Could depression be caused by inflammation?  Cambridge psychiatrist Ed Bullmore makes the case for his radical new theory, from his bestselling book The Inflamed Mind.

Here's the breakdown...

6:12 There’s a Cartesian divide in the way we practice medicine.  Professor Bullmore argues that we need to find more integrated ways of treating body and mind.

8:52 The case of Mrs P who was suffering from arthritis and depression. But what was causing what?

12:31 Is this theory a biomedical or psychosocial approach to depression? Professor Bullmore argues that it can bridge the two.

18:07 There will never be just one theory for depression. 

19:12 We chat through the enormous range of options on the DSM criterion for depression. Symptoms of depression can include losing weight and gaining weight, sleeping too much and sleeping too little. 

21:50 Everyone has a 25% lifetime risk of depression - that’s 1 in every family.

23:11 Why depression may be a bit like fever: one symptom with myriad underlying causes, all of which need different treatments.

25:07 WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE? We finally get around to talking through the different sources of evidence for the Inflammatory theory of depression. Animal studies, longitudinal studies. 

27:41 What is ‘inflammation’?

31:00 Can you have inflammation without having any apparent illness or injury?

35:40 Why you might want to try rubbing your auricles. Seriously, it’s nice.

38:47 Is it time to ditch the serotonin theory of depression once and for all?

44:22 Why did the big pharmaceutical companies start abandoning research into psychiatric drugs from 2010?

51:20 New research into the depression-inflammation link is now underway: what’s going on and what are we hoping to find?

54:52 Professor Bullmore shares his aspiration for the next 10 years: to integrate mental and physical healthcare in the way medical are trained and in the way they practice.

The Inflamed Mind at Amazon

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