[JWRT]

Dr. Oz just came on and the topic is viruses possibly causing mental illness. I always take everything on Dr. Oz with a grain of salt because a lot of what is said doesn't have much scientific data behind it.

He does have a psychiatrist on who is saying there is some body of scientific knowledge on the subject.

Interesting

I am the type that has to go find and read the studies myself before I buy into anything.

[IrisBloom]

I wouldn't doubt that is true for some. Not so for others. I watch sometimes, but I bear in mind it's a tv show and has an agenda (ratings). He has some good nutritional suggestions, but if you followed everything he shows on there you'd be spending all of your time and money at health food stores. Not that that's bad...

[shadow2000]

I too find the idea that infections may play a role in some cases of mental illness to be interesting. From what I've read, I do think that there's some reason to believe that infections might play some sort of role in mental illness. For instance, there seems to be a large body of data indicating that antibodies to the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii tend to be higher in patients with schizophrenia than in individuals without schizophrenia, but I don't think I've come across any data that would definitively suggest that this relationship is one of cause and effect. I also recall coming across a study that seemed to suggest that if T. gondii infection does play a role in schizophrenia that it might explain about 20 percent of cases of the mental illness, which, though significant, would not explain every case of the disorder. But anyway, don't take my word for all of this. I'm just putting some of the information that I've come across out there, and I do think it would be a good idea for you to look at the studies for yourself rather than taking Dr. Oz's word -- or especially my word -- for it.

If Dr Oz said it I'd immediately consider it bs... sorry And if he had a psychiatrist who hinted that it may be true I'd write him/her off as a professional expert witness. If you find anything in your studies let us know.

It sure would be great if it was as simple as something like that, although they don't have anything for viruses to cure it I guess. I often wonder though, myself, whether some kind of illness could trigger mental problems, it would make sense. For me, hormone changes with pregnancy was enough to send me for a loop. And yeah, I think Dr. Oz is mostly full of crap. It's money making... it's gotten to the point where it feels like he's trying to teach the same crap at a kindergarten level to adults.

[doyoutrustme]

You lost me at "Dr. Oz"

[vonmoxie]

It's no less reliable to hear something on Dr. Oz, than, say Yahoo! News, or WebMD. Doesn't make it unreliable, just worth conducting more explicit research previous to making any personal health decisions. He presents a wide variety of information for consideration, and I consider that to be a service, although one I mostly perform for myself being kind a research freak.

Viruses can be responsible for triggering many things, and I've no doubt that mental illness is one of them; I've also no doubt that they could be among the many things that trigger mental illness. Goes both ways.

Here's their corresponding article: What It Really Means to “Catch” a Mental Illness, which discusses the role played by viruses, bacteria, and parasites, such as that of toxoplasmosis:

On the show we learned that as much as 15 to 20 percent of mental illness may be attributed to exposure to harmful microorganisms like the bacteria that cause strep throat or the parasite that causes Toxoplasmosis.

The link between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia has been tricky to document but has been known about for long time; other things like higher rates of car accidents where toxoplasmosis is present are better documented but not so well understood; I've taken an interest in this connection for a long time, if only because I'd like something to blame prior car accidents on (it was bugs, I tell you, bugs!).

To be honest it drives me kind of bananas when I mention that I first heard about something on Dr. Oz, and the person I'm talking to immediately goes into frozen mode and acts like I'm some kind of mental defective for picking up news bytes from him. It's no different than seeing something on WebMD, which from what I can tell is where their writers get most of their show segment ideas from.

[Nammu]

In the early 1900s there was a doctor who insisted that bacterial infections were the cause of insanity. He pulled teeth, took out tonsils, stoics and Colins in the name of science. So don't mind no me I'm skeptical.

I participated in a conference about a decade ago, and a scientist was explaining the results of a study that he and his colleagues conducted regarding season of birth and schizophrenia (I have schizophrenia).

The scientist claimed that a disproportionate number of people with schizophrenia were born in the Winter. Furthermore, he claimed a high correlation between mothers who had the flu while pregnant and babies born in the season of Winter. All of the people sitting in the section that I was sitting in were asked to raise their hand if they had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. I, and about 20 other people raised their hand. The scientist then asked to keep our hand raised if we were born in the season of Winter. About 75% of the people kept their hand raised (including myself).

This is a correlation, and a correlation does not prove causation.

[JWRT]

I am very skeptical too and am not big on Dr. Oz at all.

I have to look up and read any real studies if there are any but not sure I feel like it.

Probably some small percentage related to inflammation maybe.