Green tea Bioactive Compound Theanine Protects the Brain Against Manic and Depressive Episodes in Bipolar Disorder

Kyle J. Norton, Master of Nutrition

Green tea major bioactive theanine may have a potential and positive effect in blocking the onset of bipolar disorder, some scientists suggested.

Bipolar disorder is a condition of brain disorder characterized by unusual shifting mood, energy, activity levels, and interfering the brain function in carrying out day-to-day tasks.

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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the conditions can be classified in to
* Bipolar I disorder with severe manic episodes last at least 7 days, most people with bipolar I disorder needs immediate hospital care.

* Bipolar II disorder is characterized by a pattern of depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes. 

* Cyclothymic disorder also known as cyclothymia is a condition with numerous periods of hypomanic and depressive symptoms that lasting for at least 2 years.

*4. Other conditions that do not match the 3 above.

Dr. Steve Bressert, Ph.D. in the article Manic Episode Symptoms, wrote, “The symptoms of mania include: elevated mood, inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, difficulty maintaining attention, increase in goal-directed activity, and excessive involvement in pleasurable activities” compared to depressive episode that characterizes with low mood and other depression symptoms that lasts for 2 weeks or more. In some cases, a depressive episode may last several weeks or months at a time.

Green tea is a precious drink processed numbers of health benefit known to almost everyone in Asia and the Western world.

In the investigation to determine whether theanine (n-ethylglutamic acid), a non-proteinaceous amino acid component of green and black teas have any protective effects on the central nervous system, researchers found that

* Theanine exerts a variety of neurophysiological and pharmacological effects through crosses the blood-brain barrier.

* Application of theanine also demonstrates the anxiolytic and calming effect by up-regulation of inhibitory neurotransmitters and possible modulation of serotonin and dopamine in selected areas and increasing levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

* The bioactive compound also displays a neuroprotective effect following cerebral infarct and injury,

* Theanine also elicits improvements in cognitive function including learning and memory,

* Interestingly, theanine administration elicits selective changes in alpha brain wave activity with concomitant increases in selective attention during the execution of mental tasks and inhibits depression.

These results suggested that theanine can be considered a therapeutic role in the treatment of some psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder.

Additionally, in a study by Portland VA Medical Center of adults with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder who were maintained on antipsychotic and other psychotropic medications randomized to supplemental EGCG or placebo including a total of 34 participants (17 EGCG, 17 placebo) and 25 participants (14 EGCG, 11 placebo), researchers showed that

* Both treatment groups showed significant reductions in psychotic, depressive and anxiety symptoms from baseline to end of treatment.

* However, EGCG did not significantly affect psychiatric symptoms or inflammatory markers, as compared with placebo.

* Adverse effects were mild and comparable between groups.

The finding indicated that green tea extract EGCG exerts an insignificant effect on psychiatric symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder compared to Theanine, another major ingredient in green and black tea.

Taken all together, green and black tea major bioactive theanine may be considered a secondary therapy in protecting the brain against manic and depressive episode in patients with bipolar disorder.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it’s news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada – Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Effect of epigallocatechin gallate supplementation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study by Loftis JM1, Wilhelm CJ, Huckans M.(PubMed)
(2) Neurobiological effects of the green tea constituent theanine and its potential role in the treatment of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders by Lardner AL. (PubMed)