From Christina (TLC)

Dear Friends, Hope you all have peaceful holidays!! Saw the question about
inositol (which is one of the B vitamin group) and have some interesting info.
Turns out that it has been shown to help people with OCD in a doubleblind
study that was done in 1996. Dr Fred Penzel also uses it with several of his
trich patients, and has seen some very good response. You can get it at health
food stores, it usually comes in powder form. Disolve a teaspoon approx in a
glass of juice ( let it stand a few minutes to disolve) and drink 3 glasses of
this a day. You can go up to 3 teaspoons 3 times a day, and that is the level
that has been most helpful for most. Please let me know if you try it how it
goes. TLC is very interested in all areas that help people with trich.

Authors
Levine J.
Institution
Ministry of Health Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben
Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel.
Title
Controlled trials of inositol in psychiatry.
Source
European Neuropsychopharmacology. 7(2):147-55, 1997 May.
Abbreviated Source
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 7(2):147-55, 1997 May.
Abstract
Inositol is a simple polyol precursor in a second messenger system
important in the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid inositol has been reported as
decreased in depression. A double-blind controlled trial of 12 g daily of
inositol in 28 depressed patients for four weeks was performed.
Significant overall benefit for inositol compared to placebo was found at
week 4 on the Hamilton Depression Scale. No changes were noted in
hematology, kidney or liver function. Since many antidepressants are
effective in panic disorder, twenty-one patients with panic disorder with
or without agoraphobia completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, four
week, random-assignment crossover treatment trial of inositol 12 g per
day. Frequency and severity of panic attacks and severity of agoraphobia
declined significantly with inositol compared to placebo. Side-effects
were minimal. Since serotonin re-uptake inhibitors benefit obsessive
compulsive disorder (OCD) and inositol is reported to reverse
desensitization of serotonin receptors, thirteen patients with OCD
completed a double-blind controlled crossover trial of 18 g inositol or
placebo for six weeks each. Inositol significantly reduced scores of OCD
symptoms compared with placebo. A controlled double-blind crossover trial
of 12 g daily of inositol for a month in twelve anergic schizophrenic
patients, did not show any beneficial effects. A double-blind controlled
crossover trial of 6 g of inositol daily vs. glucose for one month each
was carried out in eleven Alzheimer patients, with on clearly significant
therapeutic effects. Antidepressant drugs have been reported to improve
attention deficit disorder (ADDH) with hyperactivity symptomatology. We
studied oral inositol in children with ADDH in a double-blind, crossover,
placebo-controlled manner. Eleven children, mean age 8.9 +/- 3.6 years
were enrolled in an eight week trial of inositol or placebo at a dose of
200 mg/kg body weight. Results show a trend for aggravation of the
syndrome with myo-inositol as compared to placebo. Recent studies suggest
that serotonin re-uptake inhibitors are helpful in at least some symptoms
of autism. However a controlled double-blind crossover trial of inositol
200 mg/kg per day showed no benefit in nine children with autism.
Cholinergic agonists have been reported to ameliorate electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT)-induced memory impairment. Inositol metabolism is involved
in the second messenger system for several muscarinic cholinergic
receptors. Inositol 6 g daily was given in a crossover-double-blind manner
for five days before the fifth or sixth ECT to a series of twelve
patients, without effect. These results suggest that inositol has
therapeutic effects in the spectrum of illness responsive to serotonin
selective re-uptake inhibitors, including depression, panic and OCD, and
is not beneficial in schizophrenia, Alzheimer's ADDH, autism or
ECT-induced cognitive impairment.