Category: Immune System

Moving on to the biological basis of behavior as an important rationale for a Public health approach to criminal justice

7/15/2021

With the recognition by the American Psychiatric Association Foundation that:

the largest institutions of people with psychiatric disorders are jails and prisons, AND
psychiatric disorders are NOT AS DISTINCT AS WE THOUGHT (that is, they are not as distinct as presented in the DSM 5)

WE'RE MOVING ON ---- to

The Biological Basis of Behavior as an important RATIONALE for a PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH to CRIMINAL JUSTICE
We're NOT DENYING the importance of Environmental Factors such as Trauma or Toxins --- BUT we are saying they have Biological Consequences.

The Study below gets to the need to focus on:

Multi-System explanations for Psychiatric Disorders, and
To hone in on MOLECULAR TARGETS, including IMMUNOLOGICAL, ENDOCRINE and METABOLIC TARGETS.

ON THE OTHER HAND, we know how FRAUGHT this is and how our current PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS are targeting the BRAIN GLOBALLY and having SIGNIFICANT UNENDED CONSEQUENCES for SOME PEOPLE while at the same time leaving many SYMPTOMS UNADDRESSED.

ART & SCIENCE were developed out of HUMAN NEED and that includes HUMAN EMOTIONAL NEED.

So I'm NOT suggesting leaving our CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS at the door when comes to either SCIENCE or SOFT THERAPIES we've developed because we didn't have anything else.

All of this must have a large dose of REALITY ---- especially with regard to COGNITIVE DISABILITIES involving Multiple Systems of the BODY and now affecting on some level --- 1/5 to 1/4 of the US Population and large percentages of the global population.

Stress, psychiatric disorders, molecular targets, and more (2019)

Affiliations

1Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States.
2Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
3Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States

Abstract

Mental health is central to normal health outcomes. A widely accepted theory is that chronic persistent stress during adulthood as well as during early life triggers onset of neuropsychiatric ailments.

However, questions related to how that occurs, and why are some individuals resistant to stress while others are not, remain unanswered.

An integrated, multisystemic stress response involving neuroinflammatory, neuroendocrine, epigenetic and metabolic cascades have been suggested to have causative links.

Several theories have been proposed over the years to conceptualize this link including the cytokine hypothesis, the endocrine hypothesis, the oxidative stress hypothesis and the oxido-neuroinflammation hypothesis.

The data discussed in this review describes potential biochemical basis of the link between stress, and stress-induced neuronal, behavioral and emotional deficits, providing insights into potentially novel drug targets.

Worried man blues

7/8/2021

Woody Guthrie --- Worried Man Blues (1944)

Just when you thought we couldn't link the IMMUNE SYSTEM to anything else --- we're going to link it to HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE --- which caused Woody Guthrie to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital and ultimately killed him.

So the BIG NEWS is NOT so much that all COGNITIVE DISORDERS are IDENTICAL --- it's that the IMMUNE SYSTEM (INNATE and/or ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY) are involved in seemingly MOST if not all COGNITIVE DISABILITIES.

Three Big Take Aways

Cognitive and Social Abilities Rely on Fine-Tuned Equilibrium of Innate & Adaptive Immune Responses (2019)
Innate Immune Cells are Regulators of Brain Development & Behavioral Function (2018)
The Vagus Nerve serves as Modulator of the Brain-Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders. (2018)

Click Here

***Physical Health, the Immune System & Mental Health

Immunotherapies in Huntington's disease and α-Synucleinopathies
(2020)

Affiliations

1Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
2WPI -Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
3Department of Neuro-Medical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.

Abstract

Modulation of immune activation using immunotherapy has attracted considerable attention for many years as a potential therapeutic intervention for several inflammation-associated neurodegenerative diseases.

However, the efficacy of single-target immunotherapy intervention has shown limited or no efficacy in alleviating disease burden and restoring functional capacity.

Marked immune system activation and neuroinflammation are important features and prodromal signs in polyQ repeat disorders and α-synucleinopathies.

This review describes the current status and future directions of immunotherapies in proteinopathy-induced neurodegeneration with emphasis on preclinical and clinical efficacies of several anti-inflammatory compounds and antibody-based therapies for the treatment of Huntington's disease and α-synucleinopathies.

The review concludes with how disease modification and functional restoration could be achieved by using targeted multimodality therapy to target multiple factors.

DRAFT: Innate & Adaptive Immunity in Cognitive Disorders

The 4th of July

7/7/2021

America's Justice System is in 2021 more a Cautionary Tale than a Beacon to the Rest of the World.

