[astazangasta]

This is garbage. Contrary to popular belief, remission is in fact common in schizophrenia, so n=2 demonstrates precisely nothing. In addition, there is no evidence that schizophrenics have any brain dysfunction other than that caused by taking neuroleptics for decades.

[perl4ever]

It's debatable how much antipsychotics help, but people do become ill in the first place, and do develop brain damage over time independently of the drugs. Psychosis is natural and not healthy.

The problem I see is not that there is a vast conspiracy to push useless drugs, but that the drug industry inherently is geared towards developing the "minimum viable product" which means anything that has a just barely statistically significant effect in studies. Which means everything new is just possibly useful, but quite possibly not.

[kdmccormick]

Yikes. This case study isn't in any way conclusive, but it also doesn't claim to be. You need a better reason than that to write it off as "garbage".

I have bipolar disorder. My uncle had schizophrenia. YEARS without an episode AND without medication is an exciting prospect for many people, including myself. I don't understand why you are so negative towards preliminary findings that may point to a route of treatment that doesn't require neuroleptics, which as you correctly point out, can cause cognitive impairment.

[rhinoceraptor]

Also, it's been known almost 100 years that the ketogenic diet has neuroprotective attributes. There's strong evidence of its efficacy for epilepsy, and mounting evidence for all sorts of other conditions.

[itcheeze]

I'm inclined to agree. That being said, having been prescribed zyprexa for type 1 bipolar, anything that leads treatment away from the standard trope of what in my opinion is nothing other than a strong off-label tranquilizer for these symptoms is a positive thing in some regard.

[perl4ever]

I wonder if Wellbutrin/Zyban/bupropion is underutilized. It's well known that people with chronic mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, tend to smoke, as it seems like nicotine helps somehow. So I wonder if a "quit-smoking" drug is really a good treatment, because it enhances the sensitivity of the brain to whatever normally stimulates those receptors.

However, I know a lot of times this and similar drugs seem to stimulate impulsive, almost manic behavior when they are first started. A family member of an acquaintance took Chantix to quit smoking and nearly wrecked his life through uncharacteristically reckless behavior.

[itcheeze]

Anything is possible I guess.

It's amazing what medicine can and cannot do. While it's great to think that medicine and diet and exercise arranged in some unique fashion will place Schizophrenia/Bipolar into remission, there are an incredible number of variables in play in mental health and physical health overall, and they seem to vary in everyone.

So I take most of these articles with a huge grain of salt. Perhaps this is a nudge in the right direction, and maybe it will encourage further research into diet and mental illness. Personally I would support this as I'm far from enthusiastic concerning psych meds in general, but unfortunately they're the best we have it seems.

And yes, if you have had manic episodes, taking an anti-depressant should be done with care. Actually I would suggest doing everything possible and would recommend using any psych medication as a last resort for any health related situation.