4 ms·

Ketogenic diet may play a role in treating schizophrenia: research (2019)

25 points by oblib 2y ago

deanc 2y ago
Ketosis is an interesting topic. There's also emerging research suggesting that it can play a role in the development of cysts for those who have APKD (Polycystic kidney disease). [1] [1] https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(23)00477-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2666379123004779%3Fshowall%3Dtrue https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-37...
matthest 2y ago
They were using keto for epilepsy as far back as the 1920s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet Then drugs came out and everyone ran for the quick fix.
- lambdaba 2y ago
  This is true for other very effective cures: vitamin D has a similar story. There is no money in cures that target the root cause which is often basic nutrition and using the biology as it was designed, instead drugs can be invented, patented, and when everybody takes them there isn't a control group left to notice that in aggregate they make things worse. And the doctors are indoctrinated to know nothing about nutrition, to be fearful or dismissive of supplementation (see: vitamin D) and believe there is a pharma drug for every condition. The good news is it's rather easily fixable, but it is something that will never come from top down, it is and is going to be a bottom-up process.
  - matthest 2y ago
    Agree with everything you say here.
neogodless 2y ago
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421989 Chronic Schizophrenia Put into Remission with Ketogenic Diet (psychologytoday.com) July 12, 2019 (14 comments)
- oblib 2y ago
  There are some newer studies since then that are backing up this one. I ran across this one about a couple months ago and bookmarked it and then searched for others as well. One goes back 10 years ago so I was pretty much shocked because I've been looking into this (Schizophrenia) for quite a long time and somehow never came across this.
onemoresoop 2y ago
There's a YouTube channel named 'Living well with schizophrenia' in which the protagonist is talking about her own story and suffering with this mental disorder. Recently she announced she'd started her ketogenic diet and so far so good, she's symptom free and slowly tapering off her medication.
- lambdaba 2y ago
  I came to comment exactly this, here is the video where she announces it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU1ORt6ZnVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU1ORt6ZnVE It's interesting to go through her earlier videos where she documents her daily life.
  - onemoresoop 2y ago
    It's interesting to watch plenty of homegrown YouTube channels where people document their mental health, it's absolutely fascinating to watch this phenomena take place.
    - lambdaba 2y ago
      For sure. It's like seeing the fog clear. I'm very optimistic about this development. Chronic health issues are numerous and immensely costly to individuals and society, and the establishment has obviously no clue how to fix it as was obvious in recent events.
- oblib 2y ago
  I love hearing that! I'll go check out that video. Thank you for sharing that.
lambdaba 2y ago
Keto is also being studied for bipolar. Many anecdotes available on YouTube and elsewhere. It appears mental illnesses have in origin metabolic / mitochondrial dysfunction, through a combination of environmental and genetic factors.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

25 points by oblib 2y ago

Ketosis is an interesting topic. There's also emerging research suggesting that it can play a role in the development of cysts for those who have APKD (Polycystic kidney disease). [1] [1] https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(23)00477-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2666379123004779%3Fshowall%3Dtrue https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-37...

matthest 2y ago

They were using keto for epilepsy as far back as the 1920s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet Then drugs came out and everyone ran for the quick fix.

lambdaba 2y ago
This is true for other very effective cures: vitamin D has a similar story. There is no money in cures that target the root cause which is often basic nutrition and using the biology as it was designed, instead drugs can be invented, patented, and when everybody takes them there isn't a control group left to notice that in aggregate they make things worse. And the doctors are indoctrinated to know nothing about nutrition, to be fearful or dismissive of supplementation (see: vitamin D) and believe there is a pharma drug for every condition. The good news is it's rather easily fixable, but it is something that will never come from top down, it is and is going to be a bottom-up process.
- matthest 2y ago
  Agree with everything you say here.

neogodless 2y ago

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421989 Chronic Schizophrenia Put into Remission with Ketogenic Diet (psychologytoday.com) July 12, 2019 (14 comments)

oblib 2y ago
There are some newer studies since then that are backing up this one. I ran across this one about a couple months ago and bookmarked it and then searched for others as well. One goes back 10 years ago so I was pretty much shocked because I've been looking into this (Schizophrenia) for quite a long time and somehow never came across this.

onemoresoop 2y ago

There's a YouTube channel named 'Living well with schizophrenia' in which the protagonist is talking about her own story and suffering with this mental disorder. Recently she announced she'd started her ketogenic diet and so far so good, she's symptom free and slowly tapering off her medication.

lambdaba 2y ago
I came to comment exactly this, here is the video where she announces it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU1ORt6ZnVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU1ORt6ZnVE It's interesting to go through her earlier videos where she documents her daily life.
- onemoresoop 2y ago
  It's interesting to watch plenty of homegrown YouTube channels where people document their mental health, it's absolutely fascinating to watch this phenomena take place.
  - lambdaba 2y ago
    For sure. It's like seeing the fog clear. I'm very optimistic about this development. Chronic health issues are numerous and immensely costly to individuals and society, and the establishment has obviously no clue how to fix it as was obvious in recent events.
oblib 2y ago
I love hearing that! I'll go check out that video. Thank you for sharing that.

lambdaba 2y ago

Keto is also being studied for bipolar. Many anecdotes available on YouTube and elsewhere. It appears mental illnesses have in origin metabolic / mitochondrial dysfunction, through a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]