[ExI] We are all feral

[Keith Henson]

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 5:00 AM,  Darren Greer <darren.greer3 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Keith wrote:
>
>>
> http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jun/03-the-insanity-virus/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=
>
> It's a lot of insight into MS and Schizophrenia, even bipolar.<
>
> Thanks for this Keith. I'm surprised I've never heard of it.

It's really new and it takes time for knowledge to soak into public
consciousness.  Think of how long it took for ulcers to be recognized
as the outcome of h. pylori infection.

> I was diagnosed
> with Type I Bipolar Disorder in August of 2004, and have spent a fair amount
> of time researching and thinking about it and illnesses like it since then.
> This information is actually quite hopeful, for the current approaches to
> treating Bipolar, through anti-psychotics and mood-stabilizers, leaves a lot
> to be desired.

Indeed.  Same can be said of MS and schizophrenia.

> Even my own psychiatrist, one of the best we have in the
> country, admits it's a baffling disease with less-than-ideal treatments.

You should show him the article.  The thing that ties together all
three of these (and perhaps others) is the small but measurable
association with being born in the spring.  It may turn out that what
you mostly need is treatment with retroviral replication inhibitors.
Fortunately we have a bunch of those at hand due to HIV.

Which brings up a really interesting large scale data analysis
project.  Do people who have MS/schizophrenia/bipolar and get HIV
improve with respect to these problems when they go on retroviral
drugs?  I am sure the data is out there, but I don't know if anyone
has looked at it.

> The
> best you can hope for is to become symptom free by creating a consistently
> emotionally flat mood (itself not an ideal situation) through a lot of
> medications with some pretty harsh side-effects.

You might research what inhibitor would work best against HERV-W and
see if you can get your doctor to prescribe it as a test.

Best wishes,

Keith