Is Mitochondrial Dysfunction the Cause of All Mental Illness?
I just listened to a very interesting podcast – Tim Ferriss was interviewing a Harvard affiliated psychiatrist – Chris Palmer.
The podcast overview is as follows:
Chris Palmer, MD, of Harvard Medical School — Optimizing Brain Energy for Mental Health, The Incredible Potential of Metabolic Psychiatry, Extraordinary Case Studies, and Harnessing Mitochondria for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
Chris is a big proponent of the ketogenic diet and he has seen some dramatic improvements in the condition of some of his patients once they adopted the diet.
What I found particularly fascinating about the podcast was his hypothesis that all mental health issues can be related to a metabolic cause – specifically mitochondrial dysfunction (and he discusses other factors such as diet and exercise).
Pricera/NAD+ Highight
Optimizing NAD+ levels as we age is critical for mitochondrial function
NAD+ Treatment for Mitochondrial Dysfunction
https://advancedcryonyc.com/nad-treatment-for-mitochondrial-dysfunction
For more information on Pricera, here is a link
Prescription drugs for mental health issues can have significant negative effects on health: weight gain, the development of blood sugar issues and diabetes, cognition issues mitochondrial dysfunction and more.
It’s a fascinating concept and it reinforces even more the central role that the mitochondria play in overall health – and as Chris suggests in mental health.
Here is a link to Chris’s website – there are lots of articles and published papers links.
From his website here are a few key published papers:
Medical Journals
Norwitz NG, Dalai SS, Palmer CM. Ketogenic diet as a metabolic treatment for mental illness [published online ahead of print, 2020 Aug 6]. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2020;10.1097/MED.0000000000000564. doi:10.1097/MED.0000000000000564 VIDEO ABSTRACT: https://cdn-links.lww.com/permalink/coe/a/coe_2020_07_08_palmer_med270505_sdc1.mp4
Zoltán Sarnyai, Christopher M Palmer, Ketogenic Therapy in Serious Mental Illness: Emerging Evidence, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, , pyaa036, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyaa036
Sarnyai Z, Kraeuter AK, Palmer CM. Ketogenic diet for schizophrenia: clinical implication. Current Opinions in Psychiatry. 2019 Sep;32(5):394-401. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000535.
Palmer CM. Diets and Disorders: Can Foods or Fasting Be Considered Psychopharmacologic Therapies? Journal Clinical Psychiatry. 2019 Jul 9;81(1). doi: 10.4088/JCP.19ac12727.
Palmer CM, Gilbert-Jaramillo J, Westman EC. The ketogenic diet and remission of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia: Two case studies. Schizophrenia Research. 2019 Jun; 208:439-440. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.03.019. Epub 2019 Apr 6.
Gilbert-Jaramillo J, Vargas-Pico D, Espinosa-Mendoza T, Falk S,
Llanos-Fernández K, Guerrero-Haro J, Orellana-Román C, Poveda-Loor C,
Valdevila-Figueira J, Palmer CM. The effects of the ketogenic diet on psychiatric symptomatology, weight and metabolic dysfunction in schizophrenia patients. Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. July 31, 2018. Volume 1(1): 1-5. doi: 10.15761/CNM.100010
Palmer CM. Ketogenic diet in the treatment of schizoaffective disorder: Two case studies. Schizophrenia Research 2017 Nov;189:208-209. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2017.01.053. Epub 2017 Feb 3.