{"id":434,"date":"2016-12-07T16:44:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T04:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mywellness.co.nz\/?p=434"},"modified":"2020-12-09T13:52:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T01:52:00","slug":"a-modern-approach-to-managing-depression-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapeutic.co.nz\/?p=434","title":{"rendered":"A Modern Approach to Managing Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dr Gloria Hettige Ph.D & Dayandra Hettige MBA <\/strong><\/p>\n

Some people have a clear sense of why they become depressed. Others don’t. It is often not easy to determine. In most cases, depression doesn’t have a single cause. Instead, it results from a mix of things: genetics, past events, current circumstances, and more.<\/p>\n

Research over the past two decades has revealed that gut health is critical to overall health, and that an unhealthy gut contributes to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, autism spectrum disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression. Hippocrates said this more than 2,000 years ago, but we\u2019re only now coming to understand just how right he was.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, gut disorder triggers inflammation and may include the dysregulation of the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis).2<\/sup><\/p>\n

In fact, many researchers (including myself) believe that supporting intestinal health and restoring the integrity of the gut barrier will be one of the most important goals of medicine in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

The following is one way we approached the problem.<\/p>\n

Case Study<\/h1>\n

A 44 year old farmer’s wife presented with weight problems for 20 years, chronic fatigue, mouth ulcers, low self esteem, chronic depression and a high anxiety level, manifesting in part as an extreme fear of death. She experienced constant panic attacks and was constantly very tearful. Constipation, headaches, sore breasts. lower back problem and regular thrush infections were also noted.<\/p>\n

Rigorous case taking and investigation of her historical lab results revealed:<\/p>\n