Tag Archives: Hypothalamus

brains and addiction

Hypothalamus brain area and drug addiction

April 7, 2017
Hypothalamus brain area

Hypothalamus brain area and drug addiction has nothing in common and must be avoided at all cost

Hypothalamus brain area and drug addiction: Stress management

Of the components of the brain, the hypothalamus brain area often bears the greater risk of attack by substance abuse. This is the part responsible for several functions including body temperature regulations, hunger, thirst, and sleep. Besides these functions, the hypothalamus also helps in the interpretation of how we respond to stress. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under doctor Dalal Akoury MD President and founder of AWAREmed health and wellness resource center, it is almost impossible to talk about addiction without the mention of stress. Stress regulation is relevant to our understanding of addiction. And that is why we want to explore further into details the effects of addiction on the hypothalamus brain area alongside the regulation of stress and withdrawal.

When one is stressed up, the hypothalamus releases chemicals known as hormones which allow’ the brain and the body to respond to that stress. Unlike neurotransmitters (which are chemicals limited to the brain) hormones travel throughout the body via the blood system. It, therefore, means that hormones can exert an effect on other body systems as well. When these chemical hormones operate in the brain, we refer to them as neuromodulators. These hormones (neuromodulators) can act just like neurotransmitters in the brain. Like neurotransmitters, they have their own receptors associated with them.

Hypothalamus brain area and drug addiction: Stress the relapse trigger

It will interest you to note that stress is a relapse trigger to all users of drugs. It’s capable of prompting powerful cravings in addicted persons. I can, therefore, say with certainty that majority of us in one way or another have come across someone struggling with an addiction and tried quitting but ultimately relapsed when they became stressed out. Doctor Akoury says that under normal circumstances, at the beginning periods of recovery withdrawal symptoms often create stress and the vicious cycle continues. It is however very important to appreciate that stress will always prompt the addictive use, while efforts to discontinue use prompt stress.

During withdrawal, these stress hormones are elevated. Even though stress levels are high, the brain’s anti-stress neuromodulators appear to decrease, as do dopamine and serotonin in the nucleus accumbens. This suggests that withdrawal affected the reward system (evidenced by decreasing dopamine and serotonin). At the same time, withdrawal activates the stress and anxiety systems. This “1-2 punch” heightens the negative experience of withdrawal. This prompts people to seek relief via the addictive substance or activity (i.e., relapse).

In summary, the neurotransmitter pathways associated with the amygdala and the hypothalamus play a crucial role in sustaining the addiction process and this occurs through:

  • The negative emotional memory that is associated with drug withdrawal
  • The positive emotional memory that is associated with drug cues
  • The disruption that occurs to stress regulation
  • The pleasurable relief from withdrawal symptoms that occurs by resuming drug use or addictive activities

Finally, your good health depends heavily on how healthy your brain is. And that is why we recommend that from time to time, you should seek professional advice from experts so that corrective measures can be taken. Remember that this is in line with doctor Akoury’s profession and calling her now should be your starting point.

Hypothalamus brain area and drug addiction: Stress management

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Obesity an addiction

Upper body obesity and health complications

January 23, 2017
Upper body obesity

Upper body obesity and health complications can be addressed by simple physical activities and change of lifestyle

Upper body obesity and health: Stress response

There is no doubt that the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the past decades. This is now a global concern and more so the upper body obesity (UBO), which is associated with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), dyslipidemia, and hypertension. According to doctor Dalal Akoury MD, President and founder of AWAREmed health and wellness resource center, the associations describe the metabolic syndrome, a clustering of symptoms with insulin resistance as a core cause. Regrettably, the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome is now above average deeming both conditions serious public health issues, requiring immediate professional redress. Now that I have set your mind thinking, if you are considering taking timely action, schedule an appointment with doctor Akoury today for the commencement of your recovery process. And as you make that consideration, let us now focus on the roles of HPA (Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis).

Upper body obesity and health: The role of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis

Speaking to the experts at AWAREmed health center, it is obvious that stress is a serious challenge to the natural homeostasis of an organism. Animals react to stress by producing a physiological stress response to regain equilibrium lost by the stressor. The stress response is characterized by acute behavioral and physical adaptations, including increased cognition, analgesia, gluconeogenesis, lipolysis, and inhibition of reproduction. Digging deeper, there are two major components of the stress response: the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which encompasses the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, and the HPA axis. These systems work centrally and peripherally to produce several responses. The ‘fight or flight response’ is an active reaction to either confront the stressor or escape confrontation.

The ‘defeat response’ is when the individual does not engage in either the fight or flight response and ultimately ‘loses’ the confrontation; this is the primary stress response in modern society and is associated with HPA axis changes. Although the ANS is a key element of the stress response, the purpose of this article is to discuss the role of the HPA axis in obesity and metabolic disease. Having said that, doctor Akoury reiterates that stress can be caused by external stressors such as employment or social strains or by intrinsic stressors such as sleep deprivation. Although an acute short-term stress response is necessary for homeostasis recovery, chronic or prolonged stress responses can be harmful and may cause several diseases stated above. A study on women reported that history of depression was associated with hyperactivity of the HPA axis and decreased bone mineral density. In the past 30 years, numerous studies have shown that obesity and other metabolic risk factors are associated with lower socioeconomic status, job strain, sleep deprivation, and depression.

