In any given 1-year
period, 9.5 percent of the population, or about 18.8 million American adults,
suffer from depression. 1
The indirect and direct
costs of mood disorder illnesses totals over 43 billion dollars a year.
Depression and related mood disorders rank behind high blood pressure as the
most common reason people visit their doctors.
Most individuals who
consult their medical doctor for mood disorders are placed on prescription
medications.
And in fact as many as 10%
of the U.S.
population has taken one of these medications. Prescription antidepressants
sales reached a total of 37 billion in sales in 2003, which came out to $9
million more than was spent on treatments for the heart, arteries and blood
pressure. 2
The largest growth spurt
in antidepressant use has been among preschoolers, ages 2-4. 3
In 2003 over one million
American children were taking an antidepressant medication. 4
However, several studies
show that between 19-70% of those taking antidepressant medications do just as
well by taking a placebo or sugar pill. 5
And while patients are
attempting to correct their mood disorders with prescription dugs that may or
may not be more effective than a sugar pill, all of these drugs have potential,
sometimes serious, side effects.
Prozac has been associated
with over 1,734 suicide deaths and over 28,000 adverse reactions.6
Prescription
antidepressants can cause depression, anxiety, addiction, suicidal tendencies,
tremors or involuntary muscle spasms, and senility. Yes, prescription
antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs can and do cause depression and
anxiety.7
The most popular
antidepressant drugs are known as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors
(SSRI’s). SSRI’s including the drugs Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, and Zoloft
are supposed to help the brain re-uptake the brain chemical or neurotransmitter
known as serotonin. Effexor and Cymbalta, are designed to re-uptake the
neurotransmitters, serotonin and norepinephrine. Using these drugs is analogous
to using a gasoline additive to help your car get more mileage out of the
gasoline in the tank.
Unfortunately, many of the
individuals who suffer from mood disorders, don’t have any serotonin in their
brains to re-uptake. A gasoline additive poured into an empty gasoline tank
doesn’t help much, if at all. They may explain why patients often switch from
one antidpressant drug to another in hopes of feeling better.
Those suffering from
anxiety are commonly prescribed one of the benzodiazepine (tranquilizer)
medications including Ativan, Xanax or Klonopin.
National surveys show that
5.6 million adults over the age of 65 are now taking tranquilizers. 8
These medications are
associated with numerous unwanted side effects including poor sleep, seizures,
mania, depression, suicide, ringing in the ears, amnesia, dizziness, anxiety,
disorientation, low blood pressure, nausea, fluid retention, tremors, sexual
dysfunction (decreased desire and performance), weakness, somnolence (prolonged
drowsiness or a trance-like condition that may continue for a number of days),
and headaches.9
Over 73,000 older adults
experience drug-induced tardive dyskinesia (tremors or uncontrollable shakes).
For many, these tremors are permanent. 10
Orthomolecular Medicine
Fortunately for those
looking for a safer, often times more effective way to beat mood disorders, a
group of progressive minded physicians helped pioneer a new way of treating
mental disorders, known as orthomolecular medicine.
In 1968, two-time Nobel
Prize-winner Linus Pauling, Ph.D., originated the term
"orthomolecular" to describe an approach to medicine that uses
naturally occurring substances normally present in the body. "Ortho"
means correct or normal, and orthomolecular physicians recognize that in many
cases of physiological and psychological disorders health can be reestablished
by properly correcting, or normalizing, the balance of vitamins, minerals,
amino acids, and other similar substances within the body. And unlike drug
therapy, which attempts to cover-up the symptoms associated with a mood
disorder, orthomolecular medicine seeks to find and correct the cause of the
illness.
Amino Acid Therapy
Medical science has now
determined that how we feel is largely controlled by the foods we eat and how
well these building blocks are converted into brain transmitting chemicals
called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that control
our moods. You may remember that chains of essential and non-essential amino
acids make up proteins. Many of these amino acids are converted into
neurotransmitters. The brain needs adequate amounts of protein and their amino
acids for the production of neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters are
produced from the amino acids in the foods we eat. Certain amino acids along
with B vitamins, and minerals, produce the neurotransmitters. The
neurotransmitters that cause excitatory reactions are known as catecholamines.
Catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline) are derived from
the amino acid phenylalanine and tyrosine.
Inhibitory or relaxing
neurotransmitters including serotonin, is produced from the amino acid
tryptophan.
Supplementing with
5-hydroxytrryptophan (5HTP), a form of tryptophan helps raise serotonin levels.
