Page 61 - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry

The Role of Allergies, Poisons, and Toxins in Psychiatry | 61

present. Mold can also exist for years in locations such as
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, causing
continuous exposure at home or work.

Depression and Anxiety

It is well established that inflammation and inflammatory
mechanisms play a critical role in major depression. Elevations
in proinflammatory cytokines and other inflammation-related
proteins are common in depressive disorders (Raedler 2011). It
should not be too surprising then to find that 71% of people with
depression also have a history of allergies (Bell 1991). This is 3.5
times the rate of the general population (Gelfand 2010).
It is also known that depression scores increase with the
exacerbation of allergy symptoms and that cytokines are
elevated in the prefrontal cortex in victims of suicide
(Postolache 2007).
There is an overwhelming preponderance of studies showing
the relationship between allergies and depression (and anxiety).
The causal relationship includes the triggering of the immune
system and cytokines, the impairment of sleep through nasal
obstruction resulting in psychiatric symptoms, and the negative
effect on cognitive function associated with allergies (Sansone
2011).
Gastrointestinal inflammation also may be a significant
contributing factor to depression (Fehér 2011). Food allergies
can play a major role. It has been found, for example, that 25% of
Irritable Bowel Syndrome patients, in whom GI inflammation is
common, are sensitive to cow milk, wheat, egg, tomato, and
chocolate. Symptoms improve on an elimination diet (Carroccio
2011).
Given that allergies commonly impact the respiratory and
cardiovascular systems, it comes as no surprise that restricted
breathing or asthma with accompanying tachycardia, so
frequently found with allergies, is a common trigger for anxiety