Finally, and because of these factors, we can’t sit without doing something towards containing the prevalence of obesity and overweight. Guided by that great need, doctor Akoury made a passionate decision of creating this medical center primarily help in the transformation of each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Out of this many have benefited and you too can if only you can let us know of your problems by calling us on telephone number 843 213 1480 and we will address all your concerns professionally.

Upper body obesity and health: Stress response

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Glutamate-Homeostasis-Hypothesis-Addiction

Addictive biochemistry and the HPA axis

December 27, 2016
Addictive biochemistry

Addictive biochemistry and the HPA axis that focuses on the real action points

Addictive biochemistry and the HPA axis: Ending alcohol abuse using alternative treatment

The door to addictive biochemistry opens when either the hypothalamus or one of the organs which serve the hypothalamus in accomplishing this job is injured, or if the nutrients required are not available. In any one of these conditions, the entire system will fall off the “point zero” (homeostasis) that the HPA system tries to maintain opening the door for addictive biochemistry. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health center under the leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD, we can’t change the fact that addictive biochemistry and full out alcoholism are associated with overexpression of the sympathetic nervous system; low serotonin, GABA, dopamine, endorphins and enkephalins and it is in the hypothalamus where the delicate job of balancing this network of hormones and neurotransmitters to achieve physical and mental health is supposed to be done whether it be directly from the hypothalamus or via the pituitary and adrenals under the control of the hypothalamus.

Differences between biochemistry and alcoholism

The only difference between addictive biochemistry and full out alcoholism is that addictive biochemistry becomes aggravated, meaning that the deficient condition within the hypothalamus, pituitary or adrenals is made more profound by the damaging effects of alcohol toxicity and the medicating effects which, while drinking, overexpress serotonin, endorphins and dopamine which magnifies the negative impact of an already up-regulated brain chemistry. The symptoms the problem drinker experiences intensify in direct relationship to the diminishing health of the neuroendocrine system which further encourages the person to drink more thus causing further damages. This cycle progressively intensifies until intervention which discontinues and heals the damage is required to stop it.

The pituitary gland is located below the hypothalamus and is directly connected to it via nerve and circulatory pathways. The hypothalamus regulates the function of the pituitary gland which in turn controls hormonal secretions of all other glands; however, specific to alcoholism we are concerned with the function of the adrenals and the secretion of cortisol which is under control of ACTH (adrenocorticotrophin) secreted by the pituitary, and epinephrine and norepinephrine which is also released by the adrenals due to a rise in CRH and/or signals from the sympathetic nervous system.  In the case of cortisol release, when the hypothalamus registers low blood sugar it will send CRH (corticotrophin releasing hormone) to the pituitary which then releases ACTH which will cause cortisol to be secreted from the adrenals.  This chain of events will also cause the release of epinephrine and to a lesser degree norepinephrine.  Prolonged increased levels of epinephrine will block insulin receptors which lead to insulin resistance and lowered serotonin, endorphin, enkephalin and GABA levels which impair HPA functions and increases compulsive/addictive behavior.

The adrenals sit on top of the kidneys and are directly controlled by the pituitary gland. The adrenals are comprised of two sections; one is the medulla which is the inner core and the second is the adrenal cortex which is the outer layer. The medulla relates to the sympathetic nervous system and produces the catecholamine’s epinephrine and norepinephrine. The adrenal cortex produces sex hormones, aldosterone, and what we’re most concerned with cortisol.

Although it is hard to imagine because they are docked on our kidneys, adrenal health is fundamental to our mental health. Proper levels of cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine are crucial to our mental well-being so the concentrated focus needs to be applied to their health when healing addictive biochemistry and alcoholism. As you consider breaking way from addictive biochemistry and alcoholism, you can always consult with doctor Dalal Akoury an expert in this discipline for over two decades and has been helping many get their life back globally by emphasizing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Addictive biochemistry and the HPA axis: Ending alcohol abuse using alternative treatment

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Addicted brain

Mesolimbic pathway and drug seeking

September 30, 2016
Mesolimbic pathway

Mesolimbic pathway and drug seeking. Hypothalamus area of the brain and drug addiction.

Mesolimbic pathway and drug seeking: Drug cravings to the brain

From our basic understanding of the purpose and functioning of the brains reward system in the previous postings, we can interrogate it a little bit further in several ways. The circuit most associated with pleasure and reward is the mesolimbic pathway which is located in the brainstem. The objective of this area of the brain is primarily concerned with basic survival. Within the mesolimbic pathway is an area called the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The VTA projects to the nucleus accumbens (thought to be the reward center). The neurotransmitter most commonly linked with the mesolimbic system is dopamine. Many people consider dopamine to be the driving force behind the human pursuit of pleasure. The release of dopamine is a pleasurable sensation. The release of dopamine motivates us to repeat behaviors or activities that prompted this release. This system’s purpose was to promote survival by rewarding life sustaining behaviors such eating and procreation.

