How infections and autoimmune dysfunction can trigger OCD & other neuropsychiatric symptoms
Are you struggling with OCD symptoms that do not respond to treatment?
If so, your symptoms may actually be due to a treatable infection-triggered autoimmune dysfunction rather than a primary psychiatric disorder.
Infections disrupt immune system and impact the brain
Common infections (i.e., strep, mycoplasma pneumonia and coxsackie virus) can trigger the immune system to produce autoantibodies to destroy the harmful pathogens (i.e., bacteria, viruses). But in some people, the immune system goes awry and these autoantibodies mistakenly attack healthy cells in a region of the brain known as the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia is responsible for motor control, as well as executive functions and behaviors, and emotions.
When this occurs, it can cause brain inflammation and disrupt how cells and receptors function. This, in turn, leads to the onset of various neuropsychiatric symptoms, including OCD-like behaviors.
Often times, these infections are occult or hidden. That is, they are not producing any outward, physical symptoms, yet they can still impact the brain.
Proper treatment can improve or resolve symptoms
Identifying whether symptoms may be due to an autoimmune process is important, since therapy focuses on treating underlying infections and the immune system, rather than treating solely with psychotropic medications.
Webinar Schedule
About The Webinar
This presentation will review how infections and an immune dysfunction can induce various neurologic and psychiatric symptoms, including obsessions and compulsions. We will describe the interconnection between infections, our immune system, and the brain and how a dysfunctional immune response can result in neuropsychiatric symptoms.
We will describe the signs and symptoms that may help identify whether an individual with OCD may be suffering from an autoimmune dysfunction versus a primary psychiatric disorder.
We will also review how the Autoimmune Brain Panel™ can assist clinicians in determining whether symptoms may be due to an autoimmune response and highlight several cases of patients who tested positive on the Panel and were successfully treated with a resolution in symptoms.
We look forward to seeing you online!
Webinar Presenter
Craig Shimasaki, PhD, MBA
Craig Shimasaki is President and CEO of Moleculera Biosciences, a neuroimmunology precision medicine company focused on identifying underlying roots of neurologic, psychiatric, and behavioral disorders triggered by an autoimmune response. He is a medical research scientist with over 35 years of translational development experience in biochemical interactions, molecular biology, viral pathogenesis and infection-triggered neuropsychiatric disorders.
Dr. Shimasaki has worked at all stages of research and development from bench to bedside. His research included epitope mapping of HIV proteins, genetic based risk predictors of breast cancer, influenza and RSV diagnostics and therapeutics and pathogenesis of infection triggered neuropsychiatric disorders. As a businessperson, he co-founded multiple companies and led multiple products through the FDA approval process and is a co-inventor on multiple patents.
Dr. Shimasaki started his career at Genentech. He received his BS in Biochemistry from University of California at Davis, his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Tulsa, and his MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Oklahoma where he teaches biotechnology entrepreneurship. His passion is to help translate scientific and medical discoveries into acutely needed products so that more patients can live healthier lives.
