Inflammation and clinical response to treatment in depression: A meta-analysis

[anciendaze]

There is more going on here beyond "too little" and "too much". When my cortisol levels have been measured over 24 hours they have been normal. There has been another observation which turned up in a misadventure following an allergy attack. I was given a shot of prednisone to reduce inflammation, so that I could take a trip on an airplane. This kept me from sleeping for 48 hours, producing hypomania. (Doctor comment: "That is a little unusual.") I turn out to be unusually sensitive to modest amounts of steroids.

If you are dealing with diabetics you need to be cautious in determining sensitivity to insulin. Some patients might actually die from doses others would consider inadequate.

For less blatant disturbances of endocrine function we are still in the dark ages.

 

[lansbergen]

If we are throwing treatments at patients without understanding the mechanisms behind their success, that is dangerous ground that threatens to lead to bad consequences.

But that is what usely happens

Of which drug are all mechanismes known?

 

[duncan]

Good point.

Treatments don't just involve drugs, though. Electroshock therapy anyone? Surgery?

There is also a degree variable. We know some drug mechanisms better than others. I think this holds true for many areas within medical science. How many medical areas can we claim we know all relevant mechanisms? How many do we remain clueless about? There area lot - a majority? - that we fall somewhere in between those two endpoints. I like to think there are a few about which we can boast substantial insight. But that is a moving target subject to interpretation.

Sadly, even today there are few absolutes in medicine, and this is particularly and ironically true for man-made interventions like drugs.

Still, the more meaningful data about a drug we have at our disposal, the better. I would much prefer a drug about which there is ample or much scientific evidence, not sponsor-based, than one that appears to solely act as a steroid for a pharmaceutical's bottom line.

 

[Prefect]

I'm not sure if the original posters on this thread are still around, but lately I've become very interested in the inflammatory model of brain disease; I've read research indicating some of the mood enhancing properties of SSRIs might be due to their initial anti inflammatory properties.

I say "initial", because I've come across some vague research that seems to indicate the anti inflammatory properties of an SSRI you go on slowly fizzles out? Has anyone else rung into this information anywhere or did I interpret the research wrong?