IUBio

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

HKartzinel hkartzinel at aol.com
Tue Jul 11 15:20:05 EST 1995


I am attempting a literature review-style Masters thesis in the broad
field of PNI.  My favorite topic is:
(1) Neuropsychiatric studies in immunologic diseases - SLE, etc. (eg, some
suggestions of cytokine-induced psychiatric symptoms upon controlled
adminstration to healthy individuals)

But to a lesser extent I've been looking at:
(2) The immunology of psychiatric illness - depression, schizophrenia,
etc. (causal relationship?)
(3) Hemispheric dominance in immune responses - allergy and some
autoimmune diseases more common in left-handers, etc.

My MedLine searches have been successful for (2), but largely unsuccessful
for (1) and (3).  Can anyone recommend good sources?  Have you read any
relevent literature recently?

Also, would any be interested in opening a discussion on PNI:
stress-induced immunosupression at the cellular and/or molecular level,
spontaneous remission from various illnesses due to faith and positive
thinking, acute bereavement and mortality, etc. etc. ?!?  With the recent
re-discovery of homeopathic medicine, I feel that PNI will be the glue
that finally binds psychology, psychiatry, biology, immunology,
neuroscience, neurology, physiology, nutrition, etc.  Doctors from one
branch of science will need to be sensitive to the teachings of the others
in treating the patient as a whole person, and not just the disease in
question.  This approach may empower the patient, allowing them to feel
(and be) more in control of their recovery and not simply at the mercy of
often expensive treatments.  I think that educating the patient at the
doctor's office (as the pharmacist typically does once they go to get the
prescription filled) is time well spent, and explaining all available
treatments (eg, acupuncture, herbal remedies, exercise regimens, as well
as traditional pills and tablets) is also worthwhile.

These, of course, are only my opinions;  I don't mean to offend any
physicians or other clinicians, their practices, and/or their knowledge
base.  Remember, the placebo effect is real, and thank you in advance for
your comments!
:-) Heather Joy
    San Carlos, California



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