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Comment by humanfromearth9 | Hacker News Reader

The first thing I would do in case of depression is to make sure that the patient's energy levels are good and that mitochondria and other energy-related biochem phenomena work as expected.

I know first-hand that low energy-levels and lacking energy production mechanically lead to depression.

Also, look at how people (children also) experience the world and their relationships and their stresses when they are tired (or even just hungry) compared to when they are fit...

Fix those, and the depression might be gone.

This is not bashing against anti-depressants, they play their role to. But in some cases, energy-management is key.

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Thank you for the comment. This is not in my area of expertise, so I hope you can clarify - how does one test that "mitochondria and other energy-related biochem phenomena work as expected"?

Second the question

There are tests out there like https://www.chrismasterjohn-phd.com/mitome

(No affiliation, just have been subscribed to the founder’s substack for a while)

Chris Masterjohn is a noted quack. He takes bits of actual science and research and weaves them together into narratives that make it sound like he has everything figured out with his unique protocols, but it doesn’t hold up to actual scrutiny. People spend years following his ever changing protocols without getting anywhere (beyond placebo effect and a large bill for supplements)

I know I won’t convince the parent commenter but hopefully I can convince other readers not to go down this road or invest any money in anything related to him.

Pure ad hominem FUD. “This guy sometimes disagrees with scientists employed by the government, don’t listen to him!”.

The technical details are beyond my understanding but I’ve heard from a PhD in the field that Masterjohn’s understanding of metabolism is second to none. Whether his protocols work or not is certainly a case by case matter (like any health protocol), but he always appears to substantiate it with well-cited lines of argument, and is willing to engage with interlocutors.

As for spending years with changing protocols without getting anywhere besides spending lots of money, well that can be said for people with complex issues who go the institutionally approved route as well. It isn’t discrediting in its own right that a protocol didn’t work for some.

Just as an example, here is a small part of it: MTFHR mutation causes megaloblastic anemia: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45085439

It's interesting that one way to improve mitochondrial dysfunction is getting sunlight, the same way you get Vitamin D.

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