Old people often suffer from a deficiency of serotonin, an important inhibitory neurotransmitter that initiates sleep. Inhibitory neurotransmitters reduce neuron activity, in contrast to the above-mentioned neurotransmitters, which usually increase activity. Sleep disorders are common in old age, including difficulties in falling and staying asleep. Irritability and bedtime flights of ideas may occur. Tryptophan, an […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers VI
- acromegaly, aging clocks, amino acid, autoxidation, bananas, blood vessels, Bromocriptine, catatonic, choline, choline hydrochloride, cholinergics, Deaner, dopamine, dopaminergic nerve cell receptors, Dr H Demopoulos, Dr R Poser, dwarfism, growth hormone, hydergine, hydrogen peroxide, imipramine, lecithin, migraine, milk, neurons, neurotransmitters, Parlodel, postmenopausal women, Riker, schizizophrenics, serotonin, sleep sidorders, tryptophan, vitamin B1, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin c, vitamin E, zinc
A very dramatic story about the effects of L-Dopa on twenty patients with severe Parkinson’s disease is contained in Oliver W. Sack’s book Awakenings. Between 1916 and 1927, nearly five million people fell victim to encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness). A third of those affected died either in a coma or in a profound state of […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers V
- antioxidants, autoxidation, blood-brain barrier, choline, Deaner, dopaminergic nerve cell receptors, Dr. George C. Cotzias, encephalitis lethargica, free radicals, growth hormone, hydergine, hydrogen peroxide, L-Dopa, lecithin, Parkinsonism, phenothiazines, pituitary gland, selenium, tardive dyskinesia, vitamin B1, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin c, vitamin E, zinc
Catecholamines are responsible for a number of different effects in normal humans. They are involved in control of locomotor (moving about) behavior, aggressive behavior, sexual behavior, food intake, and behavior dependent upon positive (reward) and negative (punishment) reinforcement. Acetylcholine controls muscle tone and motor activity and has a role in memory, learning, and long-term planning, […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers III
- acetylcholine, aggression, aging clocks, atherosclerotic plaque cells, blood pressure, catecholamines, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, depression, dopamine, dopaminergic system, elderly, growth hormone, immune system, kuru, locomotion, motor activity, muscle tone, neurotransmitters, norepinephrine, oxytocin, pituitary gland, senility, sex, tumor, vasopressin, viruses, white blood cells
One of the most important factors leading to immune system decline is the greatly reduced rate of release of growth hormone by the brain as we age. This hormone, produced by the pituitary gland, begins to fall off in quantity after your teens. Since the thymus gland requires growth hormone to function properly, this decrease […]
Read more Aging and the Immune System II
- amino acid, arginine, B-cells, bacteria, bromelain, cysteine, Dr Cheryl F. Nokels, enzymes, growth hormone, hormones, immune system, kidneys, lymphocytes, mercaptoethanol, ornithine, papain, papaya, pineapple, pituitary gland, Proteases, red blood cells, T-cell cloning, T-cells, thiol, thymocytes, thymosin, thymus gland, trypsin, tumor, virus, vitamin A, vitamin c, vitamin E, zinc