Common chemical may be connected to OCD
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder may not seem to be a very problematic disease, but to many it can even be debilitating. You can think of Mr. Monk from TV, though only fictional, there are people with similar levels of OCD that seriously impede on their daily lives.
Relief for these unfortunate people may be in sight with a recently discovered connection between the common biological chemical, glutamate, and OCD. Researchers at the School of Medicine at Wayne State studied a number of children with the disease because of the 1 to 3 percent of the population with the condition, about 80 percent developed symptoms early in childhood. The researchers found that in the children, certain areas of the brain, including the thalamus and the orbital prefrontal cortex, had abnormally high levels of glutamate. These areas that are most likely key in the symptoms of OCD are being deprived of serotonin and other important chemicals that glutamate effectively “shut off.”
So this means that drugs that reduce the glutamate levels in the brain may be a wonder cure for those who have serious forms of this disease. In fact, recent studies of a drug called riluzole, a drug commonly used in treating Lou Gehring’s disease, applied to OCD patients have shown great promise in reducing symptoms, but the trials are ongoing.
Admittedly, this research may be of little consequence to those who may experience a little OCD moment every once in awhile. Personally, I know I fall in that category and I’m sure nearly everyone can be a little OCD sometime, but OCD can be serious and I think it is awesome that there might relief on the horizon for those seriously affected, like the fictional Mr. Monk who may be able to be a police officer again if he can shake his OCD. All the real people that have lives similar to Monk will get relief too.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/148418.php
-John Horn
Relief for these unfortunate people may be in sight with a recently discovered connection between the common biological chemical, glutamate, and OCD. Researchers at the School of Medicine at Wayne State studied a number of children with the disease because of the 1 to 3 percent of the population with the condition, about 80 percent developed symptoms early in childhood. The researchers found that in the children, certain areas of the brain, including the thalamus and the orbital prefrontal cortex, had abnormally high levels of glutamate. These areas that are most likely key in the symptoms of OCD are being deprived of serotonin and other important chemicals that glutamate effectively “shut off.”
So this means that drugs that reduce the glutamate levels in the brain may be a wonder cure for those who have serious forms of this disease. In fact, recent studies of a drug called riluzole, a drug commonly used in treating Lou Gehring’s disease, applied to OCD patients have shown great promise in reducing symptoms, but the trials are ongoing.
Admittedly, this research may be of little consequence to those who may experience a little OCD moment every once in awhile. Personally, I know I fall in that category and I’m sure nearly everyone can be a little OCD sometime, but OCD can be serious and I think it is awesome that there might relief on the horizon for those seriously affected, like the fictional Mr. Monk who may be able to be a police officer again if he can shake his OCD. All the real people that have lives similar to Monk will get relief too.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/148418.php
-John Horn
posted by John Horn at 7:02 PM
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