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Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

Special AlternativeMentalHealth.com T-shirts and bumper stickers are available at our online store.

A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

Usually our editor's comment is on one topic but we have a lot of housekeeping to do so I wanted to touch upon a number of things.

First of all, many thanks to those who attended Safe Harbor's Mood Cure Workshop over the February 1 weekend in the Los Angeles area. It was a great success and Julia Ross was a joy to watch as she laid out her remarkably fast-acting amino acid therapies for anxiety, depression, ADD, and other problems. CDs of the workshop will be available shortly. We received MANY inquiries on whether we would be holding the event again in another city and the answer is probably yes. We will know more in the next month or so.

Safe Harbor's annual medical conference Non Pharma III - Non-Pharmaceutical Approaches to Mental Disorders - is now scheduled for the weekend of June 5 and 6, 2004, in the Los Angeles area. You will hear a lot more about this in our next issue.

Also, we want to extend our appreciation to the Boston Foundation for their recent grant to Safe Harbor, facilitated by the generous efforts of one of the practitioners on Safe Harbor's directory (Thanks, Judy!).

Lastly, we want to thank you, our readers. Safe Harbor's work is meaningless unless people like you pass the word on and USE or GET INTO USE the information we put out. We hear from you regularly and the best payment for our work are the stories that come in from those whose lives have been improved through non-drug approaches.

Magnetic waves being used to examine "bipolar" patients actually made them feel better, prompting further study with promising results, according to a study published in the January 2004 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

"This is a very unusual MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] exam used for the first time in this study. We were surprised at our good fortune in discovering this effect and we are excited about the initial findings," says Michael Rohan, imaging physicist in McLean's Brain Imaging Center.

"We were using MRI to investigate the effectiveness of certain medications in bipolar patients and noticed that many came out of the MRI feeling much better than when they went in. We decided to investigate further."

Researchers theorized that one type of magnetic pulse they were using was having the positive effect. "This was purely accidental. We just happened to use this set of magnetic gradients, which we think somehow matches the natural firing rhythm of brain cells." Technically this kind of scan is called EP-MRSI, or Echo-Planar Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging.

After realizing they may be observing a real effect, researchers expanded the study to include sham EP-MRSI scans [equivalent of a placebo control] with bipolar subjects, normal EP-MRSI scans in healthy subjects, in addition to EP-MRSI scans in bipolar subjects.

The results showed 23 out of 30 bipolar subjects who received the actual EP-MRSI tests reported mood improvement. Subjects who were not on medication showed even greater response (100 percent) compared to the response rate of those on medication (63 percent). These results were not seen in either of the control groups.

The authors note that one other test using electromagnetic energy has previously shown some positive effect in subjects with depression. This rTMS, or repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation test, was originally developed in the 1980s to test nerve function. It uses a magnetic device that is held next to the head. Studies using this treatment for depression typically result in a 40 percent to 50 percent response rate. However, the McLean authors note that this test uses a much stronger magnetic field (200 times stronger than theirs) that can be painful to the subject.

Like a standard MRI, the magnetic field the McLean researchers are using is not felt by the patient. Researchers are currently developing a tabletop device capable of generating the same magnetic field as originally used with the MRI scanner.

The smaller device is expected to prove more efficient and cost-effective enough for use in routine visits at a doctor's office.

"We are also planning a much larger clinical study using this smaller device to further test this effect," adds Rohan.

I "accidentally" discovered fish oil helped my bipolar immeasurably when I started taking it as a natural alternative to surgery for my wrist. They never did decide whether it was peripheral neuropathy from an OLD injury, or if it was carpal tunnel, but they didn't hesitate to recommend surgery. The fish oil sounded like a much better solution.

It worked... slowly. Meanwhile, a bipolar friend who saw me for the first time for a few months said how much BETTER I seemed - and whatever I was doing, to keep it up! I did, and the moods got even more stable. And more, and more. I knew the DHA [docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid] in the fish oil was shown to help depression, but while I was taking it they discovered EPA [eicosapentaenoic acid, another omega-3 fatty acid] was good for mood swings.

