In this video, we introduce Robert D. McMullen, MD who is a psychiatrist in NYC who has been performing psychopharmacology for over 30 years, the last 10 of which include transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS). Today, he will discuss probiotics as a treatment for depression.
First off, probiotics are very important and they are different forms of bacteria that we try to seed into our intestines to improve the number of good bacteria and decrease the number of bad ones. Our GI tract has been very diverse as long as humans have been around. Humans have about 100 trillion bacteria in our gut and there are 300 to 1000 different species of bacteria in addition to different varieties in these species. Since humans have coexisted with these bacteria for so long we have made use of them with some of them embedding themselves in the walls of our colon. However, things have changed over the years in human evolution and we no longer have as much biodiversity in our intestines.
One example of this change in biodiversity is the Amish people from Pennsylvania and other areas that have much less asthma in their children than the Mennonites. Both of these groups are very similar in nature and come from very similar places in Europe. However, the difference is that the Amish do not use any modern tractors or technology and do everything by hand manually or with horses. On the other hand, Mennonites have accepted the use of modern technology such as cars and tractors. Scientists studied these two groups and found that there was a lot more diversity in the bacteria found in the intestines of the Amish. This is because they are exposed to more bacteria due to the dirtier environment in which they live than the Mennonites, who live in a much more cleaner environment. This exposure to bacteria gives the Amish children much gut diversity just from breathing it in on a regular basis.
Over the last few 1000 years, things have changed dramatically in regard to bacteria. Microbiologists who study bacteria call certain bacteria “old friends” and these are bacteria we used to have in large proportions in our bodies but no longer have today. Some of them came from stagnant waters, which is what our ancestors consumed regularly thousands of years ago. The hunter-gatherers had a really diverse GI bacteria in their bodies due to their diet which consisted of plants, and lean wild animals, both of which contained a lot of good bacteria. Therefore, in order to improve our GI bacteria, we must change our diets and take probiotic pills, which have been shown to help with depression. In one study performed by a Norwegian researcher, probiotics were used on people who were prone to depression. The study showed that probiotics had reduced their risk of depression by 50%.
These are just some of the findings presented in the video above. Although there is still more research needed to be performed on the effects of probiotics on treating depression, the current research that has been done has yielded very positive results thus far.
To learn more:
TMS Braincare
Location 1: 171 W 79th St #2, New York, NY 10024
Location 2: 344 Main St, Mt Kisco, NY 10549
Phone: 212 362-9635
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TMS BrainCare
Address: #2, 171 W 79th St, New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 362-9635
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