[trbell]

the most recent abstract is ocated here and this would seem to be the latest psychiatric view of treatment for these syndromes and diseases.tom

 

[Guest]

Affective disorders cover a lot of territory. Were there any in particular that you were looking to investigate/discuss?I found this little blurb at one site:

quote: The confusion begins when one sees patients who do not fit the classic categories, but who nevertheless have very real difficulties in life. Are these difficulties due entirely to upbringing and environment, or do they, too, have some basis in the brain's biology? Modern psychiatry has been struggling to make sense of these people for fifty years. Doctors diagnose their patients according to the syndromes described in DSM-IV, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition. A syndrome is a set of behaviors that consistently appear together: a set of behaviors the patient, the doctor, or the patient's friends and family can observe and describe. A syndrome is not, at this point, a physical marker like the positive result on a test for HIV antibodies that establishes a diagnosis of HIV-positive. When a psychiatrist diagnoses the syndrome of panic disorder, for example, he cannot--yet--perform an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) that tells him whether the patient does or does not qualify for the diagnosis (although we may be closest to such a test for this particular disorder). Instead, he looks for symptoms: a pounding chest, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath or hyperventilation, sweating or coldness and changes in temperature regulation, the fear that one is having a heart attack, sometimes a feeling that the person is going to pass out, sometimes a feeling that he or she is going to go crazy. This is the set of symptoms that make up the syndrome.

It came from this link: http://www.mamashealth.com/book/syn.asp Here is a better one, I think? http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=web...ww.drada.org%2F

quote: DRADA is a community organization; we serve individuals affected by a depressive illness, family members, health care professionals and the general public. We are committed to our mission to alleviate the suffering arising from depression and manic depression by assisting self-help groups, providing education and information, and lending support to research programs. DRADA understands the need to eliminate the stigma that is attached to mood disorders, and we are constantly striving to promote public knowledge of signs, symptoms, and resources available to persons affected by these illnesses.

Does any of this relate at all to what you're talking about?Evie

 

[trbell]

As this is an IBS bb most peopl;e would like to talk about how it applies to IBS? It relates to something MNL posted on another thread.tom

 

[trbell]

guess I forgot the link. sorry http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php...c;f=10;t=000686 tom

 

[Guest]

This does indeed intrigue me.* Depression* Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder* Bulimia nervosa* Generalized anxiety disorder* Panic disorder* Obsessive-compulsive disorder* Posttraumatic stress disorder* Social phobia* Dysthymic disorder* Migraine* Irritable bowel syndrome* Fibromyalgia * Cataplexy* Narcolepsy* Premenstrual dysphoric disorderI have been diagnosed with 10 of the above.A common successful treatment protocol isn't all that links the conditions. Researchers have also found that they run in families andthat several conditions often occur in the same people. The commonalities have led to the group of conditions being lumped under the name "affectivespectrum disorder".Can I relate to the above or what?!!Background Affective spectrum disorder ASD represents a group of psychiatric and medical conditions, each known to respond to several chemical families of antidepressant medications and hence possibly linked by common heritable abnormalities. Forms of ASD include major depressive disorder MDD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bulimia nervosa, cataplexy, dysthymic disorder, fibromyalgia, generalized anxiety disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and social phobia. Two predictions of the ASD hypothesis were tested: that ASD, taken as a single entity, would aggregate in families and that MDD would coaggregate with other forms of ASD in familiesThis information is extremely relavent.It is important to be able to link behavioral health disorders with functional dysorders such as IBS with respect to approaching treatment, don't you think?Ok... so now that we know these disorders are linked, and that antidepressants can help, can we identify a root cause or a potential "cure"?? I ask because I prefer to treat causes instead of symptoms when possible.Evie