Channel: Christopher Walker

Category: Education

Tags: what is serotonin syndromewhat is serotonin reuptake inhibitorumzuwhat is serotonin and what does it dowhat is serotonin in the brainwhat is serotonin and dopamineserotonin functionenteraminewhat is serotonin hormoneserotonin syndromewhat is serotoninthink againserotonin function psychologyselective serotonin reuptake inhibitorsserotonin function animationwhat is serotonin reuptakewhat does serotonin dowhat is serotonin and how does it work

Description: Learn more about UMZU's mission to make the world health again at umzu.com Serotonin itself wasn't officially discovered until 1935, when an Italian researcher named Vittorio Erspamer isolated a monoamine compound from enterochromaffin cells, which cause the intestinal walls to contract. He named this compound, “enteramine.” 13 years later, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic discovered an amine in blood serum that appeared to act as a vasoconstricting agent. They named it “serotonin” (serum + tone). In 1952, scientists finally realized that enteramine and serotonin were the same chemical. That same year, MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) were introduced by drug companies into the marketplace, alongside the “monoamine theory of depression,” in an attempt to artificially raise circulating levels of monoamines like serotonin in the body. 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut, contrary to popular assumption that it is all in the brain. Your gut is called your “second brain,” the enteric nervous system, for a reason: it contains roughly 500 million neurons. Your gut-based enteric nervous system communicates neuronally to your brain via the spinal cord, and bacterially via production of certain gases to catalyze reactions and cascades within the body. Messing with gut function, especially neuronally, is risky business. Curiously timed alongside the “War On Drugs,” the development of these serotonin-amplifying pharmaceuticals built unstoppable momentum in the public relations sector, and they were embraced by government regulators as the antidote to mind-opening drugs, the antiserotonin agents, which had already proven too unwieldy for them to control. Watch the full episode Serotonin, Think Again here - youtube.com/watch?v=ZF1BuPjny_E