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    • THE IMD RULE & ADMIN. ENFORCEMENT OF DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS
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    • ***Physical Health Issues, the Immune System & Mental Health Index
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  • Hot Topics
    • What We Want --- SAMHSA Grant Opportunities Due Jan. 22, 2019
    • Anti-Social Personality Disorder >
      • DECONSTRUCTING ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER AND PSYCHOPATHY: A GUIDELINES-BASED APPROACH TO PREJUDICIAL PSYCHIATRIC LABELS [Hofstra Law Review 2013]
      • Personality Disorders -- Unscientific & Vague -- Must Be Reformed
    • Executive Functioning & "Prison Brain" >
      • Job Accommodation Network on Executive Functioning Deficits
    • Medicaid & Medicare Network Adequacy >
      • OIG: STATE STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO CARE IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Sept. 2014)
      • OIG: ACCESS TO CARE: PROVIDER AVAILABILITY IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Dec. 2014)
      • GAO 15-710: MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Actions Needed to Enhance CMS Oversight of Provider Network Adequacy (Aug. 2015)
      • CMS: Promoting Access in Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care: A Toolkit for Ensuring Provider Network Adequacy and Service Availability (April 2017)
    • Medicaid Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Parity >
      • CMS Parity Compliance Toolkit Applying Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs [Jan. 17, 2017]
      • Frequently Asked Questions: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Final Rule for Medicaid and CHIP [CMS October 11, 2017]
    • Olmstead Disability Rights >
      • Statement of the Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C. (2011)
      • Comprehensive Olmstead Planning
      • the Logical Long Term Consequences of our failure to provide Intensive Community MH Treatment
      • Olmstead Nation ---State Pages: How Far to Comply with Olmstead?
  • Take A Walk Around Orchid's Resource Block
  • Colorado Abuse & Neglect Scandals Involving People with Disabilities
  • Mental Health By The Numbers
  • New Science Is Amazing AND It Has HUGE Moral Implications for Our Society: NOW
  • Olmstead & Homelessness
  • Double V
  • " 'Defund the Police" Means 'Invest in the Resources Our Communities Need' " or Don't Cost Shift to the Police
  • VAGUE OLMSTEAD PLANS, EXPENSIVE LITIGATION
  • Updating & Reforming our Understanding & Treatment of "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" Blog
  • Reform of " Anti-Social Personality Disorder" in Criminal Justice
  • CO HB22-1278
  • New Understandings Matter
  • Mental Health, Ethics & Law
  • CO Olmstead Disability Homeless Law & Policy Project
  • Inflammation, the Immune System, Neuro-Developmental Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, Substance Use Issues & Chronic Disease
  • Microglia and the Brain's Immune System
  • Substance Issues & the Immune System



Translational Medicine Friday

Migraines, Sensory Processing, Neuro-Diversity and Psychiatric Disorders

11/9/2021

 
​Two BIG LINKS:
  • Migraines are more and more associated with psychiatric disorders;
    • ​What is the link between migraine and psychiatric disorders? From epidemiology to therapeutics
  • Sensory / Information Processing Differences and Disorders are associated with NEURO-DIVERSITY
    • Sensory processing related to attention in children with ASD, ADHD, or typical development: results from the ELENA cohort
    • ​Sensory hypersensitivity in Tourette syndrome: A review

A BIG PART OF BETTER TREATMENT IS BETTER PREVENTION & DIAGNOSTICS.
A BIG PART OF BETTER TREATMENT IS BETTER PREVENTION & DIAGNOSTICS.

People who are NEURO-DIVERSE and/or have MIGRAINES are at high risk for PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.

On the other hand, because of their SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFERENCES, NEURO-DIVERSE people often have BIG STRENGTHS in ACADEMIC, ATHLETIC and/or CREATIVE pursuits.

NEURO-DIVERSE people who can look like such OPPOSITES -- often have in common SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFERNCES that DIVERGE FROM THE NORM.  
​
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​Pathophysiology of Migraine: A Disorder of Sensory Processing
​
 (2017)
Affiliations
  1. Basic and Clinical Neurosciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, United Kingdom;
  2. Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California;
  3. Department of Neurology, University of Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; and
  4. ​Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bern-Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract
​
Plaguing humans for more than two millennia, manifest on every continent studied, and with more than one billion patients having an attack in any year, migraine stands as the sixth most common cause of disability on the planet.

