The Inflamed Mind
A radical new approach to depression
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Depression will be the single biggest cause of disability worldwide, in the next 20 years. But treatment for it has not changed much in the last three decades. In the realm of psychiatry, time has apparently stood still... until now.In this game-changing book, Professor Edward Bullmore reveals the breakthrough new science on the link between mental depression and physical inflammation. He explains how and why mental disorders can have their roots in the immune system and explores a whole new way of looking at how mind, brain and body all work together in a sometimes misguided effort to help us survive in a hostile world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Psychiatry professor Bullmore's debut implores depression sufferers to embrace the new field of neuroimmunology and the idea that mood and the immune response could be directly linked. He laments that doctors often treat the unhappy mental states of patients with inflammatory conditions as reasonable psychological responses to the stress of illness rather than as distinct and treatable health problems. He also blames this attitude for a lack of progress in treatment for depression in recent decades. Bullmore's targeted, readable primer on the immune system focuses on the cytokines systemically produced as part of the inflammatory response. These are proteins that, Bullmore believes, based on current research showing the blood-brain barrier as more permeable than previously thought, could be interacting with cells in the brain and interfering with serotonin signaling. He may raise some eyebrows when he positions himself as an underappreciated maverick struggling against an oblivious medical establishment. However, he stops short of recommending anything other than further research, admitting that his ideas are still unproven, while leaving general readers with a well-informed and cogently argued brief for funding and more investigation in the field.
