Skip to main content

New Insight On How Lithium Works

BioMedNet News (warning: requires registration), in the News Archives July 31, 2003, has a summary of exciting new British research throwing fresh light on how mood stabilizers used in treatment of bipolar affective disorder affects cellular pathways. (Article is entitled: “Slime Mould Gets Moody” by Laura Spinney).

Although the organism in the spotlight is Dictyostelium discoideum, the slime mold, the pathways being studied are present in both mammals and slime mold. Adrian Harwood and his lab at the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology of the University College London have been focusing on the inositide signaling pathway and the Wnt-signaling pathway in slime mold.

The most important implication of this work is stated here:
    "…Their latest findings add more detail to the picture, indicating that lithium and valproic acid exert their effects at different stages of the inositide-signaling pathway.

    "Dictyostelium is a wonderful system in which to study this pathway because you can manipulate it with mutants and study each step, which is impossible in humans," said neurogeneticist James Kennedy of the University of Toronto, who describes the findings as "impressive".

    He added: "This model may help in designing and testing new medications [for bipolar disorder]."..."

There's still much more work to be done. Apparently, it is unknown exactly how changes in these pathways affect bipolar disorder. Note: I'm curious as to why I haven’t seen this yet in mainstream news releases.

Popular posts from this blog

Stress, Health and the Urban Environment Here is another New York Times Magazine article, "Enough To Make You Sick" by Helen Epstein. While I know there is a larger political context to this story, I think that the writer makes it clear how intertwined the influence of an urban environment is on one's health. Her writeup at the end about a program placing people from poor urban environments to a middle class environment is interesting. Followup of this group would be important. Please catch this article before it goes into the archives.
Read more
Mild Cognitive Impairment: Risk Factors I'm linking to this post about Risk Factors for Mild Cognitive Impairment over at Psychscape . Mild cognitive impairment was associated with race (African American), low educational level, low Modified Mini-Mental State Examination and Digit Symbol Test scores, cortical atrophy, MRI-identified infarcts, and measurements of depression. The MCI amnestic-type was associated with MRI-identified infarcts, the presence of the APOE 4 allele, and low Modified Mini-Mental State Examination scores. The study's primary author pointed out that it is important to note that African Americans have more cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease risk factors than whites, which may explain the increased prevalence of MCI in this group of subjects. The consistently excellent Psychscape is written by the Psychiatry Editor for Medscape and should be a regular stop for mental health professionals.
Read more

What Do You Do To Relieve Stress?

Dr. James Gordon, a psychiatrist writing in the Washington Post, offers his tips on relieving stress. He includes the following six strategies: 1. Begin a simple meditation practice. 2. Move your body. 3. Reach out to others. 4. Find someone who will listen and give you a realistic look at your situation. 5. Let your imagination find you healing and new meaning and purpose. 6. Speak and act on your behalf. I think these ways of relieving stress and others are also ways of being resilient in your life. These are not necessarily easy to incorporate in our lives else we would all not be stressed. Still I think it is important to be mindful of how we move through our days.
Read more