Nasal Spray

[Guest]

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The suicide rate in the US Army has reached an alarming level, with more than one a day occurring this July.

To tackle the worrying trend, The Pentagon has given research into an ‘anti-suicide’ nasal spray a $3m (£1.9m) grant.

The project is being developed at the University of Indiana’s School of Medicine.

Lead researcher Dr Michael Kubek claims that a chemical compound based on a thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is capable of almost-instantly cheering people up.

He told The Daily: “We've known since the 1970s that TRH has antidepressant effects, and it works quite rapidly. The bottom-line problem has been figuring out how to get it into the brain.”

But he emphasised that it wouldn’t replace anti-depressants.

He added: “The phase directly after starting an antidepressant is very vulnerable time frame in a patient's life. The nasal spray would stabilise them right away, while they wait for the anti-depressants to do their job.”

Dr Sandrine Dupre, a research associate in The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences, told The Huffington Post UK: “TRH is an important chemical in the brain which has a central role in the regulation of many physiological processes.

"It is known to play a key role in helping the body produce thyroid hormones when it senses levels circulating in the blood have dropped – abnormal concentrations of thyroid hormones have been associated with depression.

“TRH administered as a nasal spray in rats has been shown to be an effective way of targeting the brain and had anti-seizure effects but the exact mechanisms involved are still not fully understood. The multi-functionality of this neuropeptide also makes it difficult to predict if the proposed anti-depression treatment will have an effect.”

General Lloyd J Austin III, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, said earlier this year that in a career spanning 37 years, suicides were the toughest enemy that he’d ever faced.

The suicide rate among US soldiers is around 40% higher compared to civilians of a similar age – and there are more deaths from suicide than from combat or vehicle accidents, according to USA Today.

[mgrade]

Hope----you know me----i'm really into this sht. I actually read this article before. TRH? ....hmmm We gotta look this one up.

[Guest]

If you go into the research section I put up an article regarding a doctor experimenting with great apes with parkinsonianism and neuropeptides. We were in touch, told him about the grant but thus far HPPD isn't clinically recognized by the APA and he said there needs to be animal studies? I don't know.

Can forward you the emails.