Re: Serotonin Info - HelpForIBS.com Message Boards

Hi susaloh, I am not sure what info your in disagreement with? However, on the serotonin, there is a problem with it at the gut level with cells in the gut, 95 percent of it is made in the gut. Its not so much how much is in the body or how little, but its regulation or in IBS dysregulation, between the gut to the brain and back. The cells in the gut are pressure sensitive and release serotonin when pressure is put on them form food or even stress can effect them. The d is caused by to much serotonin flowing through a gut receptor called 5ht 3 receptor and in constipation to little flowing through the 5ht4 receptor. This is a very complex system and not completely figured out yet, although some has been, so increasing- and I am not sure what drug your taking- it in the brain does not effect the symptoms of IBS like minipulating it at the gut receptor level, like the new IBS drugs do.

Relaxation techniques help to regulate serotonin in the brain and the gut, when you are relaxed that is because serotonin is causing that feeling in the brain.

The entire body works on chemical and electrical activity and signals, and the signals or neurotransmitters that send them- serotonin being very important in this process- from the gut to the brain and back are not functioning right in IBS.

I will continue to post so more on this here.

So you know the antidepressants help to block pain in IBS, by blocking the serotonin signals from the gut to the brain at the spinal cord level and at the brain level. All pain is processed in the brain and in IBS a particular part of the brain the ACC, is not activated as much as it is in normal people, and instead the prefrontal cortex is overactivated and this has to do with emotions and anxiety and some in pain perception. Also, this activates another system called the HPA axis or Hypothalamic-Pituitary Adrenal (HPA). This system is also involved in the fight or flight and I will say some more about this also.

But somethings to read and see on this.

Pain in the brain-this was from 97 and they have come a long way since this was written.

http://www.med.ucla.edu/ndp/Newsletters/Fall97Brain.htm

Breakthroughs in IBS research

http://www.med.ucla.edu/ndp/Newsletters/Spring97Break.htm

Looking to the brain for answers

http://www.med.ucla.edu/ndp/Newsletters/Spring97Look.htm

Altered Stress responces in IBS.

http://www.med.ucla.edu/ndp/Newsletters/Winter2000AlteredStress.htm

One more which explains some of this a lot and how it ties into IBS.

The Neurobiology of Stress and Emotions
By: Emeran A. Mayer, M.D., UCLA Mind Body Collaborative Research Center, UCLA School of Medicine, California

http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/stress.html

IBS pet scans and fmri..

"Neuroimaging has provided evidence of physiological differences between normal individuals
and those suffering from IBS in the way a visceral stimulus (ie, rectal distention) is processed in
the brain.[14,15] Initial data from positron emission tomography (PET) scans demonstrated
increased activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) among normal individuals, compared
to IBS patients. The ACC is a cerebral cortical area that is rich in opiate receptors and is thought
to be a major component of cognitive circuits relating to perception as well as descending spinal
pathways involving pain. More recently, fMRI was used to demonstrate increased activity in the
ACC, prefrontal (PF), and insular cortex areas, and in the thalamus of IBS patients compared to
normal individuals."

They insert a ballon up the rectum and measure pain and blood flow in the brain and what parts are activated and what ones are not.

Hope this helps some in the big picture.

--------------------
My website on IBS is www.ibshealth.com

Post Extras

Hypnosis for IBS

Hypnosis for IBS