Rethinking Mental Illness: A Response to Inflammation

ENCINO, Calif., Aug. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mounting evidence is suggesting that the onset of mental illness might be due more to the presence of inflammation of the brain than just being a random or spontaneous condition. Chronic stress, traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries and auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, Grave's and Hashimoto's diseases, and even Crohn's disease are known to precipitate inflammation and be associated with depression.  

Common to each of these conditions is the production of a group of inflammatory chemicals produced by our immune system and called Cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha). These same chemicals are responsible for the lung and neurological damage associated with coronavirus (COVID-19). Studies have demonstrated in patients with auto-immune Psoriatic arthritis that when they are treated with a medication (etanercept) that blocks the inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha, aside from improvement in the arthritis, there is a significant reduction in their depression.

This neuroinflammatory hypothesis for depression and other psychiatric illnesses explains substantially more than prior models, including why emergent data shows that when analgesics, anti-inflammatory medication, hormonal replenishment, pro-neurogenic, and pro-neurotrophic treatments are used, there are beneficial effects on depression.

The brain is contained within the skull and is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), whose composition is derived from lifestyle choices. Nutrition, water, drugs, alcohol, medication, and traumas all influence the quality of this CSF. When the CSF is healthy, the brain has more resiliency when challenged, but when unhealthy, the changes in its chemical make-up can precipitate cognitive and emotional illnesses. The Millennium Health Centers has been working since 2004 to correct unhealthy changes to the CSF and to influence how the brain can repair after trauma.

Read some of the science at: https://tbihelpnow.org/the-science

About Dr. Mark L. Gordon

Dr. Mark L. Gordon is the founder and medical director of Millennium Health Centers, Inc. in Encino, California. In 2015, Dr. Gordon released the book, "Traumatic Brain Injury - A Clinical Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment" that presents the science and his experience treating all precipitating causes of traumatic brain injury in both active military, veteran, sports, and civilian populations. Dr. Gordon has also joined with the Warrior Angels Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded by veterans Andrew and Adam Marr to provide medical services to members of the armed forces both active duty and veterans. For more information, visit TBIHelpNow.org.

About Millennium Health Centers, Inc

Since 2004, the Millennium Health Centers, Inc., under the direction of Dr. Mark L. Gordon, has worked to develop a diagnostic bio-marker panel and personalized treatment protocols for both traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms.   

In 2015, the Millennium Health Centers, Inc. developed a neuro-regenerative program that involves the assessment and treatment of both traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury symptoms which may include depression, anxiety, lost libido, insomnia, migraines, obsessive-compulsive disorders, bipolar disorder, cognitive disorders, Parkinson's, and dementia conditions. Many of these can present years after the initial insult(s) which are frequently never considered.

Media Contact

Mark L. Gordon, M.D., Founder and Medical Director

[email protected]

SOURCE Millennium Health Centers, Inc

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