Lifting Your Depression

Malcolm N. McLeod

Description

Dr. MccLeod's discovery that chromium, an insulin-sensitizing trace mineral, was more effective and faster acting in some patients than even the strongest antidepressant drugs, was met with skeptisim when first announced. Dr. McLeod eventually derived and explanation for chromium's powerful therapeutic effect and the medical and scientific communites have begun to confirm his pioneering findings.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Santé mentale & traumatisme
• Santé mentale
• Santé mentale
• Depression
• Self-help
• Mood Disorders

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781591205968
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

L IFTING Y OUR D EPRESSION
How a Pyschiatrist Discovered Chromium’s Role in the Treatment of Depression
Malcolm Noell McLeod, M.D.
The information contained in this book is based upon the research and personal and professional experiences of the author. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other healthcare provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the direction of a healthcare professional.
The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular healthcare protocol but believes the information in this book should be available to the public. The publisher and author are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. Should the reader have any questions concerning the appropriateness of any procedures or preparation mentioned, the author and the publisher strongly suggest consulting a professional healthcare advisor.
Basic Health Publications, Inc.
28812 Top of the World Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949-715-7327 • www.basichealthpub.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McLeod, Malcolm Noell
Lifting your depression : how a psychiatrist discovered chromium’s role in the treatment of depression / by Malcolm Noell McLeod. — 2nd ed. p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Lifting depression. c2005.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59120-596-8
1. Depression, Mental—Alternative treatment. 2. Chromium—Therapeutic use.
I. McLeod, Malcolm Noell—Lifting depression. II. Title.
RC537.M3975 2009
616.85’2706—dc22
2009000371
Copyright © 2005, 2009 by Malcolm Noell McLeod, M.D.
All rights reserved. First edition 2005 • Second edition 2009.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
Editor: Cheryl Hirsch
Typesetting/Book design: Theresa Wiscovitch and Gary A. Rosenberg Cover design: Mike Stromberg
Printed in the United States of America
10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
Contents
To the Reader
Foreword
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments
P ART O NE
Coping with Depression
1. Life Is a Burden
2. Recognizing a Disorder
3. Looking for Causes
4. Formulating a Treatment Plan
5. Taking the Back Roads
6. The Long Way Home
7. Murder of the Senses
P ART T WO
Finding One of Nature’s Secrets
8. A Ray of Light
9. A Miracle in Nature
10. Needle in a Haystack
11. Land Ahoy
12. Elizabeth: A Careful Observer
13. Do No Harm
14. Sara: Lost and Wounded
15. Giving Sorrow Words
P ART T HREE
From Observation to Explanation
16. A Prepared Mind
17. A Lock and a Key
18. Sadness and Long Sorrow
P ART F OUR
A Beautiful New Vista
19. An Undergraduate in Experience
20. Joseph: Insulin Resistance Syndrome
21. The Sky Turns Clear and Blue
22. Help from Experts
23. Proof
P ART F IVE
There, and Back Again
24. A Grateful Psychiatrist
25. Where It All Began
26. Our Paths Crossed for a Moment
27. Putting It All Together
Appendices
Glossary
Internet Resources
References
About the Author
In memory of Dr. Walter Mertz
To wrest from nature the secrets that have perplexed philosophers in all ages, to track to their sources the causes of diseases, to correlate the vast stores of knowledge, that they may be quickly available for the prevention and cure of disease—these are our ambitions.
—S IR W ILLIAM O SLER (1849–1919)
Early advocate of holistic medicine and first professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital
To the Reader
If you have opened this book, chances are that you feel depressed, or know someone who is. Depression is a treatable illness.
In addition to feeling depressed, do you have any of the following symptoms:
  Do you crave sweets or starchy carbohydrates and have a tendency to overeat?
  Do you feel hungry or shaky an hour or two after eating carbohydrates— for example, after eating pancakes with maple syrup or a rich dessert?
  Are you often excessively sleepy for no known reason?
  Do your arms and legs feel heavy, as if they are made of lead?
  Are your feelings easily hurt by others?
If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, it is quite likely that you are suffering from the type of depression known as atypical depression.
“Atypical” is a misnomer, as it implies that this type of depression is rare. It is not. In fact, it is the most common type of depression. Over half of the depressed patients I see in my psychiatric practice are suffering from atypical depression. There is a class of medications that helps atypical depression, but these antidepressants are dangerous and seldom prescribed. Until now there has been no specific treatment for atypical depression that is both safe and free of side effects.