The pathophysiology of migraine has emerged from a historical consideration of the "humors" through mid-20th century distraction of the now defunct Vascular Theory to a clear place as a neurological disorder.

It could be said there are three questions: why, how, and when?

Why:
migraine is largely accepted to be an inherited tendency for the brain to lose control of its inputs.


How:
the now classical trigeminal durovascular afferent pathway has been explored in laboratory and clinic; interrogated with immunohistochemistry to functional brain imaging to offer a roadmap of the attack.

When:
migraine attacks emerge due to a disorder of brain sensory processing that itself likely cycles, influenced by genetics and the environment.


In the first, premonitory, phase that precedes headache, brain stem and diencephalic systems modulating afferent signals, light-photophobia or sound-phonophobia, begin to dysfunction and eventually to evolve to the pain phase and with time the resolution or postdromal phase.

Understanding the biology of migraine through careful bench-based research has led to major classes of therapeutics being identified: triptans, serotonin 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonists; gepants, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists; ditans, 5-HT1F receptor agonists, CGRP mechanisms monoclonal antibodies; and glurants, mGlu5 modulators; with the promise of more to come.

Investment in understanding migraine has been very successful and leaves us at a new dawn, able to transform its impact on a global scale, as well as understand fundamental aspects of human biology.

NeuroDiversity & Mental Health

10/22/2021

 
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Neurodiversity and Mental Health?


​"There is growing evidence that neurodiverse conditions are accompanied by mental health challenges." 

​                                                                                --------Aug. 2021 

           For a lot of people like myself, that Developmental Diagnosis came LAST, rather tragically.

              When we talk about TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE and understanding that ---- NEURO-DIVERSE people are at particular risk if not the primary population for psychiatric disorders --- WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

              Well, it tends to mean a helluva lot.

              While NEURO-DIVERSITY is all over the map, one of the things it often has in common is EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DEFICITS or DIFFERENCES and at least often --- Special Abilities in one or more areas.

                So from a Translational Medicine Perspective, we need to be:
  • Providing early identification and support to kids with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, "Giftedness," etc.
  • That Support includes development of STRENGTHS, and workarounds and accommodations for EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES.
  • Continuation of appropriate level of SUPPORT throughout the lifespan.

        The SUPPORT NEEDED is related to how WIDESPREAD the UNDERSTANDING and KNOWLEDGE is in the Society regarding Executive Functioning Deficits or Differences.

        If that knowledge isn't SOLID in the Mental Health Profession, much less the rest of the COMMUNITY ---- there is going to be an IMMENSE NEED for SUPPORT.  
Highlights from the 2019 UK national multidisciplinary conference on Neurodiversity and Mental Health.
​[Next Friday:  Developmental Inflammation & Neuro-Immune Dysregulations in Neuro-Diversity]

Neuro-Inflammation and re-defining the "BIG PICTURE"

10/16/2021

 
"Neuroinflammation" is DOMINATING much of the RESEARCH regarding "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS" --- but it largely hasn't gotten to CLINICIANS.

Monday --- we're getting back to our letter to the American Bar Association. 

In some ways, I do think LAWYERS tend to be MORE FLEXIBLE THINKERS and INTEGRATERS OF KNOWLEDGE.

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM and POLICYMAKERS need FLEXIBILITY OF THOUGHT and and ability to INTEGRATE VAST AMOUNTS OF KNOWLEDGE.

By and large, Flexibility of Thought and Integration of Knowledge involve IDENTIFYING ANOMALIES and RE-WORKING that BIG PICTURE.
Neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders: PET imaging and promising new targets (2020) 
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​Affiliations

1Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden.
3Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
4Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
5Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Brain Disorders:  Focus on Neuroinflammation (2019)
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​University of Groningen Medical Center --- The Netherlands
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Pontifical Catholic University of ​Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil ​
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​Abstract

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the most studied neurotrophins in the healthy and diseased brain.

