http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inner-source/201210/creatine-muscle-and-mood-0
In this article, Creatine is discussed as a paired medication along with anti-depressant medication, more specifically Lexapro which was mentioned in the article, to reduce the symptoms of depression and almost eliminate it all together from target individuals. The article references a study of 52 Korean women who were diagnosed with major depression and, as a result, prescribed Lexapro to treat their depression symptoms. However, half of the women in the study were also given 5 grams of Creatine while the other half of the women were given placebo pills. After 2 weeks, the women that were given both Lexapro and Creatine had almost no symptoms of depression and, after about 8 weeks, all of these women who were given both drugs were declared not depressed anymore. However, the women that did not take both drugs were still diagnosed as clinically depressed at the end of the 8 weeks. Creatine is believed to reduce the damage of our genetic material as well as increase the production of the energy molecule ATP in the brain. It is understood that because of this increase in ATP production in the brain, the brain is less likely to make the individual feel depressed.
This research does sound promising with treating the symptoms of majorly depressed individuals, however, it does seem to have a lot of holes in the research. Depression is becoming increasingly common worldwide, being affected by many different variables in an individuals life. Thus, treatments will always be necessary to decrease these symptoms. However, in regards to Creatine, there does not seem to be real proof that Creatine truly helped these individuals, only the speculation that it did. For example, the article stated that there was not much difference in decrease of symptoms between people who were taking just the anti-depressant medication and the people taking just the placebo. Therefore, there could be a physiological effect of the Creatine on the body but the psychological effect could simply be that of a placebo. Pills are believed to alleviate symptoms so it is only logical to believe that taking more pills would make you feel even better. Overall, I believe that Creatine could potentially help treat symptoms of major depression, however, from this article, it feels like most of the results seem to be speculation of the effects of Creatine rather than actually facts and data. This needs to change before Creatine can be considered a real option for treating major depression.
It's amazing to see that creatine has the potential to help remedy depression to some extent, but what i really found interesting was the effects it had on a group diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Two out of ten men showed symptoms that suggest that creatine enhanced the effects of the disorder; however it was rather vague as to if it worsened the depression side of bipolar or if it worsened the maniacal aspect of the disorder. Is it a possibility that creatine could sling the psychological state from one side of the continuum to the other?
ReplyDeleteI was sort of skeptical reading this article. I believe that the reason there was significant improvement in one group over the other could have a lot to do with outside sources. The women that were in the "creatine group" could have been experiencing more positive moods due to therapy, exercise or overall willingness to accept the help from Lexapro.
ReplyDeleteDepression is the type of disorder that you have to be willing and accepting of getting better. A depressed patient can approach diagnosis with the attitude that they are damaged and nothing will make them better - which in fact will lower the effect of medicine. From experience, I know that SSRIs are not the "magic happy pill" they just inhibit drastic, rock bottom attitudes. They do not inhibit you from feeling sad emotions.
I was also hesitant to trust this study because I've always had the understanding that creatine is used to "bulk up" muscle after workouts. Its main role is to provide energy for muscle contraction and I do not see how that can effectively treat depression.