So I got curious -
Jul. 13th, 2004 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburgLast weekend, I had the opportunity to observe a "true" case of ADHD, diagnosed and being managed with medication. She's 10, and about 3:00 PM, her parents provided her with a dose of Focalin. Since I didn't know what that was, I Googled it. Streamlined Ritalin. Okay.
But like just about everything out there, it had a MAOI contra-indication. Everything has a MAOI contra-indication.
So I got curious. WTF is a MAOI and why would anyone submit to it?
Found a lovely website that explains that class of antidepressants. Go check it.
"I call it the 'St. Jude' drug," says psychiatrist Andy Myerson. "It's the drug I use when nothing else works and someone is willing to give up anything in the hope that something will help their depression."
...
"I've seen a few miracle cures with these drugs," one psychiatrist noted. "And they're particularly good if people suffer from panic attacks in addition to depression."
How does it work?
Once the brain's three neurotransmitters, known as monoamines (serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine), have played their part in sending messages in the brain, they get burned up by a protein in the brain called monoamine oxidase, a liver and brain enzyme.
Antidepressants known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors work by blocking this cleanup activity. When the excess neurotransmitters don't get destroyed, they start piling up in the brain. And since depression is associated with low levels of these monoamines, it's not surprising that increasing the monoamines ease depressive symptoms.
Unfortunately, monoamine oxidase doesn't just destroy those neurotransmitters; it's also responsible for mopping up another amine called tyramine, a molecule that affects blood pressure. So when monoamine oxidase gets blocked, levels of tyramine begin to rise, too. And that's when the trouble starts.
While a hike in neurotransmitters is beneficial, an increase in tyramine is disastrous. Excess tyramine can cause a sudden, sometimes fatal increase in blood pressure so severe that it can burst blood vessels in the brain.
Ah. Got it.
Then I checked the sidebar. I've had a very good response to Dr. David Burns' "Feeling Good" book - I recommend it often. It doesn't do the job by itself - reading that book is not going to change your life overnight or by itself. It does provide some very useful tools and perspective, however. And once you're out of the depression hole, it does a VERY good job of keeping you out. *raises hand* 16 years and counting. But this site mentions a book called "Good Mood" - here's the Amazon reference - and low and behold, the "Feeling Good" book is recommended along with some others.
It's nice to see Dr. Burns isn't by himself on the shelf anymore. Looks like I might need to read some more on the subject - as there is more to read!
Dr. Burns' book appears to be cheapest, still - but. Cognitive work isn't pop psych anymore? Contemporaries exist - and I like the way that man thought (sadly, he passed in 1998). For some reason, perhaps because many intellectuals suffer from and write about it, depression has become a trendy psychological affliction among people who by objective criteria have little to complain about.
Then why?
It pays to be curious, at times.
Random acts of intellectualism. Yahoo.
But like just about everything out there, it had a MAOI contra-indication. Everything has a MAOI contra-indication.
So I got curious. WTF is a MAOI and why would anyone submit to it?
Found a lovely website that explains that class of antidepressants. Go check it.
"I call it the 'St. Jude' drug," says psychiatrist Andy Myerson. "It's the drug I use when nothing else works and someone is willing to give up anything in the hope that something will help their depression."
...
"I've seen a few miracle cures with these drugs," one psychiatrist noted. "And they're particularly good if people suffer from panic attacks in addition to depression."
How does it work?
Once the brain's three neurotransmitters, known as monoamines (serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine), have played their part in sending messages in the brain, they get burned up by a protein in the brain called monoamine oxidase, a liver and brain enzyme.
Antidepressants known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors work by blocking this cleanup activity. When the excess neurotransmitters don't get destroyed, they start piling up in the brain. And since depression is associated with low levels of these monoamines, it's not surprising that increasing the monoamines ease depressive symptoms.
Unfortunately, monoamine oxidase doesn't just destroy those neurotransmitters; it's also responsible for mopping up another amine called tyramine, a molecule that affects blood pressure. So when monoamine oxidase gets blocked, levels of tyramine begin to rise, too. And that's when the trouble starts.
While a hike in neurotransmitters is beneficial, an increase in tyramine is disastrous. Excess tyramine can cause a sudden, sometimes fatal increase in blood pressure so severe that it can burst blood vessels in the brain.
Ah. Got it.
Then I checked the sidebar. I've had a very good response to Dr. David Burns' "Feeling Good" book - I recommend it often. It doesn't do the job by itself - reading that book is not going to change your life overnight or by itself. It does provide some very useful tools and perspective, however. And once you're out of the depression hole, it does a VERY good job of keeping you out. *raises hand* 16 years and counting. But this site mentions a book called "Good Mood" - here's the Amazon reference - and low and behold, the "Feeling Good" book is recommended along with some others.
It's nice to see Dr. Burns isn't by himself on the shelf anymore. Looks like I might need to read some more on the subject - as there is more to read!
Dr. Burns' book appears to be cheapest, still - but. Cognitive work isn't pop psych anymore? Contemporaries exist - and I like the way that man thought (sadly, he passed in 1998). For some reason, perhaps because many intellectuals suffer from and write about it, depression has become a trendy psychological affliction among people who by objective criteria have little to complain about.
Then why?
It pays to be curious, at times.
Random acts of intellectualism. Yahoo.
