Posted by IsoM on January 9, 2002, at 14:11:27
In reply to Re: Newsweek Article - new drugs, posted by Bill L on January 9, 2002, at 11:32:04
Interesting idea, Bill. A lot of health problems can be traced to a too steady release of cortisol hormones in response to modern man's fairly steady levels of stress. I read years ago a book called "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" by neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky. While the title sounds 'cute', it's a fairly serious look at the effects of stress hormones on people.
I remember when I was younger & discovered the reason salmon's bodies changed so radically & why they died after spawning was due to a flood of cortisol-type hormones degrading their entire systems. They died from stress basically! I always wanted to block the stress hormones in salmon to see what would happen & if death was still programmed in them.
Thanks for the info on this new approach to depression!
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> Decreases it. I should have been more careful with the wording since SSRI's block the reuptake of serotonin which increases the extracellular serotonin. More specifically, the drug being investigated inhibits CRF (corticotrophin releasing factor). Both CRF and cortisol inhibit a chemical in the body which is responsible for facilitating the proliferation of neurons.
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> As for the time frame of when it could be on the market, I don't remember the article mentioning one.
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> > When you say that the new drug "blocks cortisol", does that mean it increases the blood levels of it, or decreases it? I've read some articles which suggest a link between high levels of cortisol in the blood and depression, so I'm assuming that blocking cortisol would have an overall effect of reducing blood levels.
poster:IsoM
thread:89332
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020103/msgs/89456.html