As a result, there is a large body of evidence that associates BDNF with neuronal maintenance, neuronal survival, plasticity, and neurotransmitter regulation.

Patients with psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders often have reduced BDNF concentrations in their blood and brain.

A current hypothesis suggests that these abnormal BDNF levels might be due to the chronic inflammatory state of the brain in certain disorders, as neuroinflammation is known to affect several BDNF-related signaling pathways.

Activation of glia cells can induce an increase in the levels of pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species, which can lead to the modulation of neuronal function and neurotoxicity observed in several brain pathologies.

Understanding how neuroinflammation is involved in disorders of the brain, especially in the disease onset and progression, can be crucial for the development of new strategies of treatment.

Despite the increasing evidence for the involvement of BDNF and neuroinflammation in brain disorders, there is scarce evidence that addresses the interaction between the neurotrophin and neuroinflammation in psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.

This review focuses on the effect of acute and chronic inflammation on BDNF levels in the most common psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and aims to shed some light on the possible biological mechanisms that may influence this effect.

In addition, this review will address the effect of behavior and pharmacological interventions on BDNF levels in these disorders.
​Affiliations
​

1Neurobiology and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Biosciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Ipiranga Av. 6681, Porto Alegre, 90619-900, Brazil.
2Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 31.001, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands.
3Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 31.001, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands.

What "Mental Health" Has Been Missing?   ​DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE & ITS RAMIFICATIONS

10/9/2021

 
​
  • This has been DIFFICULT for BOTH INDIVIDUALS and PROFESSIONALS --- because most people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS have:
    • ​An IQ above 70
    • Have AVERAGE or ABOVE-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE
    • OFTEN have special ATHLETIC, CREATIVE and/or INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES
 
  • So that didn't seem to describe our CLASSIC UNDERSTANDING of a person with an INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY.
    • ​So the IDEA that the Mental Health Profession was going to help people "CHANGE" --- didn't seem out of place.
 
  • This IDEA of "CHANGING PEOPLE" not only seems out of place --- it seems DANGEROUS in 2021
    • ​Most people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS have "HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS" 
    • According to the National Institute of Mental Health, PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are NOT DISTINCT --- BUT BLURRED.
    • It is not just the BRAIN, but also the IMMUNE SYSTEM, the MICROBIOME and the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM that are involved in "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS."
 
  • In 2021, "EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES"  are certainly recognized in the RESEARCH COMMUNITY as an often COMMON CHALLENGE across "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS."

  • Rather than trying to CHANGE these DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES, it would be much more helpful if MENTAL HEALTH [or SOMEBODY] would:
    • ​Focus on WORKAROUNDS for Executive Functioning Differences
    • Develop Strengths, AND
    • ​and STOP WASTING OUR TIME AND MONEY.
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Temple Grandin
​Boccamazzo adds that he "can't think of a single soul who has a diagnosis of autism, ADHD or learning disability, who only has a diagnosis of autism, ADHD or learning disability."  

"All of us are anxious as hell, pretty much all of us struggle with chronic depression as well, largely due to the fact that we've been told we're a broken version of normal our entire lives," he continues.

------Understanding and supporting neurodiversity in the workplace
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Maternal Immune Activation alters Adult Behavior

10/3/2021

 
​
  • Some "EXPERTS" raised SIGNIFICANT ISSUES regarding PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS---
    • ​It wasn't always clear whether they UNDERSTOOD THE IMPLICATIONS of the ISSUES they were raising --- OR
    • They did UNDERSTAND those IMPLICATIONS -- BUT they were TOO PRO SOCIALLY COMPETENT to say them OUT LOUD.
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Dr. Thomas Insel
​
  • In 2013, the National Institute of Mental Health and its then Director Dr. Thomas Insel started to say some things OUT LOUD.​
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  • The DSM 5 is NOT SCIENTIFICALLY VALID because it only describes CLUSTERS of SYMPTOMS and NOT THE UNDERLYING BIOLOGY.
  • Psychiatric Disorders are much more BLURRED than previously thought --- there are COMMON MECHANISMS.
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What has become CLEARER in the INTERIM --- is that MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION is one of those COMMON MECHANISMS.​
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Maternal immune activation
alters---

