Posted by laima on January 7, 2007, at 22:32:54
In reply to Re: Neurotransmitter Testing » laima, posted by yxibow on January 7, 2007, at 0:13:27
You report a lot of interesting news. Yeah- I forgot about the seratonin in the gut. I wonder how much IT affects our moods- or if it's mostly involved with bodily sensation- or if I'm just way off in wondering such things. "Gut feelings". I asked my doctor about neurotransmittor tests some time ago, and in any case, he felt confident that they wouldn't help pinpoint which medication would be most helpful. I asked about those brain scans too- he wasn't too impressed by those either. Said they're too vague, and that they would vary a lot even with a "normal" subject.
In any case, I did gather that research is being done, looking for tests and markers to help pinpoint more quickly a medication program which would be successful for people. Hopefully, in the future there won't be so much guesswork.
> I would probably concur with that too. There is the very expensive Amplichip test which would detect whether the body metabolizes CYP2D6 well or not and thus give some insight into drug interactions in an individual. Its exciting stuff but only the first in a line of "pharmacogenetic tests" (Wikipedia)
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> As for levels of transmitters like serotonin in the blood -- one has to remember that most serotonergic activity goes on in the gut and not in the brain. The curiosities of the human body.
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> This is why expensive 5HT3 blockade agents like ondansetron and granisetron, some at $25 a pill, work to block extreme nausea in chemotherapy regimes.
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> This is also why nausea is experienced in dose changes in serotonergic drug regimes as a slightly "unclean" drug temporarily brushes past 5HT3 and upsets the stomach. Ginger (raw, pill form, and probably crystallized too) is a very weak 5HT3 blockade agent but definately less expensive.
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> -- Jay
poster:laima
thread:718719
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070107/msgs/720315.html