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PULLING THE TRIGGER Stress PULLING THE TRIGGER to orthomolecular treatment—experienced significant permanent Stress improvements in their mental health after identifying and Stress is the easiest way to promote the metabolism of adrena- eliminating from their diets specific foods to which they were ine in the human body. Although medical interest in stress can allergic.” e traced back to Hippocrates,* it was not until the 1920s that These clues to the aetiology of schizophrenia suggest that diet physiologist Walter Cannon confirmed that response to stress is often plays a key role in triggering the disorder. This may be one art of a unified mind-body system. Cannon was able to show of the reasons why so many recovered schizophrenics believe that various stressors, including extreme cold, lack of oxygen and _— they were formerly hypoglycaemic and that they had greatly emotion-arousing incidents, trigger an outpouring of epinephrine —_— improved only after a major dietary change. How can so many (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). These enter the different foods trigger one disease? The best way to understand a loodstream from sympathetic nerve endings in the inner adrenal _ disorder is often to examine extreme cases. A few people are glands.” In those stressed, the sympathetic exceedingly allergic to a particular food, nervous system increases respiration and such as peanuts or salmon, or to a product eart rate, diverts blood to skeletal muscles such as latex, and can die rapidly if exposed and releases fat from storage. All these to even small quantities of it.’ Allergic changes prepare the body for what Cannon reactions can include skin rashes, itching, called "fight or flight" and are obviously part hives, burning eyes, swollen lips and tongue, of a response system that has evolved in an difficulty breathing, wheezing, dizziness, effort to deal with perceived threats. In summary, abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhoea. In Unfortunately, in situations of chronic rarer cases, a strongly allergic individual stress, the "fight or flight" response becomes stress may be suffers shock; blood pressure drops marked- counterproductive, leading to a cumulative a trigger for ly, the throat swells and airways in the lungs build-up of adrenaline, noradrenaline and schizo hrenia constrict. Without immediate treatment with cortisol. If these substances are not properly p . epinephrine, death from anaphylactic shock metabolised, long-term stress appears to pro- because it occurs. mote disorders ranging from headaches . est increases the and high blood pressure to rheumatoid arthritis and allergies.””. What is signifi- production of the precursors of cant here is that the "fight or flight" adrenochrome. Interestingly, the treatment of choice for anaphylaxis, whether caused by latex,” peanuts, or insect stings,“' is always epinephrine, a dilute solution of adrenaline. This is because, during an allergic reaction, the chronic inflammatory response is usually characterised by numerous polymorphonuclear leukocytes,” the presence of which has been shown by Matthews and co-workers" to be linked to the oxidation of adrenaline to adrenochrome. In such an allergic stressed carries one of the genetic aber- reaction, oxidation of adrenaline to rations linked to schizophrenia, adrenochrome is detectable within five adrenochrome levels are likely to be higher than normal and may minutes and continues for at least four hours. response to stress is associated with an elevation of adrenaline, oxidation of which can lead to an excess of adrenochrome. It is perhaps not sur- prising, then, that chronic stress is often linked to anxiety, poor concentration, depression, anger, frustration, fear and sadness. Of course, if the individual being be linked to the paranoia and hallucinations that this indole causes Of course, many people are allergic to substances that occur in when taken accidentally or experimentally.” water supplies or as air pollutants or as an integral part of prod- In summary, stress may be a trigger for schizophrenia because ucts of one type or another.“ This may be one of the reasons why it increases the production of the precursors of adrenochrome. schizophrenia's prevalence has markedly increased during the Industrial Revolution. Industrialisation has brought with it an - Allergies enormous range of pollutants that have adversely affected air, Physicians at the Moscow Psychiatric Institute used long fasts water and soil quality. By 1977, the American Chemical Society to treat schizophrenia, greatly improving the symptoms of 64 per had registered some four million chemical compounds, 32,000 of cent of all chronic patients who completed their program.” This which were in commercial use.** It is unknown how many of strongly suggests that there may be dietary triggers for the disor- these are potentially dangerous, although there are currently some der. Further support for this possibility comes from the recogni- 2,450 substances that are thought to cause cancer in the work- tion that such fasting normalises catecholamine levels in the urine —_ place. While attempts are generally made to establish the possible of schizophrenics.” carcinogenicity of such industrial chemicals, their potential effects Countries where the national diet traditionally contains larg’ on mental health rarely appear to be considered. In summary, stress may be a trigger for schizophrenia because it increases the precursors of adrenochrome. - Allergies Physicians at the Moscow Psychiatric Institute used long fasts to treat schizophrenia, greatly improving the symptoms of 64 per cent of all chronic patients who completed their program.” This strongly suggests that there may be dietary triggers for the disor- der. Further support for this possibility comes from the recogni- tion that such fasting normalises catecholamine levels in the urine of schizophrenics.*! Countries where the national diet traditionally contains large quantities of cow's milk and wheat have poor recovery rates for schizophrenics.” This is to be expected, as some schizophrenics greatly improve on gluten-free diets,** perhaps because coeliac disease is common in their families.* Indeed, Pfeiffer claimed that 10 per cent of schizophrenics suffer from a gluten allergy.* Hoffer also discovered that, in some fasting schizophrenics, the reintroduction of cow's milk caused hallucinations.” Indeed, 120 of Hoffer's "problem patients"—those who had not responded well = Hypoglycaemia Hypoglycaemia was initially described by Dr Seale Harris‘* in 1924 when he discovered that sugar consumption stimulated the body to release insulin which, in turn, drove blood sugar levels down. Harris discovered that a high-protein, low-sugar diet— eaten at frequent, small meals—maintained a normal and stable blood sugar level, so controlling hypoglycaemia. APRIL — MAY 2004 NEXUS +29 production of the www.nexusmagazine.com