Briefly: I am developing a hypothesis (and an outline study design) for the management of bipolar states through the supplementation of phosphatidylcholine at the onset of a manic phase, and acetyl-l-carnitine at the onset of a depressive phase, to even out the peaks and troughs. The full regime would involve a low-carbohydrate medium-fat diet (not LCHF), and symptom-dependent ad hoc magnesium supplementation. This is a management regime, not a ‘cure’.
My hypothesis here is (inter alia) that optimising liver function will help to clear some of the substances (I am going to have to look up what they are) which correlate to mania… and I don’t have time to type up all the rest of this now, but here are some of the links I’ve collected to check through.
Here’s part of the problem:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4158644/
I found one specificically on bipolar mania some time ago, though. Will continue to hunt for that.
Phosphatidylcholine
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4476977/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8874839
Acetyl-l-carnitine
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/07/study-links-depression-to-low-blood-levels-of-acetyl-l-carnitine.html
Yes, I know biopolar depression and other depression are not necessarily the same thing, but gimme time to get beyond my confirmation bias, OK?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607061/
But also:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1894836/
Magnesium
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507255/
A key point here is that we’re talking about intracellular magnesium, and its regulation via the calcium-magnesium pump and ion channels. This links to my study on sensory overload.
More later. But probably much later, because the other paper must be finished before I can devote time to this.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: We’ve subsequently learned that acetyl-l-carnitine supplementation must be partnered with thiamine supplementation to prevent beri-beri.