Probiotics in Mental Health

Introduction: Probiotics and Psychopathology
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics, Mood, and Exercise:
Marie Claire McCormick & Julian S. Baker

Impact of Probiotics on Communication Between the Brain-Gut. Implications for the Treatment of the Psychological Effects of Digestive Disease States:
Mélanie G Gareau, Colin Reardon, Kim E Barrett & Philip M Sherman

Probiotics and Their Effect on Maternal and Neonatal Health
Caroline J. Hollins Martin and Colin R. Martin

Mechanisms of Action of Probiotics in Psychopathology
Moira S. Lewitt

Probiotics and Eating Disorders
Ursula Philpot

Probiotics and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics and Depression
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics and Alcohol Dependency
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics and their Potential Effects on Schizophrenia Symptoms
Mick P. Fleming & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics and Alzheimer's Disease
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

Probiotics and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Derek Larkin & Colin R. Martin

The probiotics evidence-base: Improving quality through innovation in research methodologies
Colin R. Martin & Derek Larkin

The concept that the gut and brain are intricately linked is widely accepted not just within the lay community but increasingly within scientific and therapeutic circles as well. Terms such as "heartache" and "gut wrenching" are more than mere metaphor, they represent key fundamental aspects of human experience which all individual will invariably endure from time to time. The relationship between the gut and brain is complex but fundamental to health and wellbeing. Increasing and compelling evidence supports the existence of a relationship between the health and status of the gut and the manifestation of significant psychopathology. Uniquely within the field of mental health and psychiatry, the role of gut flora and probiotics in both the understanding and treatment of mental illness represents an emerging science whether the potential for therapeutic intervention, though the use of probiotics, offers an opportunity to determine efficacy within a coherent evidence-based model of both action and pathology and moreover, offer interventions that are comparatively benign compared to the side effect profile associated with most drugs used to treat mental illness. Probiotics in Mental Health examines the role of probiotics in a range of clinical presentations associated with significant psychopathology and facilitates a reconsideration of how mental illness may be conceptualised within a coherent gut-brain model of health and well-being. Under the rubric of enhancing well-being rather than dwelling on illness and disease this exciting new volume not only comprises the latest evidence in the field but also advocates an approach characterised by the understanding of mental disorder within an evidence based model and the pursuit of mental health and well-being through the most benign of interventions.

Features

• First text linking a variety of mental health concerns with probiotics
• Links mental health to probiotics both in terms of etiology and treatment interventions
• A 'one-stop' shop linking the gut to the brain with respect to significant and enduring psychopathology
• Contemporary evidence summarising the relationship between probiotics and mental health delivered in an accessible and simple to understand manner