Hot dogs and salami linked to manic attacks
HOT DOGS and other cured meat such as salami and beef jerky may be causing manic episodes, according to a new study.
Scientists say they suspect the chemical preservative nitrate is causing the disorders. They found people admitted to hospital for an episode had more than three times the odds of having ever eaten nitrate-cured meats than people without a history of a serious psychiatric condition.
The study was backed up a further experiment in rats, which were fed a diet with added nitrates and had mania-like hyperactivity after just a few weeks.
A number of genetic and other risk factors have been linked to the manic episodes that characterise bipolar disorder and may occur in other psychiatric conditions.
Yet those factors have been unable to explain the cause of these mental illnesses, and researchers are increasingly looking for environmental factors, such as diet, that may play a role.
The study adds to evidence that certain diets and potentially the amounts and types of bacteria in the gut may contribute to mania and other disorders that affect the brain. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore cautioned it was too early to take any clinical messages from the results, and occasional cured meat consumption is unlikely to spur a manic episode in most of the population.
But the findings add to evidence of the multiple factors that contribute to mania and bipolar disorder. Seva Khambadkone, one of the researchers, said: “It’s clear that mania is a complex neuropsychiatric
‘There’s growing evidence that germs in the intestines can influence the brain’
state, and that both genetic vulnerabilities and environmental factors are likely involved in the emergence and severity of bipolar disorder and associated manic episodes.
“Our results suggest that nitrated cured meat could be one environmental player in mediating mania.”
Prof Robert Yolken said: “There’s growing evidence that germs in the intestines can influence the brain. This work on nitrates opens the door for future studies on how that may be happening.”
Manic states can lead to dangerous risk-taking behaviour and can include delusional thinking, and most of those affected experience multiple hospitalisations.