Nutritional psychiatry

Nutrients work not just for depression

2011-06-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have just received an email from a lady I saw a year ago regarding her severe intractable depresson. Having been on numerous antidepressants she was taking Sertraline 150mg but still the quality of her life was dismal in the extreme.I did a whole range of tests on her to try to get her brain chemistry into a state of balance using nutrients-vitamins,minerals,essential fatty acids and amino acids.She said that the biggest change since is that she no longer has the suicidal thoughts which she had for as long as she could remember.Her energy is much better and her sexual drive has improved.She said she is happy with the progress and feels better than she has been for a very long time. Her physical aches and pains have improved too.
The improvement in her libido is probably partly related to getting off Sertraline but I do see lots of patients whose libido improves with nutrients only.Psychiatrists rarely ask about libido in my opinion but it it a very important part of life and I always ask patients who are depressed about it.I do after all want them to enjoy life to the full and not just be in a non-suicidal state.

A week in Harvard

2011-05-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure recently of spending a week attending a course for primary care physicians (GPs) presented by the staff of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Although I am a physician since 1978 I am still very enthusiastic about keeping up to date and have been to conferences from Stockholm to Madrid and from London to Sydney.

I worked for 2 summers in Manitoba in Canada in the mid-80s but have never worked in the US since my student days near New York City which to me is the Capital of the World. I am forever grateful to Uncle Sam who allowed us Irish students to spend a summer vacation working in America and have been a frequent visitor to that great country ever since.

Boston is a very fine city and it still retains a strong Irish element. I was there in March and attended the St Patrick`s Day parade on 20 March, something I had never done anywhere before. I noticed that the people in the parade were proud of their country as well as their Irish roots.I have always felt very much as home in Boston and this was my third visit.

The course itself was intense,lasting from 8am to 6pm and it was wonderful to hear some of the world`s best doctors from what is probably the best university in the world.

I did not learn a whole lot of new information which to me indicated that I was quite up to date myself. However I did pick up dozens of little gems and some of them come into my head as I see patients and I make use of them. I also brought home 12 pounds weight of lecture notes and have spent several hours studying them since.

I managed to ask a few questions at the end of the lectures and tutorials, mentioned nutrient therapy in depression and also mentioned lowdosenaltrexone, another of my big interests. Several doctors came to me afterwards for details.They treat depression in Harvard largely with medication. I use nutrient therapy as well as the same medication and in my opinion it gives a much better result and instead of the patients not being depressed some of them are actually a great deal better and even quite joyful. Many of them get off medication and remain well on nutients only.Antidepressants often suppress libido while nutrients often return it to normal.

I would like to sincerely thank Harvard for putting on this course and would recommend it to other physicians.

Dr William Walsh lectures at Dublin Conference

2010-07-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

To-day was a special day for me as Dr William Walsh PhD, founder of the Pfeiffer Center in Chicago (www.hriptc.org), presented a full day of lectures on nutritional treatment in mental health in Dublin. Even though I have been following and applying his views for my patients for about 6 years I was surprised by how much new material he brought along. Part of his lectures was about Epigenetics which involves changes in gene activity that get passed on for at least one successive generation but are not associated with DNA. This new knowledge may in due course lead to treatments in mental health without the drugs and their side effects that patients have to put up with today.
Dr Walsh is writing a book about nutrients in mental health and I am looking forward to seeing it in Amazon in 2011.

Low-dose naltrexone useful in many diseases

2010-04-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

One of the drugs I use a lot is naltrexone in small doses. In the full-strength 50mg version it is used in alcoholism and opiate dependency. In a low dose of 3- 4.5 mg (LDN) it strengthens
the immune system and helps in controlling or improving many other conditions such as CFS/ME, fibromyalgia, many types of cancer, poor immune system, auto-immune diseases and MS to name only a few. There is a website about it at http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/. In psychiatry I have used it in only one case. A patient came to me with depression. His psychiatrist had tried him on every drug known to man without success. I did notice that in general those on LDN tend to be in better form, as it stimulates the production of natural morphine so I decided to try it on him, advising him that there was only a small chance that it would work. He improved considerably and in due course he returned to his psychiatrist. He has continued to prescribe LDN to him since.
You may notice that I do not write this blog very often. You are more likely to read my views if you go to the British Medical Journal. Click on http://www.bmj.com/. Press on advanced search, then in author box put in O`Flaherty EV and then click on the buttion just to the left of "articles and electronic communications". Press on search and my 20+ pieces come up in a few seconds.

