Restless legs syndrome (also called Willis-Ekbom disease) is a neurological disorder that has been researched extensively, but many aspects of the disease remain unknown. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by a strong urge to move one’s legs, including tingly, pulling, aching, or burning feelings when at rest. Patients with RLS may present with a range of mild to severe symptoms (Eisenberg, 2013). Symptoms generally worsen at night when lying down or sitting but can also affect normal daily activities and usually are relieved with movement. It is estimated that 7 out of 100 people in the United States are currently suffering from RLS. RLS can affect people of any age; however, symptoms generally worsen with age. RLS is understood to have strong genetic causes involving iron deficiency (Eisenberg, 2013). Because there is presently no test to diagnosis RLS, the only diagnosis material includes objective measures. There is currently no cure for RLS, but many lifestyle changes and medical treatments can help patients cope with symptoms. Exercise, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, quitting smoking, wearing compression stockings, and light therapy may alleviate some RLS symptoms (Eisenberg, 2013). The most common medical treatments for RLS are dopamine agonists (such as L-Dopa), alpha-2-delta ligands (such as gabapentin, an antiseizure medicine), and intravenous iron or iron supplement pills, but other therapies include benzodiazepines and low potent opioids (Comella, 2014). Connor’s (2011) “Profile of Altered Brain Iron Acquisition in Restless Legs Syndrome” explores the control of iron in brains of RLS patients.
Previous research has suggested that the blood-brain barrier acts as a simple transport system. The results fro...
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When intracellular iron levels are low, it is the responsibility of transferrin receptor messenger RNA to increase the translation of specific proteins. Iron regulatory proteins support this transferrin receptor messenger RNA and therefore are essential to regulating brain iron levels (Conner et al., 2011). RLS patients have a decrease in iron regulatory proteins and, therefore, low iron levels in neuromelanin cells. The decrease in iron regulatory proteins causes decrease storage of iron in the endothelial cells (Conner et al., 2011). One treatment plan for patients with RLS involves intravenous iron supplements. Replenishing the lost iron in the endothelial cells has shown to help alleviate some symptoms of RLS. More research is needed to completely understand the mechanisms behind iron release, iron uptake, and iron storage in patients with RLS.
Phantom pain refers to the phenomenal experience of pain in a body part that has been amputated or deafferented (Flor, Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2006). The characteristics of phantom pain have been described to occur in quick and sudden attacks of pain shooting up and down the amputated limb as well as cases of constant, excruciating pain whilst intensely perceiving the amputated limb to be cramped or postured abnormally (Katz, 1992). Approximately eighty percent of amputees report suffering from or at least experiencing some level of phantom pain post amputation; therefore it is a prominent issue (Flor, Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2006). Phantom pain is neuropathic pain that has no individual trigger but instead a plethora of psychobiological aspects of neuroplasticity that contribute to the cause of phantom pain (Grusser, Diers & Flor, 2003). The following will: outline the role of the peripheral and central factors associated with phantom pain and discuss the cortical reorganisation of the somatosensory cortex in relation to phantom pain.
Iron is a trace element, which is a group of minerals present in small quantities in the body. Other trace elements include copper, zinc, selenium, manganese and iodine. These minerals cannot be synthesized by the body and must therefore be supplied in the diet. Iron is the most common trace element in the human body; adult males have approximately 3.5 g iron in total, or 50 mg per kg body weight while females have about 2g total iron or 35 mg per kg bodyweight. Iron can exist in oxidation states from -2 to +6, but mainly exists in the ferrous (+2) and ferric (+3) states in biological systems. As iron has the ability to accept and donate electrons readily, it can interconvert between these two forms with ease. Thus, iron can participate in
Most fibromyalgia patients suffer pain and hence the main reason of becoming sleepless. Little that people know that lack of sleep leads to magnesium deficiency as sleep disturbance impact the secretion of growth hormone. This essential hormone aids in the insulin growth factor or the IGF-1 which is very important in tissue repair. It also influences the magnesium levels within the cells. It’s crucial to look into the levels of magne...
Inadequate iron stores in the blood cause iron deficiency anemia. Iron is needed for the production of hemoglobin needed for red blood cells. Hemoglobin is important in the transport of oxygen to the body tissues. In the United States, 10-30% of the entire population suffers from iron deficiency anemia. Women are more likely to be anemic because of poor eating habits and blood loss during menstruation. Thus, many women enter pregnancy with reduced iron stores or some level of anemia. According to multiple studies on anemia and pregnancy o...
