Table Of ContentProbiotics in Mental Health
Probiotics in Mental Health
Editors
Colin R Martin
Faculty of Society and Health
Buckinghamshire New University, Uxbridge, UK
Derek Larkin
Department of Psychology
Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK
p,
p,
A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK
A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK
Cover credit: Illustrations taken from Chapter 4.
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 22001187 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed on acid-free paper
Version Date: 2200117710211149
International Standard Book Number-13: 997788--11--44696857--74375969--78 (Hardback)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been
made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the
validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the
copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to
publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let
us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted,
or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, includ-
ing photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written
permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com
(http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers,
MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety
of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment
has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Martin, Colin R., 1964-editor.
Title: Probiotics in mental health / editors, Colin R. Martin and Derek
Larkin.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, [2018] | "A
science publishers book." | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017057525 | ISBN 9781466573567 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Mental illness--Treatment. | Probiotics--Therapeutic use. |
Gastrointestinal system--Microbiology.
Classification: LCC RC480 .P69 2018 | DDC 616.89/1--dc23
LC record available athttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017057525
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
Dedication
Colin R Martin—I would like to dedicate this book to my beautiful daughter Caragh
Brien, in her third year at medical school and of whom I am so proud.
Derek Larkin—I would like to dedicate this book to my partner Karen Ann Nicklin
whose love and guidance has been impressive. She is my best friend, staunch ally,
most able critic, and my role model. For my part I would also like to dedicate this
book to my in-laws (Iris, Norman and Nigel) simply because they bring laughter in
to my life—Thank you.
Acknowledgements
The Editors would like to acknowledge each contributor in turn, this book would not
have been accomplished without their hard work, professionalism and dedication. We
are also grateful to our friends and colleagues who have provided us with extensive
personal and professional guidance.
Foreword
The recent interest in the relationship between the gut and well-being has been an
intriguing development within, till recently, the biosciences. Interestingly, from
that perspective, the focus has been largely in the area of physical well-being.
However, this is changing as the relationship between the gut and the brain, which,
though undeniably complex, begins to present compelling evidence for a significant
relationship with mental health. This is important as it allows us to consider the
emergence of some mental health problems in a novel way and allows us to contrast
this new evidence with existing models, irrespective of whether they be medical,
psychosocial or genetic models. A fundamentally exciting position also presents itself
with this emerging evidence base of the gut–brain axis for those of us working within
the clinical sphere, and that is the potential for interventions that may be effective and
also benign, particularly when one considers the side-effect profile that is associated
with many of the pharmacological interventions used within the mental health field.
The area of probiotics and mental health thus represents a comparatively new field, a
science in its infancy and yet, even at this early stage of evolution, finding novel and
robust outcomes with significant implications for potential intervention strategies.
Reflecting on the potential role of probiotics to help with mental health problems
provides a seductive context for a number of potential ‘thought experiments’. It is
thus plausible to consider in a scientific and robust way, the relationship between the
gut–brain axis and the manifestation of significant mental health problems within
an aetiological perspective. Thus, if we are able to establish a relationship between
for example, the gut–brain axis and depression, what does this mean in terms of
diagnosis, course and outcome? Given the complexity of diagnostic systems used
within clinical psychiatry, could this be considered a unitary model of depression,
embracing all accounts of diagnosed depression, or could this be the context to define
a new type of depression, with a different cause, treatment and outcome, to say,
for example, an endogenous depression defined within an aetiological model of low
5-Hydroxytriptamine (serotonin) levels, which would of course would likely define
a pharmacological intervention approach, usually with selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRI’s). Considering just this single premise then, a constellation of
pertinent factors begins to emerge regarding, diagnosis, course and prognosis.
The above presents just one potential possibility that the area of probiotics
and mental health brings in facilitating innovation and renewal in the provision of
evidence-based mental health care. A second exciting possibility is that through
effective patient education in the link between the gut–brain axis and mental health
