I have been reading The Inflamed Mind by Ed Bullmore. On the cover we read "an important book", "radical new approach", "game-changing book", "breakthrough new science", "an extraordinary exploration", "paradigm shift", "on the brink of a revolution", etc. Nothing I read inside matched the hype.

Our famous poetesse Edith Södergran died about 34 years old. Her tuberculosis was thought to contribute to a high euphoric mood. Neurosyphilis contributed to Schumann's compositions for Schumann had contracted syphilis at the age of 21, Van Gogh's psychotic inclinations (manic-depressive states according to some) which mood-states were thought to link to his increased creativity. Mozart has at least 220 diagnoses, one of the last was tricinosis (from meat about 3 weeks earlier to his death). From https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/classical-composers-and-their-maladies you find the Swedish symphonist Allan Pettersson who was diagnosed in the early 1950s with rheumatoid arthritis. George Gershwin died at age 38 of a glioblastoma multiforme.Georges Bizet was a chronic sufferer of tonsillitis and quinsy, which gave him sore throats and neck swellings due to streptoccocal infections. He did not experience the greatness of his work Carmen. Syphilitics were Franz Schubert, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Gaspare Spontini, Gaetano Donizetti, Mikhail Glinka, Bedrich Smetana, Hugo Wolf, Frederick Delius, Edward Macdowell, and Scott Joplin, and their symptoms ranged from lesions and fevers to blindness, deafness, dementia, and death. Yet because syphilis masquerades as other diseases, it's possible that other composers had it without knowing it. Alexander Scriabin (right) displayed symptoms of mental illness late in his life, including a messianic megalomania brought on by syphilis. Henry Purcell, Luigi Boccherini, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Carl Maria von Weber, Ferdinand Hérold, Niccolò Paganini, Frédéric Chopin (he could have had cystic fibrosis as well, cared for by George Sands) Stephen Collins Foster, Karol Szymanowski, and Igor Stravinsky contracted tuberculosis, which contagious bacterial infection of the lungs has become known as the Romantic disease par excellence, thanks to the successes of the play La Dame aux camélias, and the operas La Traviata and La Bohème. If you seek Wikipedia you may be inclined to think that the necessity for a genius to bloom is to contract a deadly disease. Also hypothyreosis goes with depression and depression goes with the capability to think deep thoughts.

Me, I prefere not to be too brilliant and to live longer... More seriously : the only two facts that come to my mind that can help your research are 1) the established but still stunning influence that have cortisol on the mood and 2) the interferon treatment effect on the mood. Cortisol can have both a depressive effect both a manic effect and cortisol psychosis are not so uncommon and sometime severe. For inteferon treatment for hcv infection there is a controindication for mood disorder conditions.

Dr Giovanni Portuesi

Why not live a brilliant short life and leave great tracks behind:)

Neurosyphilis contributed to Schumann's compositions for Schumann had contracted syphilis at the age of 21."

I think there is definitely a surplus of syphilis amongst the above-named, including van Gogh, Schubert, Smetana, Wolf, Delius, Joplin, etc. However, I don't think this has anything to do with the hormonal or immunological systems, but with a direct action on the inner ear. Early syphilis, common in European cities occupied by Napoleon's troops, hypersensitised the ear, leading to musical hallucinations and hence creativity.

Syphilis is an infectious venereal disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum. Syphilis is transmissible by sexual contact with infectious lesions, from mother to fetus in utero, via blood product transfusion, and occasionally through breaks in the skin that come into contact with infectious lesions. If untreated, it progresses through 4 stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary. The neurosyphilis stage seems tobe that of interest in creative activities.

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/229461-overview

Anthony G Gordon thanks for sharing. I have not read that book. What are your research interests right now, may I ask?

Hi, S. Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist. I appreciate you sharing about the famous musicians and artists--I hadn't considered that their contributions may have been a result of or correlated with their psychiatric disorders. It is inspirational to recognize the contributions each person can make regardless of mental or physical health state. My question is: what is the relationship between the immune system and psychiatric disorders? What are your thoughts?

Giovanni Portuesi thanks for your input here. Do you recommend any articles or books regarding cortisol or interferon treatment on mood? Thanks!

"I have not read that book. What are your research interests right now, may I ask?"

I am an Independent Scholar working on a number of different topics -- see my RG Questions and Answers. I saw Bullmore's book in the New Books section of the library, and read it as there had already been hype about it. My main focus at the moment is to get anyone to read my articles and test the many hypotheses within.

Am J Gastroenterol. 2008 Nov;103(11):2766-75. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2008.02106.x. Epub 2008 Aug 21.

Changes in mood states and biomarkers during peginterferon and ribavirin treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

Fontana RJ1, Kronfol Z, Lindsay KL, Bieliauskas LA, Padmanabhan L, Back-Madruga C, Lok AS, Stoddard AM; HALT-C Trial Group.

Depression and Apathy Among People Living with HIV: Implications for Treatment of HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorders.

Bryant VE, Whitehead NE, Burrell LE 2nd, Dotson VM, Cook RL, Malloy P, Devlin K, Cohen RA.

AIDS Behav. 2015 Aug;19(8):1430-7. doi: 10.1007/s10461-014-0970-1.

HIV infection and depression.

Arseniou S, Arvaniti A, Samakouri M.

Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2014 Feb;68(2):96-109. doi: 10.1111/pcn.12097. Epub 2013 Oct 30. Review.

PMID: 24552630 Free Article

Perhaps our paper on children's leukemia and parents give you some hints on what chemotherapy can provoke.

I'd be interested in reading those research articles. Thanks, S. Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist

Another relevant publication. Re: Ovarian cancer and increased survival outcomes with aspirin and non-aspirin NSAID users: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(18)30373-5/fulltext

Anthony G Gordon, I can check out your research questions sometime.

In the complex field of immunology, it is often difficult to formulate a question that is answerable in relationship to mental health.

Dennis Mazur thanks for sharing. I agree that the field of immunology is complex, and I'm confident as we ask more questions and do more research, we will find more answers. Some will take longer than others.