Serotonin and Its Uses
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is a neurotransmitter in the brain that has an enormous influence over many brain functions. It is synthesized, from the amino acid L-tryptophan, in brain neurons and stored in vesicles. Serotonin is found in three main areas of the body: the intestinal wall; large constricted blood vessels; and the central nervous system. The most widely studied effects have been those on the central nervous system. The functions of serotonin are numerous and appear to involve control of appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, mood, behavior (including sexual and hallucinogenic behavior), cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, endocrine regulation, and depression (1).
The activity of serotonin arises in the brainstem from clusters of neurons known as the raphe nucleus. From the brain, serotonin neurons extend to virtually all parts of the central nervous system making the branching of the serotonin network the most expansive neurochemical system in the brain. The importance of this network becomes apparent when considering each serotonin neuron exerts an influence over as many as 500,000 target neurons. Due to the widespread distribution of serotonin in the nervous system, it is not surprising that this neurotransmitter can be linked to many types of behavior (2).
Of the chemical neurotransmitter substances, serotonin is perhaps the most implicated in the treatment of various disorders, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, stroke, obesity, pain, hypertension, vascular disorders, migraine, and nausea. A major factor in the understanding of the role of 5-HT in these disorders is the recent rapid advance made i...
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... needs to be discussed further. More studies should be conducted to show how daily exercise, along with a good diet, can help raise serotonin levels. Such research may lead to patients learning how to treat themselves without relying on any type of prescription drugs. This may also lead to a decrease in the experience of serotonin syndrome.
WWW Sources
1) Serotonin: The Neurotransmitter for the 90's
http://fairlite.com/ocd/articles/ser90.shtml
2) Widespread Uses of Serotonin
http://fairlite.com/ocd/articles/ser90.shtml
3) The Serotonin Syndrome
http://members.aol.com/atracyphd/syndrome.htm
4)5-Hyroxytryptophan
http://www.vitaminusa.com/pharmacy/5hyd10cap30v.html
5)5-HTP, Prozac Alternative
http://www.webfactor.com/dhea/5htp.html
6) Getting High on Serotonin - Neurotransmitters and Health
http://www.lamancha.com.au/%20Serotonin.html
Peters, Sharon. "Puppy Mills Face Greater Scrutiny." USA Today 31 Oct 2007, n. pag. Web. 15
In order to increase the level of serotonin, you should eat Tryptophan rich foods like tuna, salmon, dairy products, nuts and etc. At second step, you should get outside of the sunlight and absorb Vitamin D. Sun is considered to be best source for Vitamin D. Serotonin production is mainly based on availability of vitamin. It is a component of protein and which human will eat normal diet consume in significant amounts. One will increased with his weight by eating more carbohydrates. This serotonin will be helpful to promote happiness, relaxation and sleep. It is sometimes known as happy neurotransmitter. If there are any deficiencies in molecule, it will lead to depression. Individuals who are feeling difficult to sleep cannot try glass of warm milk before bed. There is some speculation that the popular thanks giving day coma where people will feel tired after a big meal. It is a kind of hormone which helps people to feel relaxed and contented. Similar to many hormones and brain chemicals, serotonin is having role in optimizing the concentrations. It is formed by the acid named tryptophan. It will work to make one to feel sleepy. Serotonin inside our body helps in increasing the ability of being relaxed, happy, confident and calm. It can regulate the memory and temperature. Apart from internal health, it will also help in the external health like with skin. It can be said as boon to the skin. Another name feel
However, a more direct investigation of the role of monoamines can be used through the neurotransmitter depletion model that can be seen in an experiment with tryptophan depletion and alpha-methylparatyrosine, which is used to lower levels of serotonin and induce catecholamine depletion, respectively, in the brain (Salomon, Miller, Delgado, & Charney, 1993). Results from this experiment show that, depending on the antidepressant used, such depletion rapidly reverses antidepressant responses in the majority of patients and that depletion in unmedicated patients with depression did no...
The amount of serotonin in the brain has an affect on an individual's behavior. "Low levels of the chemical are associated with clinical depression". (1) According to an article in "Time Domestic" entitled Suicide Check, serotonin may not reach some parts of the brain in adequate amounts in suicide victims. The article cites a study by Dr. John Mann of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Dr. Mann's study "...focuses on a section of white matter-the orbital c...