Adult Behavior, Intestinal Integrity, Gut Microbiota and the Gut Inflammation (April 2021)
​Affiliations
  • Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
  • Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
  • International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang, China.
  • Henan Province People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China.
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​
Maternal Immune Activation
and 
​

​
Neuropsychiatric Illness:

A Translational Research Perspective
​Affiliation
  • From the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York; the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich; and the Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

Inflammation, Positive "EMODIVERSITY" and CAUSE & EFFECT

9/24/2021

 
​
  • Cause & Effect are complicated in Psychiatric Disorders
  • Major Psychiatric Disorders are being linked to MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION and DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION
  • "Positive Emodiversity" is interesting but is it a CAUSE or an EFFECT of LOWER INFLAMMATION​
​
  • Understanding CAUSE & EFFECT is a PROBLEM in our discussions of psychiatric disorders and it is definitely a problem in the Criminal Justice System.
  • Now one of the reasons CAUSE and EFFECT are such a problem is because PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are not just GENETICS but the interplay of GENETICS, MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION, EPIGENETICS and ENVIRONMENT.
​
  • I would submit that people who were born with greater DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION probably are going to have a significantly harder time achieving the LOWER INFLAMMATION associated with "POSITIVE EMODIVERSITY."
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Affiliations
​

1Department of Human Development, Cornell University.
2Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University.
3Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.
Epigenetics in Critical Illness:
A New Frontier
 (2013)
Emodiversity and biomarkers of inflammation (2018)
​Abstract

There is growing evidence that inflammatory responses may help to explain how emotions get “under the skin” to influence disease susceptibility.

Moving beyond examination of individuals’ average level of emotion, this study examined how the breadth and relative abundance of emotions that individuals experience— emodiversity—is related to systemic inflammation.

Using diary data from 175 adults aged 40 to 65 who provided end-of-day reports of their positive and negative emotions over 30 days, we found that greater diversity in day-to-day positive emotions was associated with lower circulating levels of inflammation (indicated by IL-6, CRP, fibrinogen), independent of mean levels of positive and negative emotions, body mass index, anti-inflammatory medications, medical conditions, personality, and demographics.

No significant associations were observed between global or negative emodiversity and inflammation.

These findings highlight the unique role daily positive emotions play in biological health.
IL-6 -- Interleukin-6 (CUSABIO)

Cytokine (Oxford Languages):  
  1. any of a number of substances, such as interferon, interleukin, and growth factors, which are secreted by certain cells of the immune system and have an effect on other cells.

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​Interleukin-6, also known as IL-6, is a cytokine that belongs to the class of interleukins.

​
It is produced by fibroblasts, monocytes/macrophages, T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, epithelial cells, keratinocytes, and various tumor cells.

The production of interleukin-6 can be induced in normal cells by various factors, involving IL-1, TNF-a, PDGF, viral infection, double-stranded RNA and so on.

For this reason, IL-6 plays a critical role in acute inflammatory response.
​
​Mayo Clinic

The level of C-reactive protein (CRP) increases when there's inflammation in your body.

​ A simple blood test can be done to check your C-reactive protein level.
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​Fibrinogen (Fg) is a biomarker of inflammation (1-5) which, when elevated, indicates the presence of inflammation and identifies individuals with a high risk for cardiovascular disorders.

Inflammatory Markers: Serum Amyloid A, Fibrinogen and C ...

