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Targeted Amino Acid
Therapy
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by Sybil A. Stock, MD
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| An
alternative or adjunct to antidepressants |
While
anti-depressants and other psychotropic drugs do help many people,
there are multiple potential pitfalls such as mild to severe side
effects, gradual decline in efficacy, and complete or partial lack of
effectiveness to start.
A new study that appeared in the January 17, 2008 issue of the
prestigious New England Journal of Medicine showed evidence that
doctors and the public may be getting a distorted picture of
anti-depressants' effectiveness due to selective publication of
antidepressant trials. The article presented evidence that the great
majority (94%) of studies published in medical journals testing the
effectiveness of antidepressants show positive results (i.e., the drug
was shown to be more effective than placebo). However, an FDA analysis
showed that only 51% of total studies had positive results.
It seems that studies viewed as having negative or ambiguous results
were, with three exceptions, either not published or presented in a way
that conveyed a positive outcome. Another potential problem is that
most psychiatric medications carry "black box warnings" of the
possibility of effects so extreme that they may be irreversible or
fatal. The existence of "black box" and other side effects is often
treated as trivial, or not even mentioned to patients by their doctors.
Additionally, there is a growing sense that the medical profession is
losing public trust due to conflict-of-interest problems, especially
related to the pharmaceutical industry. One other issue in the
prescribing of psychiatric medication is that a lot of guesswork is
involved.
There exists, however, a complementary/alternative system that relies
on validated methods for assessing neurotransmitter imbalances and that
can be used instead of, or in combination with, medication. This system
is called Targeted Amino Acid Therapy, because the specific amino acids
that are the precursors (building blocks) of specific
neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, are
utilized to correct neurotransmitter deficiencies. In addition to
depression and anxiety, many other common problems such as attention
deficit disorder, and hormonal issues such as PMS and perimenopause and
menopause-related symptoms, are manifested in neurotransmitter
imbalances.
In this alternative system, levels of about a dozen different
neurotransmitters, including those that are targeted by psychiatric
medication, are measured in the urine. These may then be compared to
the reference "optimal" ranges established based on the measurement of
neurotransmitters in healthy adults who are on no medications and have
no clinical complaints. It is sometimes helpful to test levels of sex
and adrenal hormones, as well, and a full panel of thyroid hormones
should always be checked.
Some neurotransmitters are excitatory (analogous to stepping on the gas
pedal of a car) and help us feel good and energized, when optimal.
Others are inhibitory (analogous to stepping on the brakes); these keep
the excitatory in check and help us to feel good and calm, when
optimal. A dynamic interplay between excitatory and inhibitory
neurotransmitters makes it necessary to look at and address the whole
complex.
Antidepressant medications block the re-uptake of neurotransmitters
like serotonin and norepinephrine, taking only what (little) you
already make, and enabling that to be more available for your brain to
use. They do not increase the amount of serotonin or norepinephrine in
your system. In fact, over time, being on antidepressants results in
the gradual depletion of your neurotransmitter stores. This is
reflected in peoples' experiences that an antidepressant worked well at
first, and for a certain period of time, but then became less and less,
or no longer at all, effective.
When amino acid combinations are given, they do enable you to increase
the amount of neurotransmitter that is made. Thus, they are able to
boost deficiencies in neurotransmitters on their own, and also to work
synergistically with antidepressants since they counteract the
depletion effect of the drugs. And they do this with minimal, and
generally no, adverse effects.
In summary, Targeted Amino Acid Therapy is an extremely useful
alternative or adjunctive treatment for depression, anxiety, attention
deficit disorder, hormonal issues and other problems caused by
neurotransmitter imbalance.
Sybil Stock
is a board-certified adult psychiatrist.
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