A review of 2009 in my practice

2009-12-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

As a family doctor in Ireland I see a wide range of problems, most of which I am familiar with. I have been interested in nutrition (vitamins,minerals,essential fatty acids, amino acids) in mental health for 10 years now and it really has transformed my work and makes up to a quarter of all that I do. My patients come from all over the country and they usually come through word of mouth. I reckon I can improve the quality of life of more than half of them but due to poor results I do not advise anybody to come for treatment of severe OCD or hoping to improve the IQ of a Down`s child.
I will give just a few examples of good memories from this year.
The first one that comes to mind is a young mother with severe post-natal depression. She cried in my presence. I did a lot of tests on her and discovered that she had coeliac (celiac) disease . On the next visit she was off her medication, was laughing and smiling and I told her that she should stick to the gluten -free diet and that there was no need to see me again.
The second one is a man of 65 who had been in hospital at least once almost every year for 20 years for depression. After treating him with nutrients he is now on less antidepressants, is in very good form and has not been in hosptial for 3 years.
I do not treat autism as a rule- I would recommend taking the child to Pfeiffer Center in Chicago instead (www.hriptc.org). However I treated a five year-old who could not speak and after three months he spoke pretty well. I can still recall the joy on the faces of the parents when they returned.
I have an interest too in lowdosenaltrexone which to me is like the swiss army knife of medicine as it is so useful. You can read all about it at www.lowdosenaltrexone.org. I saw one woman for chronic fatigue. She came on a wheelchair. I put her on LDN and when I saw her 3 months later she came on a motorcycle!

Happy day to-day.

2009-09-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I got a call from a young woman to-day to tell me her depression went after about 6 months on the nutrients I recommended for her. Two months ago she went off Efexor (Venlafaxine) without any great withdrawals- it is usually very difficult to do this. She was quite joyful about how well she is after ten years on medication which put on lots of weight and did little for her depression or self-esteem. I think she is likely to remain well in the long-term if she stays on the nutrients but will relapse otherwise. Then a 40-year old woman came along. She has bipolar and is very well on a relatively small dose of Epilim and Lamictal plus her nutrients. She does not want to attend a psychiatrist any longer but I feel those with a history of psychosis should maintain that contact. Thirdly I saw one of my family practice patients whose is managing fine on nutrients only after some 12 years on antidepressants. It was a real privilege to work to-day.

Celiac (Coeliac) Disease and mental illness

2009-04-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

I first heard about the connection beteween this condition and mental illness when I attended a course for doctors in Sydney in 2006. The point was made by Dr William Walsh PhD of the Pfeiffer Center, Chicago (www.hriptc.org) that 4% of those with psychotic illness have it because they have a sensitivity to gluten- a protein found in wheat, oats, barley and rye. I have picked up several cases of it since but the most dramatic case is that of a woman who had 10 admissions (approx 900 days) to a psychiatic hospital over 18 years - usually for bipolar depression- before she came my way. I am pleased to say that she has been very well since she went on the gluten-free diet with no evidence of mental illness. She has lost 56 pounds (25kg) too and is really pleased that life can be so good. Her psychiatrist has slowly reduced her medication .I believe everybody with a mental health problem should have the simple blood test done to exclude this diagnosis. The routine test is tTg and EMA followed by biopsy of duodenum in a gastroscopy to confirm the result if positive.

Anorexia Nervosa

2009-02-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been seeing some cases of this terrible condition. It has traditionally had the highest mortality of all psychiatric conditions. I started to see these patients because I knew from my course presented by Pfieffer Center, Chicago (www.hriptc.org) in Sydney in 2006 that it is a biochemical problem too and if treated like the other ones I see that the patients can do well. They will still need psychotherapy though. I am really pleased to see how well my patients are doing since I got to work on their brain neurotransmitters and after two or three months they were obviously much better. I hope these results are not flukes. Statistically that is quite possible until I have seen dozens more. In the meantime I rejoice for those who seem to be getting better. I find it hard to believe that so much can be done so easily for these young people and almost nobody knows anything about how it can be done or even wants to find out.

2009-01-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

2008 was a busy year for me with many patients coming to get some relief from their psychiatric problems. Overall I have been very pleased with the results, particularly for those with depression. Several of them called me before Christmas to tell me how well they were. One of them told me he was amazed to be so well after half a lifetime of depression and admisssion to hospital almost every year.Some with bipolar and schizophrenia have done well too but overall my success with OCD has been poor and I prefer not to see patients with "pure" OCD as I can usefully help only 10-15%. Where OCD is part of another condition such as depression or bipolar the prognosis is better. Overall I am getting better results for those who live nearby and keep in regular touch with me. One fleeting visit is unlikely to achive much, except for some cases of depression. My current view on mental illness is that it is a chemical imbalance involving oxidative stress. If the gut is not working right and absorbing nutrients right then expect trouble in the brain.
Much of my knowledge of the biochemistry of the brain depends on the views of Dr William Walsh,Ph.D who has recently retired from the Pfeiffer Center in Chicago. Much of the information on my website www.omega3.20megsfree.com originates from him. I am glad to hear that he plans to start the Walsh Research Institute to continue his work. Expect some data soon on the website www.walshinstitute.org

Biochemical individuality

2007-04-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

Dublin,
Ireland

April 23,2007

HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG.

I am a family doctor in Dublin with a big interest in nutrition in mental health. About one third of my work is concerned with mental health problems.

I have a website www.omega3.20megsfree.com and this blog will enable visitors to offer their opinions on its content.

Feel free to express your opinion.

Sincerely,
Edmond O`Flaherty