More on Inflammation, Fetal brain Development & Psychiatric Disorders

9/20/2021

 
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3 Related Insights from the Research:
  • The Blurring of Traditional Psychiatric Categories, AND
  • The Relationship of MATERNAL IMMUNE INFLAMMATION to those CATEGORIES
  • ADHD and AUTISM  (Traditional Developmental Differences a part of those BLURRED CATEGORIES and part of what we're traditionally thinking of as NEURO-DIVERSITY ​
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​Central South University, Hunan, China
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​SUNY Upstate Medical Center
​Inflammation-related biomarkers in major psychiatric disorders: a cross-disorder assessment of reproducibility and specificity in 43 meta-analyses
​Affiliations
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital; Mental health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital; National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders; National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
  • 2Department of Psychiatry, Hunan Provincial Brain Hospital; Clinical Research Center for Mental Behavioral Disorder in Hunan Province, Clinical Medical School of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, China.
  • 3Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
  • 4Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
  • 5Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China. 
  • 6Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA. [email protected].
  • 7School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Prevalence and correlates of low-grade systemic inflammation in adult psychiatric inpatients (2018)
​"A notable proportion of acutely unwell psychiatric patients from all ICD-10 major diagnostic groups show evidence of low-grade inflammation, suggesting inflammation may be relevant for all psychiatric disorders."
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​Cambridge Biomedical Campus -- UK
​aDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, UK
bCambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, England, UK
*Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Study shows DHA supplement may offset impact of maternal stress on unborn males​

9/13/2021

 
IS THIS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE OR JUSTICE?
To me, what is so INTERESTING about this is that it points to how INTER-CONNECTED we all are.

If we're really interested in addressing MALE DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES and some associated bad behavior in our society---- FEMALES maybe want to take this DHA Supplement during PREGNANCY.

So we see the importance of going beyond the FIRST CHAIN or LINK of CAUSALITY.

BUT we are so FOCUSED ON PUNISHMENT.    Do we now want to PUNISH the WOMAN if she FAILS to take the DHA Supplement?

BUT why did she FAIL to take the Supplement -- what's going on there?

This is about BIG PICTURE THINKING but it is also about DETAIL-ORIENTED THINKING and trying to INTEGRATE THOSE:
  • So we don't make the HUGE REASONING MISTAKES that are most dramatically playing out in the Criminal Justice System

Mental Health Professionals surprisingly often don't have a BIG PICTURE VIEW of their ROLE in some of this:
  • Why is that?
  • They are focused on complying with STATUTES
    • ​That's not a bad thing, BUT
    • The Society is also relying on these professionals to tell us what STATUTES we should have --- at least in some measure
      • ​How is it that Colorado has an INSANITY Statute that looks like it was written in the Middle Ages --- surely mental health professionals have been clamoring to get that changed  
        • ​Well, not exactly

From my perspective, part of the BIG PICTURE is Mental Health Professionals have not been getting:
  • The STATUS or 
  • MONEY that other Medical Professionals get 
  • BUT they are behind on the RESEARCH
    • ​How are these mental health professionals viewing PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS -- there are a lot of gaps, especially if one isn't getting the research in a timely manner​
      • ​AND a lot of those GAPS are being filled in with PRO SOCIAL COMPETENCE
        • ​BUT does PRO SOCIAL COMPETENCE get you to a DHA Supplement?
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Click Picture to go to Article on Eureka Alert! ---- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Dr. David Beversdorf, lead Author and Professor at the University of Missouri
Making Our Peace with the State of Nature

Covid exposing anomalies in our current understanding of psychiatric Disorders

9/5/2021

 
​New research shows people with psychiatric disorders more at risk for severe COVID-19

----Aug. 2021

Channel 6 News --- Minnesota


 As the county and state monitor the pandemic, scientists and medical researchers continue to learn more about COVID-19. Mayo Clinic released a new study that says younger people with psychiatric disorders are at a higher risk for severe disease or even death from the virus. . . .

This research was a partnership between Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center, Olmsted County Public Health, and Zumbro Valley Health Center. 

"Things like effective disorders, severe psychiatric conditions, severe developmental disorders - we would never really expect that those would put people at an especially high risk of a more severe outcome," Sauver said (Sauver is Jennifer St. Sauver, professor of Epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic) 

"But according to this new research they do."

Val's Take:   Under current clinical mental health paradigms --- it would be a surprise that people with psychiatric conditions would be more at risk of COVID.

BUT under the NEW PARADIGMS emerging from the RESEARCH --- IT IS NOT SURPRISING that people with psychiatric disorders would be more at risk of COVID.

