Our knowledge of immunology has exploded during the past twenty years; two decades ago it was a more self-contained field, today there are few serious medical disorders that aren’t either complicated by, or directly the result of, our immune system. And the author’s thesis here is this: “inflammation” is an essential part of our immune system’s response to attack; inflammation can affect any organ of the body—including the brain, causing many of those changes in mood, thinking and behaviour characterised as “depression”. The case he’s making is that in many people depression is directly caused by an inflammatory disease: in rheumatoid arthritis, for example, depressed mood can be as much a symptom as swollen and painful joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is itself an auto-immune disorder in which the immune system attacks its own body, flooding it with hostile antibodies and inflammatory proteins, and Bullmore is extending this to include effects on the brain as well.
    The reason this seems to most of the medical profession such a revolutionary—even nonsensical—idea is that it brings together two realms medicine usually prefers to keep apart: body and mind. Terms such as “neuro-immunology” and “immuno-psychiatry” reflect the orthodox dualistic view that what goes on in the brain is separate from what goes on in the rest of the body, and to many the idea that inflammation can cross the supposed “blood-brain barrier” (what the author calls the Berlin Wall) is unthinkable.
    Body and mind: although an ancient way of dividing us in two, medically and scientifically speaking we largely have Rene Descartes to thank or curse for this, and Bullmore fills in the background because it’s also the background to the case he’s making. As he says, even four centuries after Descartes our medical services are still organised along Cartesian lines: two completely different sets of hospitals, two kinds of doctor, two types of treatment.
    Just to add: this is no “pop” medical book written by a journalist or someone unqualified altogether. Edward Bullmore himself crossed his “Berlin Wall”, having originally trained in medicine at Oxford, then Bart’s Hospital in central London, later retraining in psychiatry where he is now Professor and Department Head at Cambridge University. And just to emphasise: The Inflamed Mind isn’t orthodoxy. If he’s right though the result might be, not only a fuller understanding of certain debilitating mental disorders, but a more unified view of human beings. ( )

Bullmore asserts that certain types of depression are caused by inflammation in the body that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. He believes this causal relationship has been missed over time due to the ongoing acceptance of the views of René Descartes, and contends these views are still influencing medical professionals today. He calls this a “Cartesian divide.” This divide splits mind and body into separate and distinct parts. He hopes to prove that treatment for inflammation will help some patients who are not responding to traditional psychiatric treatments. He describes the experiments that have been conducted in support of his ideas.

He starts by describing the immune system and how inflammation arises. He suggests measuring cytokines and macrophages as indicators (biomarkers) of inflammation. It appears there is some evidence for “inflamed depression,” which is presented in this book, but (as the author admits) his claims are far from proven. He contends anti-inflammatory drugs could, once studied and approved, help a substantial number of people. My overall impression is that further study of the “inflammation theory of depression” is warranted but I remain skeptical until more testing is completed.

This book will appeal to those with a specific interest in depression and the mind-body connection. I thought (from my previous reading) that the idea of the mind and body as an inseparable whole was more pervasive in the medical community than is depicted in this book. It is a bit jargon-laden in places but is easily consumed by someone with a basic knowledge in this field. I will be keeping an eye out for further research into “inflamed depression.”

The author is a neuroscientist, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, and Vice-President of Experimental Medicine at the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. ( )

Prof. Bullmore makes an intersting case that most cases of depression are caused by physical inflamation. He also briefly covers the history of immunology and psychiatry/psychology, as well as providing a nice explanation of how the immune system and blood-brain barrier work. I found the placement of the history section in the middle of chapters rather jarring, but overall the book was informative. ( )

In The Inflamed Mind Cambridge psychiatrist Professor Edward Bullmore presents a new discovery which will overturn centuries of medical, psychological and philosophical understanding: the mind and body are linked far more closely than we ever knew.

For years it has been accepted by the medical profession that mind and body were separated by a `blood-brain barrier', which prevented all cellular interaction. It was not considered professionally respectable to investigate connections between the brain, the realm of neuroscience, and the immune system, the province of immunology, because it was well known that the brain and the immune system had nothing to do with each other. Now it is clear that that is not the whole story.

Bullmore's research reveals that the existence of the blood-brain barrier does not prohibit immunological cross-talk between brain and body. What this means is that when your immune system is triggered to produce antibodies - by some form of inflammation - those antibodies travel to the brain. In simple terms, this is the first step of a whole new approach to treating mental illness, the key to understanding conditions from depression and psychosis, to autism, addiction and Alzheimer's disease.Bullmore's book offers key insights into medicine, into how we have been getting it wrong, and how we can begin, now, to get it right. It looks set to remove the stigma attached to mental health. Because it's official - depression is not `all in the mind'.

Interesting premise. Ended up skimming, but not unusual for a long nf book. Wasn't quite what I expected, but good nevertheless. ( )