Dear friends,

You will be pleased to know that I underwent surgery for a parathyroid tumor December 23. Before the tumor was removed, my prime identification was "60 year old female with bipolar disorder." Immediately after surgery I had none of the markers of bipolar: gone were the dizziness, confusion, nausea, depression, exhaustion. I kept asking "What did you put in the anesthesia??"

As my calcium begins to pump into my nervous system, I have the most extraordinary feeling of well-being. My memory, though still sluggish, is becoming sharper, my spirits are full and I have never felt better in 60 years.

I do not want to get into the grief I know I will feel for the agonizing years I have lost and did not need to. But I do want to put up a red flag to those of you who can make a difference. Listen with all your ears, test everything upside-down, hear the patient.

I told every clinician I was not a manic depressive and (upon reading my files) was designated in severe denial, noncompliant, etc. I also addressed my high calcium levels 10 and 15 years ago, but my concerns were dismissed with "They're slightly high - nothing to worry about."

Our son was born with a blood disorder called spherocytosis and had his spleen removed at age three. All was well and he had to take folic acid for years.

At age 20 he was misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder. This diagnosis came after he had suffered something quite horrific which left him in a manic state.

Because of his disoriented state, my son was taken to the hospital, where he was deemed "medically fit enough" to sign a form giving the hospital permission to keep him as a psychiatric patient for an indefinite period of time. When we realized what all those meds were doing to him, we tried to get him released, or perhaps transferred to a hospital nearer to our home. The response was that he was "not mentally fit" to sign a form giving us his medical power of attorney (something that he has since made sure that we now have).

We found ourselves in a "catch-22" situation in which our son seemed to be a pawn. We knew his normal behavior, the hospital didn't and we knew that something horrific had happened to him, something that the hospital didn't seem to think was important. We have since learned that severe stress can quickly deplete the body of B12, causing mania and bipolar-like symptoms. Because our son was in that age group when bipolar symptoms often begin, he fit that profile and was exhibiting abnormal behavior, he was admitted to the psychiatric ward.

He couldn't tolerate the meds and quit taking them. After five years of taking no meds, the doctors had to re-evaluate their original diagnosis, as a bipolar person cannot go five years without proper meds and maintain good mental health. He seemed fine but bouts of depression and anxiety will hit him now and again.

I remember reading an article which stated that a deficiency in vitamin B12 could cause a person to be misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder. I sent my son this article and after reading it he started taking B12 in the form of lozenges which are dissolved under the tongue. He is 29 now and still takers B12 in lozenge form daily. He doesn't suffer anxiety or depression unless he forgets to take them.

The British government's medicines agency says it will look into whether new anti-depressant drugs increase a patient's suicide risk, according to a Reuters story released January 6, 2004.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said the study will estimate the risk of suicide, suicidal thoughts, non-fatal overdose and self-laceration in patients taking selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) and tricyclic anti-depressants (TCA).

Among health regulatory agencies, Britain's has taken the lead in reviewing the safety of SSRI drugs following reports that some depressed patients turn violent or suicidal while under the influence of the drugs or undergoing withdrawal from them.

A safety review in children last year resulted in the UK agency's advice against prescribing nearly all SSRIs to under-18s due to risks found to outweigh the benefits.

The new study will follow patients of all ages up to 90 who were diagnosed with depression between 1995 and 2001, the agency said.

Relative risks of suicide and other problems would be calculated for SSRI and tricyclic anti-depressant treatment versus no drug treatment, SSRI versus TCA treatment, and for each SSRI compared with GlaxoSmithKline's SSRI Seroxat/Paxil (paroxetine), perhaps chosen as a benchmark because it is Britain's most commonly prescribed SSRI.

Strokes can now often be treated successfully with medications years after the original incident. Dr. William Hammesfahr, a Florida physician, discovered that the use of FDA-approved hypertension and cardiac disease medications can produce significant improvement in cognitive, personality, intellectual and memory function in most patients with brain injury or stroke. For this discovery, Hammesfahr was nominated in 1999 for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology.

Previously, it was believed that stroke victims saw whatever improvement there would be within the first few hours, and that there would be little or no improvement thereafter. Medications given after strokes were mainly to prevent further strokes.