A Public Health Approach to Criminal Justice could put us ON TOP AGAIN.

Public Health Education is most DRAMATICALLY needed at the professional level.
We've got RESEARCHERS running far ahead of PROFESSIONALS.
One of the PROBLEMS is that most of the RESEARCH is at the level of NEW CONCEPTUALIZATIONS BASED ON EMPIRICAL RESEARCH--- not yet for the most part at NEW TREATMENTS.
So I "think" the IDEA is --- AS SOON AS WE GET THOSE NEW TREATMENTS --- we'll let you know.

If we were dealing with just any other ailments outside of COGNITIVE DISABILITY and its PREDOMINANCE in CRIMINAL JUSTICE ---- maybe that STRATEGY would be acceptable.

BUT CONCEPTUALIZATIONS MATTER and they MATTER A HELLUVA LOT IN THE LAW.

We need those TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, MEDICINE & LEGAL EFFORTS --- Stepped Up In a BIG WAY.

Our concerns are not limited to "Mental Illness," but also include Brain Injury, Substance Issues and Developmental Disabilities.

The RESEARCH we're relying on does show an IMMUNE SYSTEM CONNECTION with all of those COGNITIVE DISABILITIES.

EXPANDING OUR VIEW OF WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE IMMUNE SYSTEM & PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

7/6/2021

Below is a view of "STRESS" and its relationship to psychiatric disorders through a lens of psychoneuroendocrineimmunology ---- so this is involving more bodily systems than the brain and the Central Nervous System (CNS)
We do associate "TRAUMA" with psychiatric disorders, and I don't think that ASSOCIATION is WRONG.
BUT IN ADDITION to that we've got this whole slew of categories such as PSORIASIS, EXCEMA, CELIAC DISEASE, CEREBRAL PALSY and other IMMUNE DISORDERS also involve greater incidence of PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.
Further, we've got research findings that the IMMUNE SYSTEM IS CONTROLLING SOCIAL BEHAVIOR in MICE.
- Say What?
- Yeah, Star Researcher Jonathan Kipnis while at the University of Virginia Medical School and his team found the IMMUNE SYSTEM controlled SOCIAL BEHAVIOR in mice.

-Stress and the psyche-brain-immune network in psychiatric diseases based on psychoneuroendocrineimmunology: a concise review (2018)

Affiliations
1Dipartimento di Scienze e Biotecnologie Medico-Chirurgiche, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Internal Medicine Unit, ICOT Hospital, Latina, Italy.
2Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, Sanita Pubblica Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, L'Aquila, Italy.
3Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy.

Abstract

In the last decades, psychoneuroendocrineimmunology research has made relevant contributions to the fields of neuroscience, psychobiology, epigenetics, molecular biology, and clinical research by studying the effect of stress on human health and highlighting the close interrelations between psyche, brain, and bodily systems.

It is now well recognized that chronic stress can alter the physiological cross-talk between brain and biological systems, leading to long-lasting maladaptive effects (allostatic overload) on the nervous, immune, endocrine, and metabolic systems, which compromises stress resiliency and health.

Stressful conditions in early life have been associated with profound alterations in cortical and subcortical brain regions involved in emotion regulation and the salience network, showing relevant overlap with different psychiatric conditions.

This paper provides a summary of the available literature concerning the notable effects of stress on the brain and immune system.

We highlight the role of epigenetics as a mechanistic pathway mediating the influences of the social and physical environment on brain structure and connectivity, the immune system, and psycho-physical health in psychiatric diseases.

We also summarize the evidence regarding the effects of stress management techniques (mainly psychotherapy and meditation practice) on clinical outcomes, brain neurocircuitry, and immune-inflammatory network in major psychiatric diseases.

Shocking New Role Found for the Immune System: Controlling Social Interactions ----University of Virginia School of Medicine (2016)

Hang on to your seats --- because the RATIONALE for this that Kipnis and other researchers came up with had to do with ---- AN ANCIENT BATTLE OF PATHOGENS & the IMMUNE SYSTEM.

"In a startling discovery that raises fundamental questions about human behavior, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the immune system directly affects – and even controls – creatures’ social behavior, such as their desire to interact with others.

"So could immune system problems contribute to an inability to have normal social interactions? The answer appears to be yes, and that finding could have great implications for neurological diseases such as autism-spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

“The brain and the adaptive immune system were thought to be isolated from each other, and any immune activity in the brain was perceived as sign of a pathology.