Passage 6: “The brain needs more blood than any other part of your body because every part of your body depends on the brain working properly” (78). Here in the book it shows how much blood your brain needs compared to the rest of your body, 20% of all the fresh blood coming from your heart goes straight to your
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a highly specialized endothelial barrier which separates components of the circulating blood from neurons.[6] The BBB acts as the interface between the vascular system and the brain that restricts and regulates the exchange of substances.[7] The blood- brain barrier is responsible for the maintaining of homeostasis of the brain through regulating the chemical environment, the entry of xenobiotic and the immune cell transport.[8, 9] The concentration of water, ions, amino acids, hormones and neurotransmitters in the blood undergo fluctuations. If those fluctuations were allowed to occur in the brain it would lead to local disruption of signal propagation and uncontrolled neural activity.[8, 10] Interruption of cerebral blood flow would result in neuronal death.[11]
Narcolepsy is a sleeping abnormality in which a person experiences sudden attacks of sleepiness during the day. Narcolepsy is an often-inherited neurological sleep disorder caused by the brains inability to regulate a stable sleep-wake cycle. (Turkington & Harris). People who suffer from this abnormality usually experience attacks of muscle weakness or paralysis and occasional dreamlike experiences while awake. Narcolepsy is a disturbance of the portion of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep into the waking period. During normal REM sleep, the muscles become deeply relaxed and the nerves to the muscles are basically paralyzed. The normal sleep period begins with about 90 minutes of non-REM sleep before REM sleep begins. But for a person
Narcolepsy has been above looked for years beforehand knowing a patient has the illness, it is a quickly producing awareness and is continually altering people and their families lives. With nap materializing to be not merely the ultimate pastime, but additionally a survival imperative, the earth of nap scutiny is quite large, bragging countless disparate spans of study. By scrutinizing phenomena like nap disorders neurobiologists can yearn to comprehend the mechanisms of normative nap, in supplement to perfecting treatment for suffers. Narcolepsy is one such disorder that affects an approximated 250, 000 or 1 in 2000 Americans; comparable numbers are approximated for Parkinson's or countless sclerosis (mayo-foundation). An comprehensive, nevertheless oftentimes misdiagnosed illness (fewer than 50, 000 are cognizant of their condition), narcolepsy can be delineated by chronic daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, nap paralysis, and hypanogic hallucinations (rare-disease). The last three of the tetrad of symptoms additionally transpire in non-narcoleptic individuals; nap episodes are the main determinant in diagnosis. Merely 20 to 25 percent of narcoleptics tolerate from all four symptoms (mayo-foundation). This paper has countless goals, all of that involve elucidating the illness and its symptoms in disparate contexts. In order to do this nap will main be elucidated in a slight detail, pursued by a biological and psychological treatment of narcolepsy. Scutiny of narcolepsy and its implications for the upcoming displays steps to be grabbed in order to garner a larger understanding this particular brain/behavior relationship.
The brain is protected by a tightly packed lining of cells called the blood-brain barrier. However, some drugs are able to pass through and influence the operation of the brain. These drugs alter consciousness by facilitating or inhibiting synaptic transmission. A synapse is a junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap acro...
Sleep disorders are a very serious problem for a lot of people. It affects a lot of people 's lives, requiring them to have to live a very different life than the average person. The five most commonly known sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea, sleepwalking, and narcolepsy. Sleep insomnia is when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep even when you have a chance to do so. Sleep apnea is when you have trouble breathing when you’re asleep. Sleepwalking is when you’re in a deep sleep and you start to walk around or perform some kind of complex behavior. People that are affected by these disorders have a very hard time either getting to sleep or staying asleep. I will be explaining what all of these disorders are and how they affect
The fluid in the brain (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF) is formed in the brain. CSF usually circulates through parts of the brain, its covering, and the spinal canal, and is then absorbed into the circulatory system.
Twitchy, sore legs and urges to walk everywhere sound like the perfect combination for a good night’s rest. Although not a common condition among people, it’s a daily feeling for some as they go to bed. Restless Leg Syndrome, or RLS, is a disorder that affects millions of people across the world. The disorder is what it is: restless legs. Most people who hear about RLS usually shrug it off; there’s not anything serious about having a little more excited legs, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Restless Leg Syndrome is characterized by only a few related symptoms: urges to move one’s limbs (specifically the legs), “creepy-crawly” senses along the legs, relief comes with exercise, and the severity of the symptoms
Iron is a mineral that is found the in hemoglobin of the Red Blood Cells. It facilitates in the transport of oxygen all over the body. Without this mineral, oxygen cannot be carried to its full capacity. 1 out of 10 women and small children have iron deficiencies. Lacking iron causes lethargy and a weakened immune system. Children who do not have an adequate intake of iron put themselves at risk for intellectual developmental problems. However, an iron deficient person is not necessarily anemic. 7.8 million women are iron deficient, while only 3.3 million women are anemic (http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9704/iron_def.htm). When the deficiency becomes so severe that the circulating Red Blood Count and the minerals Ht, Hg, and Hem drop below normal, anemia occurs (See Figure 1). The hormone androgen causes men and women to have different normal values of the hemogram (http://www.medstudents.com.br/hemat/hemat4.htm). Low ferritin (iron storage molecule) and high TIBC (tota...
According to Psychology textbook, by J. Noland and Saundra K. Ciccarelli, narcolepsy is defined as a sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep (a stage of sleep in which one’s eyes move rapidly under their eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream) during the day without warning. Narcolepsy affects one in every two thousand people and is known as a kind of “sleep seizure”. A person with narcolepsy, especially one that is experiencing strong emotions, may slip suddenly into REM sleep during anytime of the day (Noland & Ciccarelli, 2010). To understand the basics about narcolepsy, one must understand the cycles of so-called “normal sleep”. When one usually falls asleep, after about an hour and a half one enters REM sleep and then throughout the night one alternates between REM and non-REM sleep. For ones with narcolepsy, sleep begins immediately with REM sleep and
Sleep is a very important factor in the human function. Our body and brain is able to reset itself and rejuvenate while we sleep. When we do not get the required amount of sleep, we start to feel lethargic and foggy minded, because our mind and body wasn’t able to replenish itself. Sleep is imperative that an insignificant rest deficiency or lack of sleep can affect our ability to remember things; decisions and can affect our temperament. Chronic sleep deficiency can get the body to feel agitated and it could lead to serious health problems such as, heart problems, stress, acne, and obesity.