5HTP is available over-the-counter and works extremely well for most patients.
Studies show that 5HTP can
be as effective as antidepressant drug therapy including SSRI medications.11-12
S –adenosylmethionine
(SAMe) is a potent fast-acting natural antidepressant that is synthesized in
the body from the amino acid methionine. SAMe has been proven through over one
hundred-plus studies to be an effective over the counter supplement for
reversing depression.13-14 Meta-analysis studies showed that 92 percent of
those on SAMe improved compared to 85 percent on Elavil or other tricyclic
antidepressant drug.15-16
Amino acid replacement
therapy offers far less risk and far more long-term benefit than prescription
antidepressant drugs alone. With the ever-growing list of mind-altering drugs
growing each year, isn’t it time to consider whether the patient has a
nutritional insufficiency instead of SSRI deficiency?
1. Robins LN, Regier DA (Eds). Psychiatric
Disorders in America, The
Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study, 1990; New York: The Free Press.
2. Beth
Hawkins, A Pill is not Enough, City Pages.com
Vol 25
issue 1225 Minneapolis MN.
3. JAMA
February 23, 2000;283:1025-1030,1059-1060
4. Drug
report barred by FDA
Scientist
links antidepressants to suicide in kids
Rob
Waters, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday,
February 1, 2004
5.
Joan-Ramone Laporte and Albert Figueras,“Placebo Effects in Psychiatry,”Lancet
334 (1993):1206-8.
6. Death
and near death attributed to Prozac, Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
7. Whittle
TJ, Wiland Richard, The story behind Prozac the killer drug,
Freedom
Magazine, 6331 Hollywood BLVD.,
suite 1200 Los Angeles, CA 90028.
7.
Monthly Prescribing Reference Haymarket Media Publication Nov 2005, New York NY.
8. Sidney
Wolfe, Larry Sasich, and Rose-Ellen
Hope, Worst Pills Best Pills.
Pocket
Books New York, NY 1999 pg179.
9. Sidney
Wolfe, Larry Sasich, and Rose-Ellen
Hope, Worst Pills Best Pills.
Pocket
Books New York, NY 1999 pg11.
10.
Sidney Wolfe, Larry Sasich, and
Rose-Ellen Hope, Worst Pills Best Pills.
11.
Birdsall T., “5-Hydroxytryptophan: A Clinically Effective Serotonin Precursor”
Alt Med Rev
1998;3(4):271-280.
12. W.
Poldinger, B. Calancini, W. Schwartz, “A functional-dimensional approach to
depression: Serotonin deficiency as a target syndrome in comparison of 5HTP and
fluvoxamine,” Psychopathology 24 (1991):53-81.
13.
Mischoulon D, Fva M. “Role of S-adenosyl-L-methionine in treatment of
depression: a review of the evidence.” Am J Clin Nutr 2002 Nov;76(5):11585-615.
14.
Bressa, GM. “S-Adenosyl-l-methionine (SAMe) as an antidepressant: meta-analysis
of clinical studies.” Acta Neurol. Scand. Suppl. 1994; 154:7-14.
15.
Berlanga, C., Ortega-Soto, H.A., Ontiveros M., Senties, H. “Efficacy of
S-adenosyl-L-methionine in speeding the onset of action of imipramine.
Psychiatry Res. 1992 Dec;44(3):257-62.
16.
Meyers, S. “Use of neurotransmitter precursors for treatment of depression.”
Altern.
Med. Rev. 2000 Feb; 5(1): 64-71
________________________________________________________________________________
About Dr.
Murphree
Dr.
Murphree is a board certified nutritional specialist and chiropractic physician
who has been in private practice since 1990. He is the founder and past clinic
director for a large integrated medical practice located on the campus of Brookwood Hospital
in Birmingham Alabama. The clinic was staffed with medical
doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and massage therapists.
The clinic combined prescription and natural medicines for acute and chronic
illnesses. He is the author of 5 books, "Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia
and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," "The Patient's Self-Help Manual for
Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,"
"Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue The Manual for
Non-Allopathic Doctors," "Heart Disease What Your Doctor Won’t Tell
You," and "Treating and Beating Anxiety and Depression with
Orthomolecular Medicine."
In 2003,
Dr. Murphree sold his integrative medical practice. He now maintains a busy
solo private practice and conducts one and two day doctor continuing education
seminars. He can be reached at his
clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, by phone 205-879-2383. His website
is www.treatingandbeating.com
