A cacophony of cytokines explains the biopsychosocial interaction model of mental and physical disease
Journal Title: Archives of Depression and Anxiety - Year 2018, Vol 4, Issue 2
Abstract
Social, psychological and biological factors interact to cause both mental and physical disease. Chronic low grade inflammation is a risk factor for many conditions including atherosclerosis and its complications, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and depression. The inflammatory response is designed to protect against pathogenic micro-organisms but in the process some damage to our own tissues is inevitable. The process is complicated and is orchestrated by cytokines (intercellular messengers). Adaptive physiological responses to the many stresses of everyday life are also orchestrated by cytokines. The responses are nuanced and each variation involves a different specific tune. But if the response to stress runs at the same time as the inflammatory response there will be a cacophony. The inflammatory response will be sub-optimal increasing tissue damage and the physiological response to stress will be sub-optimal converting normal emotions into pathological mental states. Sleep, pregnancy and appetite control are also complex physiological states orchestrated by cytokines. They will be sub-optimal in the presence of chronic inflammation. Inflammation can be overt as in dental caries and periodontitis, or covert as in the carriage of bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus within an epithelial surface. We must seek to modify the bacterial flora in order to prevent disease. It is suggested that the natural substance with most potential for achieving this aim is yoghurt.
Authors and Affiliations
JA Morris
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP529396
- DOI 10.17352/2455-5460.000034
- Views 81
- Downloads 0
Physician Death by Suicide: Problems Seeking Stakeholder Solutions
Each year approximately 400 physicians die by suicide in the United States, leaving an estimated one million patients without their physicians [1-5]. Physicians are two to three times more likely to die by suicide than m...
Different Patterns of Attentional Bias in Subjects with Spider Phobia: A Dot Probe Task using Virtual Reality Environment
Background: Cognitive theories posit that small animal phobics develop a hypervigilance-avoidance attentional pattern when coping with threat. However, empirical research has failed to obtain consistent results. We aimed...
Compulsive Bowel Emptying and Rectal Prolapse in Eating Disorders. Presentation of Two Cases
Eating Disorders are a heterogeneous group of complex psychiatric disorders that affect physical and psychological functioning, thus compromising life itself. They are often characterized by extreme preoccupation with fo...
Music Intervention Can Improve Emotion in Cancer Patients during Disease Progression
Music has long been regarded to aid health and loss-adaptation, but effect of music intervention on cancer patients is not well-understood. The aims of this study are to summarize and describe the role of music before an...
Potential Involvement of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Major Depressive Disorder: Recent Evidence
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and it is a common psychological disorder in the world. Present antidepressants modulate monoamine systems directly or indirectly, because MD...