Sodium Benzoate For Schizophrenia
Idea: Sodium benzoate (mostly used as food and drink preservative) is pretty damn good for Schizophrenia:
Proof: They tried it:
http://www.schizophreniaforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=1954
It reduced symptoms by 21%. it’s plenty.
Why it could helps as I understand it with my limited knowledge:
The paper is all about NMDA hypofunction hypothesis and DAAO. NMDA hypofunction is a rather accepted hypothesis about the cause of schizophrenia. And a D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) inhibitor, such as Sodium Benzoate, will increase the level of D-Serine, which in turn reduces NMDA hypofunction.
In fact, they have found out that people with Schizophrenia have too much DAAO and if you Inhibit it, it might turn out to be a gut thing I suppose. →
http://www.schres-journal.com/article/S0920-9964(08)00097-2/abstract
Another reason why I personally think it might help: The Microglia Activation issue.
Microglia are defence cells of the nervous system of sorts, that when out of control can cause inflammation and all kind of bad things. Like damage. That kind of thing. They call it Microglia Activation then.
Some research people believe schizophrenia is caused by inflammation and it’s consequences caused by Microglia Activation. ->
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584611003526
And guess what. Sodium Benzoate reduces all kinds of inflammatory responses in Microglia. (at least in lab) →
What do you think? Sounds good doesn’t it?
I believe this Sodium Benzoate stuff is actually rather safe. All over the Internet they are crying like it’s bad and harmful but not one of their sites has a valid claim. They are just scaring people. I failed to find any rather scientific paper on it being harmful. It the study they gave the patients 1 gramm per day. The FDA limit for 1 litre of beverage is 150mg so taking 1 gramm per day is like drinkling lots of soda. Big deal.
And I do not believe the Sodium Benzoate + Vitamin C = Benzene either. I can remember that it takes at least 50°celsius, UV light and the presence catalyst metals to happen. (correct me if I’m wrong)
I’m not suggesting anyone to go and taking it just like so. Do whatever you do at your own risk.
cheerz,