"And now, not only are we showing that they are closely interacting, but some of our behavior traits might have evolved because of our immune response to pathogens,” explained Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, chairman of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience.

“It’s crazy, but maybe we are just multicellular battlefields for two ancient forces: pathogens and the immune system. Part of our personality may actually be dictated by the immune system.”

Quotation from University of Virginia's YouTube Summary

***Physical Health Issues, the Immune System & Mental Health

SciShow Psych & Medscape: the Immune System Connection to Psychiatric Disorders AnD the Mainstream

7/6/2021

To the Right: SciShow Psych's "Autoimmunity & Mental Health" and Medscape's "Immunodeficiency Strongly Linked to Mental Illness, Suicidal Behavior."

What's the Point?: The Immune System Connection to Psychiatric Disorders is slowly making its way to the mainstream.

One of the challenges has been that the IMMUNE SYSTEM seems to be involved in SOCIAL BEHAVIOR in ways we had not previously conceived prior to the last decade.

Beyond that other NOVEL ROLES for the IMMUNE SYSTEM are being found.

What We'd Like To See?: Additional Federal Funding of the National Institutes of Health and the Nation's Research and Teaching Hospitals to provide more CURRENT TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE AND UNDERSTANDINGS to CLINICIANS.

Those UNDERSTANDINGS themselves are important to address STIGMA and the complicated role of DEVELOPMENTAL IMMUNE/MENTAL DISORDERS in the Criminal Justice System.

May 2021

Immunodeficiency Strongly Linked to Mental Illness, Suicidal Behavior (2020)

"Patients with a primary humoral immunodeficiency (PID) are 91% more likely to have a psychiatric disorder and 84% more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior, compared against those without the condition, new research shows.

"Results showed that this association, which was stronger in women, could not be fully explained by comorbid autoimmune diseases or by familial confounding."

PART I: PBS' Program on "mysteries of mental illness"

6/29/2021

PBS "Mysteries of Mental Illness" with funding from the American Psychiatric Association Foundation was an important contribution to understanding the CONTEXT of our current CRISIS OF CARE.
There was a recognition that better treatments were needed.
- We'd like to see a recognition that Investments in Translational Research and Medicine are desperately needed.
It was interesting that the program focused on innovative uses of Deep Brain Stimulation and Psychedelics BUT didn't touch on the large emerging role of the Immune System in Psychiatric Disorders .
- The Immune System Connection to Psychiatric Disorders would likely not have been missed in the UK --- in fact the BBC has been all over it.
More generally, we need to understand Psychiatric Disorders as involving multiple systems of the body. Brains are important, but so are Immune Systems, Endocrine Systems and Microbiomes.
In fairness, the program did claim there were many MYSTERIES regarding "Mental Illness" --- THAT NEEDS TO MEAN SOMETHING IN THE CRIMINAL LAW ---
- IT SHOULD MEAN A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE

2017: BBC health reporter James Gallagher explores the increasing body of evidence that a dysfunctional immune system is responsible for the depression or psychotic illness experienced by hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people in the UK.

James talks to the psychiatrists investigating this new understanding of mental illness and to people who may benefit from treatments aimed at the immune systems rather than their brain cells.

"I believe this is one of the strongest discoveries in psychiatry in the last twenty years", says Professor Carmine Pariante of his and other research on the immune system and depression.

"It allows us to understand depression no longer as just a disorder of the mind and not even a disorder of the brain, but a disorder of the whole body.

It shifts conceptually what we understand about depression."

Moving on to the biological basis of behavior as an important rationale for a Public health approach to criminal justice

Worried man blues

The 4th of July

EXPANDING OUR VIEW OF WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE IMMUNE SYSTEM & PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

SciShow Psych & Medscape: the Immune System Connection to Psychiatric Disorders AnD the Mainstream

PART I: PBS' Program on "mysteries of mental illness"

VAL'S BLOG 2

Val Corzine

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Categories

Moving on to the biological basis of behavior as an important rationale for a Public health approach to criminal justice

Worried man blues

The 4th of July

EXPANDING OUR VIEW OF WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE IMMUNE SYSTEM & PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

SciShow Psych & Medscape: the Immune System Connection to Psychiatric Disorders AnD the Mainstream

PART I: PBS' Program on "mysteries of mental illness"

VAL'S BLOG 2​Val Corzine

Archives

Categories

VAL'S BLOG 2

Val Corzine