimers and a brand new site map. It's not finished yet (right now I only have the first three months up, I'm updated now - might be some fun reading for those of you newer to the site) and not pretty (a graphic designer I am not, and blogger...

Read More..

The Wild and Compelling Theory that Alzheimer's Dementia is Caused by Infectious Disease

As you recall, Alzheimer's Disease is a slowly progressive illness of neuronal degeneration.  The cardinal symptoms are cognitive impairment and memory loss, but the condition eventually leads to death.  I've dedicated many posts to Alzheimer's, which is a reflection of the amount of research out there.  And for today's post, I'm going to begin with a nice review article from 2008,...

Read More..

Thursday Already?

It has been a nutty week. And right now I'm cooking steak, and the 18 month old won't let me put her down. But a few things have caught my attention:Epilepsy's Big, Fat Miracle A New York Times article about a parent with a kid on a ketogenic diet for epilepsy. Makes ketogenic diets sound completely bonkers, yet effective. I suppose that is the story of my blog.The 32-year relationship between...

Read More..

Selenium and Depression

The good news about selenium and the brain is that one can become familiar with the literature with full institutional access to pubmed and an hour or so of reading time. The bad news is that the mechanisms of selenium and the brain are rather Mysterious, so all we have are a few papers, some micronutrient supplementation, and some speculation.All...

Read More..

Selenium!

Some of my most popular posts are about the minerals (exclamation point) and I'm guessing this one will be no exception. My least popular/commented upon posts are about ADHD. Not sure why. ADHD is way more common than say, schizophrenia. But I will give my readers what they want! Even though I don't get paid for the blog. Something is wrong with my business model here. I need to be more like those...

Read More..

Acne and Suicide

There have been many reports on acne, depression, and suicide over the years, mostly because a primary treatment for severe acne, isotretinoin (accutane), is known to increase the risk of depression and suicide. However, a new paper in the British Medical Journal, Association of suicide attemps with acne and treatment with isotretinoin: retrospective Swedish cohort study adds a new twist.The researchers...

Read More..

ADHD and Obesity

Make a guess - are people with ADHD more likely to be obese or skinny?I would have thought skinny, just on first hunch.  Calories in = calories out, right?  And a lot of folks with ADHD are very fidgety!  Never sit still.I was wrong.  There are actually a number of studies linking ADHD to childhood and adulthood obesity.  Another very large study came out a week or so ago...

Read More..

Primal Muse Podcast!

Very excited to announce Jamie Scott's podcast over on Carbohydrates Can Kill.  I think the turning point happened when he realized that it would be incredibly difficult to burn off 5g per kg of recommended athlete carbohydrate intake per day and still keep a day job.  Best, I think, to eat like a human, not a hummingbird, when it comes down to it.  Great intervi...

Read More..

Antidepressants and Weight Gain or Loss

My focus in this blog is not on the standard medical treatments.  You can come see me in clinic or go to your own psychiatrist for that.  However, an exploration of antidepressants and weight gain can give us some insight into the processes of obesity and the brain, so I will dive on in.  It is a more complicated subject than you might expect, as the mechanisms aren't always clear,...

Read More..

Coenzyme Q10 and Parkinson's

In yesterday's post, I discussed some of the evidence that Parkinson's disease is possibly caused by defects in the energy efficiency of the mitochondria of susceptible (and poisoned) individuals.  I don't mean to do a whole Parkinson's series or anything, but the post did bring up some interesting questions. We already know that a ketogenic metabolism seems to increase energy efficiency...

Read More..

Brain Efficiency

I should preface this post with another post.  If you have a minute and you don't mind, have a look at Your Brain on Ketones.  The down low is that, for various reasons, a ketogenic diet (very low carb and high fat, or moderately low carb and high medium chain triglyceride, such as coconut oil), seems to allow our mitochondria (the cells'...

Read More..

Depression, Flu, and To Do

Why not a song to start? Right click in new tab if you want to hear it - alternative rock and peppy! Pumped up Kicks by Foster the People.When I started this blog way back in June, I was worried about a lack of material. Paleo psychiatry? There's no data, I thought, or nothing solid enough worth writing about. Not a single controlled trial of any diet intervention (other than omega 3 pills or...

Read More..

Omega 3 - Not the Cure for Alzheimer's (Again)

Another quick one - into my email this morning came this link:Another study of Alzheimer's Disease and Omega 3 fatty acids. (That link goes to JAMA "free" full text article published this week but I had to watch a Vytorin add for a minute). 400 some-odd elders with mild to moderate dementia were randomized to 2 grams of algal DHA daily or placebo for 18 months. They were followed with a bunch of...

Read More..

ADHD and Mom's Serotonin Deficiency

A quickie post today on this study from October's Archives of General Psychiatry, "Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Offspring of Mothers With Impaired Serotonin Production."If you haven't noticed, I like to be somewhat hardcore about the biology of what is going on.  I use psychology all the time in my work, but psychology takes so much explaining that I don't write about...

Read More..