In these pages, I will tell you about my discovery of a new and natural treatment for atypical depression, how I discovered it, and what you can do to help yourself.
Foreword
Shortly after arriving into the United States from England in 1972, it was my good fortune to meet Dr. Malcolm McLeod. We immediately recognized our common desire to find better and safer treatments for depression, and began a most productive collaboration, which continued over the next few years. I was therefore delighted when, after a hiatus of about two decades, Dr. McLeod called to tell of his most exciting discoveries with chromium, which quickly stimulated my interest, and echoed back to the days of our successful collaboration in the 1970s.
The story told by Dr. McLeod in Lifting Your Depression is rare and important. Rare, because clinical practice doesn’t easily allow for the development and testing of hypotheses; to do so is an arduous undertaking, and calls for great dedication and focus. It is important because depression remains one of the world’s biggest health problems and cause of disability, as has been demonstrated by the World Bank/World Health Organization Global Project.
The need for safe, effective, and inexpensive treatments is paramount, and Dr. McLeod’s discoveries may well lead to the introduction of an important new treatment for depression. I am therefore honored for the opportunity to write this introduction.
I reviewed many of Dr. McLeod’s extensive notes and was impressed by his careful and impeccably documented observations. I interviewed his patients, some of whom reported that chromium had increased the efficacy of their antidepressant medications, while others reported that chromium picolinate alone lifted their depression.
There was no doubt, in my mind, that this deserved the most serious consideration. Given the limitations of our current standard treatments for depression, the potential for chromium as a new and well-tolerated treatment seemed exceptionally strong. As a result, I decided to conduct a clinical trial based on the highest scientific standards, that is, placebo-controlled and double-blinded. The study was conducted at the Duke University Medical Center, and the results were surprisingly positive.
When the code was broken and I learned who had been taking chromium picolinate, I was very gratified to learn that chromium had proved to be more effective than the placebo. I called Dr. McLeod and told him of our striking results and remember saying to him, “An investigator waits an entire lifetime for a discovery such as this!”
In summary, Dr. McLeod’s book, Lifting Your Depression, is not a typical self-help book, but is one that truly takes us through a fascinating journey shared by a psychiatrist and his patients, a journey that suggests an intriguing connection between depression, insulin resistance, and the role of chromium. This is unquestionably an uplifting, powerful story that will deliver hope and help to millions of people.
—Jonathan R.T. Davidson, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
Preface to the Second Edition
Now it has been more than ten years ago since George walked into my office on that beautiful spring day and set me on a path, which led to the discovery that chromium can lift depression, curb carbohydrate cravings, increase energy, and improve other symptoms related to atypical depression.
I was able to contact George, Sara, Joseph, Alice, and Jim, the patients whose case histories you will read about shortly. All are free of depression except for Jim. They have continued to take daily doses of chromium without fail for over a decade with favorable results and no ill effects. My original findings have been supported by new patients in my private practice and reinforced by hundreds of letters and emails I have received since publication of the first edition. They also have been supported in part by two new double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. In addition, new government research continues to demonstrate chromium’s safety. I will briefly discuss these new findings in Chapters 13 and 23 .
Evidence is mounting that links impaired functioning of insulin to atypical depression, type 2 diabetes, obesity, some forms of heart disease, age-related memory decline, and Alzheimer’s disease. I hope that future research will reveal what role dietary supplementation with chromium, an insulin-sensitizing agent, may play in the prevention and treatment of these disorders.
Depression, like life, is a complicated human condition. Chromium will achieve its maximum effect in depression when used in combination with other measures described in this book and when doctors seek to know the patient as a person.
Acknowledgments
I greatly admire and appreciate the patients described in this book. They were (and still are) my best teachers. I shall always be indebted to them and they know that. Each of them has