All addictive drugs and activities release varying amounts of dopamine into the nucleus accumbens with stimulant drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine releasing the most. However when it comes to drugs like alcohol or heroin, the brain’s own opiate system (endorphins) also gets involved. Doctor Akoury further says that even though different forms of addictions have different effects in the nucleus accumbens, they share one common denominator that they all activate the reward system which in turn motivates us to repeat those behaviors, even though they may be harmful. Besides what we have discussed about the concepts of reward, pleasure, and craving together, it is however very important to appreciate that there is a distinction between pleasure-seeking and drug seeking. Note that pleasure-seeking is all about the pleasurable, rewarding aspect of addiction while drug-seeking refer to the craving aspect of addiction. Dopamine may be more involved in drug-seeking (craving) component of addiction. The opiate (endorphin), GABA, or glutamatergic systems may be more involved in pleasure-seeking aspect of addiction too.

Pleasure-seeking and drug-seeking (cravings) are inter-related, yet distinct. Research has established that natural rewards (food, water, sex) typically lessen their influence on the reward system over time. As a behavior occurs more often, dopamine levels tend to decrease in the process. Psychologists call this habituation. This makes sense. Once you’ve eaten enough food, you don’t need to be rewarded for eating more food. Then you would be eating too much, or too much of one type of food. Therefore everyone needs to take heed of keeping the brain free from all attacks be it from substances or otherwise. Talking to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury should be your starting point. Call and make that appointment today for the commencement of your journey to full recovery from your addiction.

Mesolimbic pathway and drug seeking: Drug cravings to the brain

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sex addiction

Brain hypothalamus area and stress

September 30, 2016
Brain hypothalamus area

Brain hypothalamus area and stress. When the brain needs to be protected the most

Brain hypothalamus area and stress: Regulating stress and withdrawal

One of the areas of the brain that can easily be affected by effects of substance abuse is the brain hypothalamus area. This is the part of the brain that is responsible for several duties including controlling of the body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sleep. Owing to these functions, the hypothalamus is equally playing a key role in how we respond to stress. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center which is one of the leading pioneers in natural and holistic addiction treatment, we cannot effectively talk about addiction without the mention one stress. Doctor Dalal Akoury MD and also the founder of this facility agree that stress regulation is highly relevant to our understanding of addiction. And that is why we want to explore further into details the effects of addiction on the brain hypothalamus area even as we also look the stress regulation and withdrawal.

Because of that, it is important to note that when an individual experiences stress, the hypothalamus releases chemicals known as hormones. It is these hormones that allows’ the brain and the body to respond to that stress. Unlike neurotransmitters (which are chemicals limited to the brain) hormones travel throughout the body via the blood system. It therefore means that hormones can exert an effect on other body systems as well. When these chemical hormones operate in the brain, we refer to them as neuromodulators. These hormones (neuromodulators) can act just like neurotransmitters in the brain. Like neurotransmitters, they have their own receptors associated with them.

Brain hypothalamus area and stress: How stress motives relapse

From our studies, it is obvious that stress is a well-known relapse trigger to all users of drugs. It capable of prompt powerful cravings in addicted persons I can therefore say almost with certainty that majority of us in one way or another have come across someone who struggled with an addiction and tried to quitting but ultimately relapsed when they became stressed out. Doctor Akoury says that under normal circumstances, at the beginning periods of recovery withdrawal symptoms often create stress and the vicious cycle continues. It is however very important to appreciate that stress will always prompts the addictive use, while efforts to discontinue use prompt stress. During withdrawal, these stress hormones are elevated. Even though stress levels are high, the brain’s anti-stress neuromodulators appear to decrease, as do dopamine and serotonin in the nucleus accumbens. This suggests that withdrawal affected the reward system (evidenced by decreasing dopamine and serotonin). At the same time, withdrawal activates the stress and anxiety systems. This “1-2 punch” heightens the negative experience of withdrawal. This prompts people to seek relief via the addictive substance or activity (i.e., relapse).

In summary, the neurotransmitter pathways associated with the amygdala and the hypothalamus play a crucial role in sustaining the addiction process and this occurs thorough:

  • The negative emotional memory that is associated with drug withdrawal
  • The positive emotional memory that is associated with drug cues
  • The disruption that occurs to stress regulation
  • The pleasurable relief from withdrawal symptoms that occurs by resuming drug use or addictive activities

Finally, since we cannot talk about addiction without mentioning stress, it becomes important that the two need to be addressed professionally and that is where doctor Dalal Akoury and her team of experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center comes in. if you are struggling with this, you can schedule for an appointment today with doctor Akoury for the commencement of your treatment.

Brain hypothalamus area and stress: Regulating stress and withdrawal

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