SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Inflamed Mind: A Radical New Approach to Depression

by Edward Bullmore
Picador. Jan. 2019. 256p. index. ISBN 9781250318145. $28; ebk. ISBN 9781250318152. PSYCH
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Since the introduction of Prozac 30 years ago, there has been little new in the way of psychiatric drugs. Bullmore (psychiatry, Cambridge Univ.) argues that Prozac and similar medications have proven to be dead ends because they don't address the root cause of depression. That cause, argues the author, is inflammation of brain tissue, the same condition responsible for arthritis, gum disease, and various digestive complaints. Bullmore reveals a scientific discipline on the verge of a paradigm shift, describing how immunologists and neurologists have overturned the notion of an impermeable blood/brain barrier to illustrate how byproducts of the body's fight against infection may contribute to changes in mood.
VERDICT Readers looking for current treatments for depression or self-help advice will not find it here, but those concerned with the science behind depression or autoimmune disorders will discover the current state of research very compelling, as will general readers who enjoyed Siddharta Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies.
Reviewed by Mary Ann Hughes, Shelton, WA , Oct 01, 2018
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