Posted by falconman on April 14, 2007, at 11:11:49
In reply to Re: Is phenylethylamine neurotoxic? » falconman, posted by Larry Hoover on April 14, 2007, at 10:09:36
> > If feedback regulatory systems are everywhere, surely all drugs would 'poop out'? How come evan without 'drug/medication holidays' many don't? Just a thought.
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> One of the distinctive aspects of what I think of when I think of "drug" is the unnaturalness of the molecule, from an endogenous/exogenous perspective. A substance obtains the quality of being a drug by being outside the regulatory framework. That's not to say that regulatory processes cannot be activated in response to exposure, but that initial effects are due precisely to the foreigness.
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> Rather than supposing that drug poop out is an either/or situation, I perceive it as time-dependent. Given enough time, I'd expect every drug to poop out, eventually. The limit, of course, is infinite time, and nobody lives forever. But within lifespans of a population, some individuals will poop out after much shorter intervals of time than others. If observed for long enough, the incidence of poop out within the exposed population would rise towards 100%. Before it reaches 100%, some lucky folk simply haven't pooped out....yet.
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> Remember, I'm only suggesting a model. There are exceptions to everything that humans can imagine. The distinction between drugs and endogenous molecules is arbitrary; niacin is considered a drug at supra-physiological dosing.... Etc. Etc.
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> LarObviously between individuals there are huge variables to consider; but within one individuals bio-chemical environment, are you suggesting that the length of time that a med stays effective is directly proportional to the amount it structurally differs (on a molecular level) to the particular endogenous chemical that it resembles or that it is linked to in some way? If it is structurally very similar (or evan identical as in the case of some steroids for example) its effects are likely to be more prolonged than if its 'more foreign', and in this case feedback mechanisms/receptor alterations are brought into play much more rapidly?
I'm sure there are no hard fast rules for any of this. There's probably a different set of rules for different endogenous chemicals, which are dependant upon the unique 'mechanical systems' that they are a part of.
I'm going round in circles now, probably the beer. Man utd vs Watford FA cup semi-final on its way. Don't feel you have to reply I just find this exremely interesting.
Cheers
poster:falconman
thread:749466
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070413/msgs/749750.html