Why is Maryland canceling important schizophrenia research? | GUEST COMPLAINT

Last month, Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott has completed a first-of-its-kind patient study that has shown promise in treating schizophrenia.

On behalf of the patients who volunteered to participate in this study – and millions of Americans desperate for any help they can get to treat severe mental illness – Herrera Scott should reverse his decision immediately’ and let the case proceed.

In fact, the health secretary’s decision is difficult to understand. With the approval of his office, a 16-week review of Dr. Deanna Kelly, who reviewed the benefits of a high-fat, low-fat, medical ketogenic diet to treat schizophrenia, found no health and safety concerns. Indeed, Kelly is a nationally recognized researcher with two decades of experience conducting clinical trials of schizophrenia patients. Her study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Maryland and reviewed by the Spring Grove Hospital Research Committee and the independent Data Protection and Monitoring Board. In addition, Kelly’s patients freely chose to enter the study after their psychiatrists voluntarily recommended ketogenic therapy as a promising treatment—and four patients successfully entered the study. hand in the study before it is suspended.

Given the lack of federal funding for mental health research, privately funded studies like Kelly’s are a way of life—not a necessity. Of the twelve trials of the ketogenic diet for serious mental illness conducted so far, Kelly’s work was particularly important as the only clinical study of a ketogenic diet for schizophrenia given to sick patients, who are often very sick. As a rule, these patients cannot afford a nutritionist, let alone a metabolic psychologist. If Herrera Scott stands by his decision to prevent them from participating in this trial, there is no chance that they will ever receive this life-changing treatment again.

If the sticks sound personal, they certainly are for families like ours. After our son Matt was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016, we tried everything. Over five years, Matt was treated by 41 doctors, prescribed 29 psychiatric medications, hospitalized five times and spent two terrifying weeks wandering the streets suffering from mental illness. At the end of a painful odyssey through modern psychiatry, the doctors called Matt a “treatment-resistant” and advised our family to work for admission.

Instead, we reached out to a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who pioneered the use of the medical ketogenic diet in treatment-resistant mood and psychiatric disorders. Matt agreed to give it a shot. After six weeks, Matt’s mood was clearly stabilized. Less than four months later, Matt had decided that he would never return. Today, more than three years later, our son has saved his life and remains symptom-free.

If that sounds like a miracle or a medical miracle, then it’s clear that psychiatric researchers have a lot to learn. In fact, a hundred years of evidence supports the effectiveness of ketogenic interventions in brain disorders—especially, refractory epilepsy. Evidence from the field of psychiatry, including a recent Stanford trial that made headlines around the world, points to ketogenic metabolic therapy as a safe, effective treatment for the disease and mental strength.

Just as our family couldn’t give up on Matt, public health leaders like Herrera Scott have a duty to keep every hope possible for people who with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses. These are people whose suffering is very severe, or not fatal, and whose treatment options are limited, high-risk and surprisingly under-researched. If something as straightforward as a medical ketogenic diet can help so many people like Matt get better, then the government at least should not be interfering with clinical research that costs nothing to the state and is it’s already going on.

For five years, our son struggled with his symptoms every day. If only someone had told us then that there was hope for treatment-resistant mental illness – and that it wouldn’t destroy his physical health in the way that many psychiatric drugs do. which does – then we would have done anything to give our son that hope. A health care professional should not make it difficult for people with severe mental illness to find hope for themselves.

We regularly consult with families who are eager to help their loved ones try medical ketogenic therapy. Families like ours don’t just rely on emerging researchers like Kelly to ask good questions about the complex interactions between metabolism and mental health. We also depend on public health leaders to allow scientific research and innovation to move forward so we can follow the data – wherever it leads.

Herrera Scott should allow this potentially life-saving research to continue without further delay.

Jan Ellison Baszucki (@janellison) is the author and founder of Metabolic Mind, a mental health advocacy project, and David is the founder and CEO of Roblox. They founded Baszucki’s team, which works to change mental health outcomes.