December 9, 2009 — Young adults with higher blood lead levels are more likely to have major depressive disorder (MDD) or panic disorder, even if they have exposure to lead levels generally considered safe, new research suggests.

Maryse F. Bouchard, PhD, Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues found individuals with lead levels of 2.11 μg/dL or more had 2.3 times the odds of having MDD and nearly 5 times the odds of panic disorder compared with those with lead levels of 0.7 μg/dL or less.

“What is most surprising is the finding that lead can be associated with adverse mental health status at such low levels of exposure,” Dr. Bouchard told Medscape Psychiatry. The mean blood level in study subjects was 1.61 μg/dL.

The study is published in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The investigators analyzed data from 1987 adults aged 20 to 39 years who were participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2004. Participants underwent medical examinations that included collection of a blood sample and also completed a diagnostic interview to identify MDD, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

The number of individuals who met diagnostic criteria for MDD was 134 (6.7%), 44 (2.2%) had panic disorder, and 47 (2.4%) had generalized anxiety disorder.

Because smoking is related to blood lead levels, the researchers conducted additional analyses excluding the 628 smokers. Among nonsmokers, the elevation in risk between the highest and lowest blood lead levels was increased to 2.5-fold for MDD and 8.2-fold for panic disorder.

Need to Reduce Environmental Exposure

Previous studies conducted in highly exposed employees from foundries, smelters, and battery plants show that these workers (who had blood lead levels averaging 40 μg/dL) have reported elevated symptoms of depression, hostility, and anxiety, said Dr. Bouchard.

A study conducted in nonoccupationally exposed older men showed that those with higher blood lead levels (averaging 6.3 μg/dL) also had a higher prevalence of self-reported anxiety, phobic anxiety, and depression. “In my study group, the mean blood lead level was only 1.6 μg/dL, which is representative of the exposure level in the general population,” Dr. Bouchard said.

Eliminating lead from gasoline has decreased average blood lead levels in the general population, but remaining sources of exposure include paint, industrial processes, pottery, and contaminated water.

However, Dr. Bouchard pointed out that blood lead levels reflect not only current exposure but also past exposures because lead is sequestered in bones and is slowly released into the blood.

“These findings suggest that lead neurotoxicity may contribute to adverse mental health outcomes, even at levels generally considered to pose low, or no, risk,” the researchers conclude. “These findings, combined with recent reports of adverse behavioral outcomes in children with similarly low blood lead levels, should underscore the need for considering ways to further reduce environmental lead exposures,” they write.

Dose-Response Relationship Questioned

Edwin van Wijngaarden, PhD, interim chief of the Division of Epidemiology, Community & Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester in New York, reviewed the study for Medscape.

“Although the data reported by Bouchard et al are certainly suggestive of an association between blood lead levels and major depressive disorder, the nature of the dose-response relationship is somewhat uncertain, with no clear pattern until the upper quintile.

“The authors emphasize the statistically significant trend statistics, which are appropriate if there is a true linear trend — not sure if that is the case here. The results for panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder suffer from limited statistical power and consequently statistically imprecise risk estimates, and I would be cautious interpreting the dose-response patterns reported for these outcomes,” he said.

Dr. van Wijngaarden also noted that the mental health outcomes studied were only available for adults aged 20 to 39 years and might differ for older adults with higher levels of cumulative lead exposure.

Dr. van Wijngaarden and colleagues recently examined population-based data on blood lead levels in relation to depression in the United States in a study that will be published in the near future.

This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Bouchard and Dr. van Wijngaarden have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66:1313-1319.

Linda’s comment:  The FIGHT program is a perfect example of how you can fight Lyme disease.  As Dr Patricia Gerbarg, MD has found out.  She has not experienced the FIGHT program to my knowledge, but the protocols she mentioned are all part of the FIGHT program.  It is a must that we reduce the total body burden of toxins and pathogens to fight the Lyme critters.  Lyme loves heavy metals.  We are slammed every time we walk out our front doors with 500 to 600 environmental toxins.  It is a daily battle, but I found the FIGHT program made this all very easy.  I only wish I had  the knowledge of the FIGHT program with the first Lyme infection.

I have never taken any antibiotics and don’t intend to, but I focused on the lifelong daily detox program FIGHT and cleaned up my lifestyle, home and diet.  I got rid of all the GMO foods, gluten, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and my body shakes if I pass a fast-food restaurant….the smell turns my stomach.  Once you clean  up your diet and clean up your homestead, you begin to feel better….Lifestyle is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done….Yes, I cheat, but at least now I have learned to cheat. and can neutralize a toxic food if I eat it.  Once you begin to feel better it makes the journey of cleaning up much easier. Just give the FIGHT program 90 days and you too will feel the difference.

Regards, Linda

Chronic Lyme Disease: Myth or Reality?

By Mehmet Oz, MD

Mehmet Oz, MD, host of The Dr. Oz Show, sorts out the truth. Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by the bite of a deer tick, can cause a variety of flu-like symptoms-achy joints, fatigue, fever, headache. But chronic Lyme disease is a different beast. Experts can’t agree on a case definition-or if the condition exists at all. What’s clear is that some Lyme patients, even after taking the standard treatment of antibiotics, continue to suffer long-term and often serious health problems, including poor mental function, migratory joint pain, and sleep disturbances. Whether the condition is an autoimmune or nervous system response triggered by the now-eradicated infection (sometimes called post-Lyme disease syndrome), or a chronic case of the disease directly attributable to an ongoing infection depends on whom you ask-as does the treatment.

The Case for Diagnosing CLD

“There is absolutely no doubt chronic Lyme disease [CLD] exists,” says Richard Horowitz, MD, president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation. What’s more, he adds, many of those who contract Lyme disease can also have tick-borne coinfections like babesiosis, caused by parasites, and their symptoms can easily be mistaken for those of other ailments such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. “Like syphilis, chronic Lyme disease is a great imitator,” Horowitz notes. He has seen more than 11,000 patients whose CLD he has helped to pinpoint using his own broad differential diagnosis, which looks at all possible causes of symptoms. Along with specific treatments for any overlapping conditions, he often prescribes a combination of targeted antibiotics to beat the infection, and says he has seen dramatic recoveries.

The Case Against Diagnosing CLD

“There’s simply no scientific evidence that these symptoms are caused by an ongoing infection of Lyme disease,” says John Halperin, MD, chair of the department of neurosciences at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, and professor of neurology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Halperin agrees that some Lyme disease patients can experience real, ongoing health issues. However, he says, “The best guess is that it has to do with how our nervous systems respond to different stressors. It’s probably due to a fundamental neurobiological trait of some people.” Halperin believes the way to treat the problem is symptomatically. That means everything from therapy for depression to surgery for severe arthritis-but not months of antibiotics, which can result in serious side effects, according to National Institutes of Health-funded studies.

Dr. Oz Says…

Let’s get past the fundamental argument over whether this is a chronic condition or an autoimmune response by acknowledging that it could be both. Someday we might discover that ticks aren’t giving people just a bacterial infection but also a virus or a hybrid bug. Patricia Gerbarg, MD, is the coauthor of How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care as well as a former Lyme patient. What she found, and what I support, is that certain supplements strengthen the body’s ability to repair itself from the long-term problems associated with CLD. Taking vitamin B12, coenzyme Q10, chromium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids, and herbs such as Rhodiola rosea can improve energy and help with cellular repair-all key in recovering from conditions that can be as resistant as Lyme disease. Dr. Oz – Treating Lyme Disease – Oprah.com