Two chemicals from breath samples, butyrate and trimethylamine, are sufficient to distinguish depression and schizophrenia with 80% accuracy. These chemicals are both produced by gut microbes. This implies that the correlation between gut microbes and these two mental conditions is surprisingly high. If, in a room full of people with a multiple mental issues, you can distinguish them by mere microbes, then perhaps we should be paying more attention to mere microbes.
Hal and Ava discuss the implications of this amazing diagnostic.
Henning, Daniush, Marian Lüno, Carina Jiang, Gabriela Meyer-Lotz, Christoph Hoeschen, and Thomas Frodl. “Gut–Brain Axis Volatile Organic Compounds Derived from Breath Distinguish between Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder.” Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience : JPN 48, no. 2 (April 12, 2023): E117–25.
Jia, Huang, Cai Yiwen, Su Yousong, Zhang Ming, Shi Yifang, Zhu Na, Jin Feng, Peng Daihui, and Fang Yiru. “Gastrointestinal Symptoms During Depressive Episodes in 3256 Patients with Major Depressive Disorders: Findings from the NSSD.” Journal of Affective Disorders, February 17, 2021.
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