Soil Bacteria Work In Similar Way To Antidepressants
02 Apr 2007  

UK scientists suggest that a type of friendly bacteria found in soil may affect the brain in a similar way to antidepressants.

Their findings are published in the early online edition of the journal Neuroscience.

Researchers from Bristol University and University College London discovered using laboratory mice, that a "friendly" bacteria commonly found in soil activated brain cells to produce the brain chemical serotonin and altered the mice's behaviour in a similar way to antidepressants.

They are suggesting this could explain why immune system imbalance could make some people vulnerable to mood disorders like depression.

Lead author, Dr Chris Lowry from Bristol University said, "These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health".

"They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all be spending more time playing in the dirt," he added.

More in the full story...

Please come Saturday, March 10, 2007 to the La Crosse Public Library from 10:30am to 12:00 pm to learn about single payer national healthcare as the solution.

We are pleased to announce an event of a newly formed group, the Great_Northern_States_Health_Care_Initiative, and guest speaker Kip_Sullivan, author of "the Health Care Mess: How We Got Into It and How We Will Get Out of It." Mr. Sullivan has been teaching and writing about the American healthcare crisis since 1986. He will share some of his research and his ideas of how to fix the health care problem in this country.

The Great Northern States Health Care Initiative is a nonpartisan group of folks from both sides of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and Wisconsin, who have come together for the purpose of advocacy for a better health care system in our states and our nation.

Please join us on Saturday, March 10 at the La Crosse Public Library as we educate ourselves and others in our communities on the importance of a single-payer health care system. We recognize there are current political obstacles to a single-payer system yet we hope to raise awareness as to its benefits.

We hope to see you there.

Maureen Freedland, Fabio Burgos, Edie MacDougal, Dayle Anne Schechter,
Linda Van Art

But I am actually sympathetic, too.  I don't know Ms. Kapanke, and I don't know the pain she has experienced.  Was she feeding an addiction, with craving for drugs running her life?  This is a hell I would wish on no one.  Or was she trying to find relief from chronic pain that prevented her from having a quality of life?  

The meeting included a speaker, a respected specialist from a large clinic, who wants very much to provide good medical care, and to help others to do the same.  He spoke on the importance of vitamin D in keeping bones healthy, showed research showing not only deficiency in this vitamin among many, but also its effects on muscle strength, and on falls in the elderly.  So what's wrong with this picture?