Posted by Squiggles on May 21, 2006, at 6:45:11
In reply to Re: Statistical question on SSRIs - ADDENDUM, posted by linkadge on May 20, 2006, at 23:27:39
> >Why would any chemist make an antidepressant
> >that interferes with the release of dopamine?
> >Isn't dopamine supposed to alleviate depression >and other negative emotions?
>
> This is it. Fast acting antidepressants generally work via affecting dopamine release.
>
> When you take an SSRI, you are stimulating a number of serotonin receptors that will indirecectly supress dopamine release (for a while at least untill some sort of compensatory adapation takes place)
>
> 5-ht1a, 5-ht2a/c, 5-ht1b, (and others) act as indibitory pathways on dopamine function.
>
> Sure SSRI's are selective to serotonin, but not to specific serotonin receptors, as a result the final product is often a wild free for all.
>
> In contrast however, consider some endogenious neuromodulators such as anandamide. Anandamide agonizes 5-ht1a but antagonizes 5-ht2, 5-ht3, and other. Very rarely in nature, will you find compounds that affect the system as bluntly as the SSRI's do. The result, like I said, is a free for all. Doctors often try to augment with atypicals, since they block some of the undesirable serotonin receptors.
>
>
>
> Linkadge
>
>There seems to be a vogue for "agonizing" (i guess that is stimulating) serotonin receptors, which a friend of mine tells me are all over the the brain and body and the most numerous. I guess they are a bit like endocrine glands on a neurological level. BTW, I see here that anandamine is what cannabis stimulates:
http://www.steve.gb.com/science/nervous_system.html
But as you probably know, that really gets you stoned.
Are there any drugs that stimulate the dopamine receptors; Or even drugs that stimulate or are a clone of dopamine for depression? L-dopa is used in Parkinson's disease, and one of its side effects is the same as the effect of an anti-depressant.
p.s. It's amazing how simple and different the action of lithium is in comparison to man-made ADs.
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:640557
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060520/msgs/646491.html