WHY IS THAT?


The NEW RESEARCH of the last 10 years is revealing that psychiatric disorders (and for that matter developmental disorders) are intimately tied to the IMMUNE SYSTEM.
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Thomas Kuhn, author of "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (1962)
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​ ​"Psychiatric conditions and cancer predicted a threefold greater risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 among younger people who tested positive for the illness, according to a recent study by the Rochester Epidemiology Project of Mayo Clinic."
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On Page 14 of the study --- "PERSONALITY DISORDERS" are included in the list of   disorders that make COVID worse.

Hmmm . . .

​Human Beings and Human Societies --- often when we don't have good understandings of illness or behavior:
  • the person is CURSED BY GOD
  • the person is POSSESSED BY A DEMON, and
  • In Modern Times
    • ​Eugenics, or
    • ​a BLIND FAITH in FREE WILL and NEUROPLASTICITY

A lot of the information collected on "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" is of VALUE --- it is just that it is SO PARTIAL.

Understanding "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" as some researchers in the US,  Finland and Japan are ---- as a DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER associated with "ADHD" and DEVELOPMENTAL NEURO-INFLAMMATION starts painting a DIFFERENT PICTURE even if we're not rejecting observed associations with the disorder.  


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Inflammatory "INSULTS"

9/3/2021

 
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The Impact of Systemic Inflammation on Neurodevelopment --- Trends in Molecular Medicine (2018) --- click image to go to article.
​For many people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ---- from the Research it appears Maternal Immune Activation is a SIGNIFICANT FACTOR.
​

One of the things that is happening is that the Medical Profession's call to INTEGRATE Physical and Mental Health is PAYING OFF in NEW DISCOVERIES in a BIG WAY.

A lot of our CHRONIC DISEASE & MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES are being linked to the IMMUNE SYSTEM and INFLAMMATION.

Certainly with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS including blurred Traditional Mental Illnesses such as " Bipolar Disorder", "Depression" and "Schizophrenia" as well as Traditional Developmental Disabilities such as ADHD and AUTISM ---- those all often involve MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION.

We're talking about something outside of one generation BUT the last time we talked about that our solution was EUGENICS --- that is NOT THE RIGHT ANSWER ---- and the fact of the matter is that these "DISORDERS" are well represented at top of this SOCIETY.

So what happened --- we found out that NOT ALL of "MENTAL ILLNESS" was GENETIC --- just 80%.
  • We came up with some problematic medications that work on the brain globally that actually are a big step up from LOBOTOMY (Progress, NOT PERFECTION);
  • We got rid of our ASYLUMS, and
  • We didn't invest in HIGH-END COMMUNITY TREATMENT largely because we didn't think we needed it --- if those RECALCITRANT MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS would just take the MEDICATION --- it would be fine.

WELL IT WASN"T FINE.

In 2021, the largest institutions for people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are JAILS & PRISON and BRAIN INJURY is even more prevalent according to the current DATA --- although there is often a lot of overlap --- and I suspect when we start including ADHD in the calculation --- it will look a little different  than our current estimations.

What's that other 20%?  Just PURE FREE WILL, right?  Not exactly.  A big part of that looks like MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION and EPIGENETICS.


It may be that we have reached A CRITICAL MASS of people with psychiatric disorders, auto-immune diseases and chronic health issues that we're willing to invest in the RESEARCH, TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH and COMMUNITY SUPPORTS that are necessary until better treatments are made available. 
​
How Neuro-Immune Interactions Burn Deep Fat
*** The Immune System, Physical Health Issues & Mental Health
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    Translational Medicine Friday

    We're riffing off NPR's Science Friday to create Translational Medicine Friday.

    We'll be collecting Research Article recommendations for Clinicians with regard to Cognitive Disability.

    ​There is much in the RESEARCH JOURNALS and we'll just be SKIMMING THE SURFACE.

    The POINT is to INCREASE FUNDING for TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH at the Federal Level for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Nation's Research & Teaching Hospitals and possible collaborations with Medicare and Medicaid providers.

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