II. Histapenia chemistry and general approach

The focus in histapenia treatment is reducing brain overmethylation, increasing folate, and addressing high copper and metal metabolism problems.

Overmethylation increases activity of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, creating overstimulation and histapenia symptoms (e.g., anxiety, voices, hypomania, paranoia...). Methylation does this by decreasing expression of transporters that remove these neurotransmitters from the synapse. For example, methylation decreases the creation of dopamine transporters, leaving more dopamine in the synapse, thereby increasing dopamine messages.

Dr. Walsh suggests that the niacin therapy, developed by Dr Hoffer, turned out to be so important because it increases reuptake of dopamine from the synapse.

Similarly, folic acid helps the histapenic by increasing acetylation enzymes, and fostering creation of transporters to bring dopamine and norepinephrine out of the synapse, so stimulation can subside.

Metal Metabolism

Histapenia alone is generally associated with anxiety, panic and hyperactivity. Add metal metabolism dysfunction, and you can get voices, psychosis and paranoia.
Copper elevation is a good indicator of poor metal metabolism, and prevalent in schizophrenics with histapenia. Copper itself worsens voices, paranoia, overstimulation, insomnia and hypomania.
Reminder: This information is presented for educational purposes only, and is not intended as diagnosis or treatment recommendations for the individual. Even within the histapenic subgroup, everyone's biochemical requirements are unique. So if you need treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar, or any other medical condition, please consult a knowledgeable physician.

If you want to contact me, click here.
For more info on histapenia and schizophrenia, see  http://boragebooks.com
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More on Histapenia nutrients next post.

Schizophrenia: Histapenia Symptoms

History

The histamine imbalance biotypes were initially introduced by Dr. Pfeiffer, who found extremes in blood histamine in two-thirds of his schizophrenic patients, with improvement occurring as nutrients brought histamine toward normal (as indicated by biochemical tests). He gave the name, histapenia, to the biotype associated with low histamine.
Dr. Walsh later suggested that the primary imbalance underlying the low histamine chemistry is, simply put, neurotransmitter overmethylation plus insufficient folic acid.  More on this later.


In detailed labs taken for over 25,000 schizophrenics (just in the two clinics of Doctors Pfeiffer and Walsh), 45-50% fell into the histapenia subgroup, making histapenia the most common biochemistry in those diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Symptoms of histapenia (tendencies)
High anxiety, perhaps panic attacks. Racing thoughts, grandiosity. General overstimulation.
Obsessions, suspicious, dysperceptions.
Learning disorders, underachiever in school. Problems with abstract thought.
Depression, but usually less than in other biotypes,
Often artistic or musical. Increased religiosity.
With high copper / low zinc, insufficient niacin (vitamin B3): paranoia, voices, psychosis, usually classic schizophrenia symptoms.
Physical tendencies
Dry eyes, mouth (increasing tendency to carries). Dry skin, tendency to eczema. Hairy.
Low libido, often overweight, low metabolism.
High pain threshhold. Any pain clusters in the head, neck, upper body.
Restless leg syndrome, ringing in the ears. Insomnia, turning day into night.
Food and chemical sensitivity, particularly perfume sensitivity. Seasonal allergies uncommon. Increased estrogen (e.g., postpartum) often associated with psychosis.
Reacts poorly to methionine, SAMe, antihistamines.

Labs
Low blood histamine and often absolute basophils, low folic acid, high copper, low serum zinc, elevated norepinephrine and/or dopamine, and often, serotonin.
For further discussion and visuals, see the sample pages from
 my schizophrenic book at:

http://boragebooks.com/schizophrenia_3_histapenia.html
http://boragebooks.com/schizophrenia_4_histapenia.html


Reminder: This information is presented for educational purposes only, and is not intended for diagnostic or treatment purposes. If you need treatment for schizophrenia, or any other medical condition, please consult a knowledgeable physician.