For this engagement essay the article Mean Ladies: Transgenders Villains in Disney Films by Amanda Putnam and the chapter “Someday My Prince Will Come”: Disney, the Heterosexual Imaginary and Animated Films by Carrie L. Cokely will summarized, analyzed, and engaged with using the Queer analytical framework.
A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future.
We can see that throughout the making of Disney movies the gender images have not evolved to match the changes in our society now, they have stayed stereotypical and similar to when Disney movies were first made in 1937 (Towbin et al 2003). In studies of 16 different Disney movies Mia Towbin (2003) and others
Overall, the increase within health care costs is effecting our nation significantly. Not only does it affect consumers but also organization. As it continues to increase everyone is finding themselves unable to pay for such changes. Reducing such growth within the health care costs requires a collaborative, inclusive, and dual-party approach. Strategies for reducing the costs include but not limited to: promoting prevention and healthy living, improving patient safety, and promoting transparency on medical costs and quality. If the nation works on such improvements, hopefully we will be able to turn the health care system into something we can all afford once again.
The United States Government is divided into three branches of government. These three branches are the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. The legislative branch consists of congress, and congress is responsible for making laws. Next, is the executive branch, this ranch consists of the president, vice president, and other courts. The executive branch is responsible for carrying out and enforcing laws.
For several years now, Disney seems to be determined not to offend anyone in order to keep its audience; indeed we are confronted with animation films full of compromises; they are not as degrading for women as Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), but they are nonetheless still filled with clichés. Films such as The Princess and The Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Wreck-it Ralph (2012), have in common the sense of being progressive and however we can notice the resurgence of harmful gendered stereotypes on the subjects of the social scale, women’s role in society, or the status quo. Frozen comes in and turns out to be no exception. Though it includes several encouraging and gratifying elements, it contributes insidiously to spread numerous
In the brainstem, the most primitive part of the brain, lie clusters of serotonin neurons. The nerve fiber terminals of the serotonergic neurons extend all throughout the central nervous system from the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord. This neurotransmitter is responsible for controlling fundamental physiological aspects of the body. In the central nervous system (CNS), serotonin has widespread and often profound implications, including a role in sleep, appetite, memory, learning, temperature regulation, mood, sexual behavior, cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, and endocrine regulation. Not only does this bioamine control physiological aspects of the body, but it also has an involvement in behaviors like eating, sleeping and aggression. Serotonin has been noted to produce an inhibitory effect on the nervous system that calms, soothes and generates feelings of general contentment and satiation.
One out of every 20 Americans will become depressed this year. This is obviously a very major and serious problem. St. John’s Wort’s main ingredient, hypericin, is what appears to help alleviate mild to moderate depression, although not much is known about whether or not it proves helpful in severe depression. Hypericin is the red pigment of the plant and it seems to inhibit monoamine oxidase (MAO) and the breakdown of the brain’s neurotransmitters and is also a SRI, serotonin reuptake inhibitor. However, according to Jean Carper in Miracle Cures, “recent research finds hypericin less potent an antidepressant than the whole plant extract itself, suggesting the herb’s complex mixture of chemicals, including xanthones and flavonoids, also are critical in the plant’s pharmacological benefits”.
Depression is a mental illness, which affects millions of Americans each year. Currently there are many prescription drugs, called anti-depressants that have been proven to successfully treat it. The causes of depression are somewhat of a medical enigma, however, it is known that depression is associated with a change in the brains chemistry involving the function of neurotransmitters (Reichert). This chemical change occurs in healthy brain’s, which experience sadness, but ends after the unpleasant stimulus is removed. In people suffering from depression this chemical change does not correspond to any particular stimulus. Symptoms of depression are often incapacitating and include severe and extended sadness, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of emptiness, irritability and anxiety (Reichert, Spake).
...epressant drugs are required to relieve symptoms. Many antidepressants work by raising levels of monoamine neurotransmitters in the synapse. TCA’s, SSRI’s and SNRI’s are equally successful in depressive patients however differ in terms of their side effects. Due to advantages in pharmacological treatment and minimum variation in antidepressant efficiency, the choice of medication available to depression patients remains a choice in accordance to the patient’s characteristics and which treatment is deemed safe with less severe side effects. Antidepressants used today inhibit the role of serotonin and norepinephrine transporters, therefore preventing reuptake of targeted neurotransmitters. Although TCA’s are much cheaper to administer to patients, the overall rate of patients running depression-free is significantly lower than those patients who are prescribed SSRI’s.