Understandably, Dr. Hammesfahr's announcements have met with skepticism and outright attack. Claims that the revolutionary stroke therapy could not possibly be true, and therefore must be fraudulent, were brought before the Florida Department of Health. After a thorough investigation, Judge Susan Kirkland declared that Dr. Hammesfahr was "the first physician to treat patients successfully to restore deficits caused by stroke."

The evidence presented included results of independent studies done on stroke victims using Hammesfahr's protocol. Diane K. Harley, a court-recognized expert in physical therapy located in the Tampa Bay area, reported that most patients in her study had been paralyzed for longer than a year and had no hope of improvement. She tested patients in the study prior to the protocol, and then three weeks into the procedure. Of 242 patients tested, 221 improved within three weeks, and none were harmed.

Dr. Alex T. Gimon, a Tampa Bay psychologist and a court-recognized expert in neuropsychology and brain injury, tested a group of 168 patients, and then a group of 164 patients. Again, most of these subjects had experienced stroke or brain injury at least a year before the study began, and had discontinued physical and cognitive rehabilitation. Gimon reported marked improvement in most of his test subjects within 15 days.

Further testimony was made by two private physicians who themselves experienced strokes, underwent Hammersfahr's treatment, and returned to their practices. A former NFL football player, Steven Putnal, testified that after being paralyzed for 18 months, he was now able to return to his hobbies of hunting and walking in the woods. A man who had been unable to speak after a stroke testified verbally for over two hours about his recovery.

Acceptance by Medicare is a good sign that a treatment has been accepted into the medical mainstream. In November of 2002, Medicare approved federal funds for the Hammesfahr treatment, identifying the innovative physician as the first to treat patients with permanent neurological deficits who were previously felt to be untreatable.

Finally, the U.S. Patent Office, after a five-year investigation, declared the therapy innovative and effective, and issued a patent.

Dr. William Hammesfahr has offices at the Hammesfahr Neurological Institute, 600 Druid Road East in Clearwater, Florida, 33756, (727) 461-4464, Fax (727) 443-1984.

A new recommendation jointly signed by the American Diabetes Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists urges caution in administering the anti-psychotics Abilify, Clozaril, Geodon, Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa.

People taking these drugs - commonly prescribed for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, and dementia - should be carefully watched for signs of diabetes, obesity or high cholesterol, according to the statement, published in the journal Diabetes Care (February 2004).

Recent studies were cited linking those side effects to the antipsychotics.

Obesity and diabetes, like high cholesterol, raise a person's risk of heart disease.

The recommendation says doctors should screen patients before starting them on such a drug or as soon as possible afterward, noting such things as a history of obesity and diabetes in the patient and the family, and the patient's weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Doctors should also monitor the patient during the course of treatment.

Patients and family members should be informed of the potential for the side effects, and be told of signs of diabetes and especially those of a life-threatening complication called diabetic ketoacidosis, the statement says. That complication is marked by such symptoms as weight loss, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing and dehydration.

Dr. Doris Rapp, internationally recognized authority on allergies has come up with an outstanding work in her latest book, Our Toxic World, A Wake Up Call: Chemicals Damage Your Body, Brain, Behavior, and Sex.

This book exposes the disturbing truth about the multifaceted daily assault humans experience in the industrial world through our air and water. She discussed the primary chemicals we are exposed to, their effects, and what you can do about it.

Chapters include How Can You Tell if Chemicals Hurt You?; Can Chemicals Affect Behavior, Activity, Learning, and Child Development?; Sex and Chemicals; and Just How Contaminated Are We?

She not only addresses those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities but also the millions of other who are harmed, often unknowingly, by chemical, mold, and other exposures, resulting in debilitating physical and mental injury. The book also gives specific instructions on how to spot if you or your loved ones are being adversely effected by chemical exposure.

For those of you who have winced while watching the Zoloft commercial with the little oval creature becoming happy and sad as the announcer explains that it's all a chemical imbalance - the following Web site may give you some relief from this depressing advertising.

It is a full action cartoon with sound so takes a little time to load but it is very funny: