Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future

Michael Raymond Binder

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future

Michael Raymond Binder

Published in American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (Volume 9, Issue 5)

Received: 28 September 2021 Accepted: 18 October 2021 Published: 28 October 2021

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Abstract

After more than a century of scientific study and philosophical debate, the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders is still unclear. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that psychiatric and related functional symptoms are rooted in an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system. Particularly under the influence of stress, too many neurons fire for too long, resulting in circuit-specific psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, inattention, and obsessional thinking as well as various physical symptoms that have no identifiable organic cause, such as migraine headache, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain. Based on this hypothesis, anticonvulsant drugs, which could more aptly be called “Neuroregulators” because of their proposed mechanism of action, should have emerged as the drugs of choice for most of these disorders. Yet the use of anticonvulsants, at least for psychiatric disorders, dwindles in comparison to antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, and sedative hypnotics. This article addresses the dearth of anticonvulsant drug use and the hypothetical reasons that several other classes of drugs continue to be used ahead of anticonvulsants despite the expanding base of evidence in support of the neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis. The article will also propose new ways that anticonvulsants could be used to optimize their effectiveness for the wide range of disorders they should be able to treat, and it will discuss the means by which anticonvulsants could, in theory, be used prophylactically to prevent the development of an equally wide range of general medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, dementia, and cancer.

Published in	American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (Volume 9, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18
Page(s)	174-182
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Anticonvulsants, Bipolar Spectrum Disorders, Neuronal Hyperexcitability, Ionchannelopathies, Preventive Medicine

References

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Michael Raymond Binder. (2021). Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future. American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 9(5), 174-182. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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Michael Raymond Binder. Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future. Am. J. Clin. Exp. Med. 2021, 9(5), 174-182. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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Michael Raymond Binder. Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future. Am J Clin Exp Med. 2021;9(5):174-182. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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@article{10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18,
  author = {Michael Raymond Binder},
  title = {Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future},
  journal = {American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine},
  volume = {9},
  number = {5},
  pages = {174-182},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajcem.20210905.18},
  abstract = {After more than a century of scientific study and philosophical debate, the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders is still unclear. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that psychiatric and related functional symptoms are rooted in an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system. Particularly under the influence of stress, too many neurons fire for too long, resulting in circuit-specific psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, inattention, and obsessional thinking as well as various physical symptoms that have no identifiable organic cause, such as migraine headache, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain. Based on this hypothesis, anticonvulsant drugs, which could more aptly be called “Neuroregulators” because of their proposed mechanism of action, should have emerged as the drugs of choice for most of these disorders. Yet the use of anticonvulsants, at least for psychiatric disorders, dwindles in comparison to antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, and sedative hypnotics. This article addresses the dearth of anticonvulsant drug use and the hypothetical reasons that several other classes of drugs continue to be used ahead of anticonvulsants despite the expanding base of evidence in support of the neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis. The article will also propose new ways that anticonvulsants could be used to optimize their effectiveness for the wide range of disorders they should be able to treat, and it will discuss the means by which anticonvulsants could, in theory, be used prophylactically to prevent the development of an equally wide range of general medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, dementia, and cancer.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future
AU  - Michael Raymond Binder
Y1  - 2021/10/28
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18
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JO  - American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
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AB  - After more than a century of scientific study and philosophical debate, the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders is still unclear. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that psychiatric and related functional symptoms are rooted in an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system. Particularly under the influence of stress, too many neurons fire for too long, resulting in circuit-specific psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, inattention, and obsessional thinking as well as various physical symptoms that have no identifiable organic cause, such as migraine headache, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain. Based on this hypothesis, anticonvulsant drugs, which could more aptly be called “Neuroregulators” because of their proposed mechanism of action, should have emerged as the drugs of choice for most of these disorders. Yet the use of anticonvulsants, at least for psychiatric disorders, dwindles in comparison to antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, and sedative hypnotics. This article addresses the dearth of anticonvulsant drug use and the hypothetical reasons that several other classes of drugs continue to be used ahead of anticonvulsants despite the expanding base of evidence in support of the neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis. The article will also propose new ways that anticonvulsants could be used to optimize their effectiveness for the wide range of disorders they should be able to treat, and it will discuss the means by which anticonvulsants could, in theory, be used prophylactically to prevent the development of an equally wide range of general medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, dementia, and cancer.
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Michael Raymond Binder

Department of Psychiatry, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Highland Park, USA

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Michael Raymond Binder. (2021). Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future. American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 9(5), 174-182. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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Michael Raymond Binder. Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future. Am. J. Clin. Exp. Med. 2021, 9(5), 174-182. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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Michael Raymond Binder. Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future. Am J Clin Exp Med. 2021;9(5):174-182. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18

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@article{10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18,
  author = {Michael Raymond Binder},
  title = {Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future},
  journal = {American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine},
  volume = {9},
  number = {5},
  pages = {174-182},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajcem.20210905.18},
  abstract = {After more than a century of scientific study and philosophical debate, the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders is still unclear. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that psychiatric and related functional symptoms are rooted in an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system. Particularly under the influence of stress, too many neurons fire for too long, resulting in circuit-specific psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, inattention, and obsessional thinking as well as various physical symptoms that have no identifiable organic cause, such as migraine headache, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain. Based on this hypothesis, anticonvulsant drugs, which could more aptly be called “Neuroregulators” because of their proposed mechanism of action, should have emerged as the drugs of choice for most of these disorders. Yet the use of anticonvulsants, at least for psychiatric disorders, dwindles in comparison to antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, and sedative hypnotics. This article addresses the dearth of anticonvulsant drug use and the hypothetical reasons that several other classes of drugs continue to be used ahead of anticonvulsants despite the expanding base of evidence in support of the neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis. The article will also propose new ways that anticonvulsants could be used to optimize their effectiveness for the wide range of disorders they should be able to treat, and it will discuss the means by which anticonvulsants could, in theory, be used prophylactically to prevent the development of an equally wide range of general medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, dementia, and cancer.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Anticonvulsants: The Psychotropic and Medically Protective Drugs of the Future
AU  - Michael Raymond Binder
Y1  - 2021/10/28
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18
T2  - American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
JF  - American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
JO  - American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
SP  - 174
EP  - 182
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8133
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20210905.18
AB  - After more than a century of scientific study and philosophical debate, the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders is still unclear. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that psychiatric and related functional symptoms are rooted in an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system. Particularly under the influence of stress, too many neurons fire for too long, resulting in circuit-specific psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, inattention, and obsessional thinking as well as various physical symptoms that have no identifiable organic cause, such as migraine headache, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain. Based on this hypothesis, anticonvulsant drugs, which could more aptly be called “Neuroregulators” because of their proposed mechanism of action, should have emerged as the drugs of choice for most of these disorders. Yet the use of anticonvulsants, at least for psychiatric disorders, dwindles in comparison to antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, and sedative hypnotics. This article addresses the dearth of anticonvulsant drug use and the hypothetical reasons that several other classes of drugs continue to be used ahead of anticonvulsants despite the expanding base of evidence in support of the neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis. The article will also propose new ways that anticonvulsants could be used to optimize their effectiveness for the wide range of disorders they should be able to treat, and it will discuss the means by which anticonvulsants could, in theory, be used prophylactically to prevent the development of an equally wide range of general medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, dementia, and cancer.
VL  - 9
IS  - 5
ER  -

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