Word: serotonin
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...schoolers who suffer from migraines with aura are more likely than their peers to suffer from depressive disorders or anxiety disorders - and to be at risk of suicide. While the link between the conditions is poorly understood, the paper, which followed 8,000 youths, notes that altered levels of serotonin - a neurotransmitter affecting mood and appetite - have an impact both on migraine headaches and affective disorders. The study doesn't suggest that migraines make kids suicidal. But it does show that kids with migraines are more likely to be suicidal. It's possible, then, that further research would uncover common...
...overly sensitive nerve cells are the problem, it makes sense to try to calm them down--and that's exactly what the first drug tailored to block an oncoming migraine was designed to do. Approved in the U.S. in 1993, sumatriptan mimics the action of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which plays many roles in the brain, including regulation of mood and pain. In the case of migraines, the drug prevents nerve endings in the dura from releasing their stimulatory proteins. No proteins, no pain...
Still, triptans have dramatically changed the lives of millions of migraine sufferers and opened up promising areas of research. Scientists have discovered that triptans, besides affecting serotonin pathways, also directly block one of the stimulatory proteins released by the nerve endings in the dura. New compounds that target this protein, dubbed cgrp, are being tested in Europe. One big problem, says Lars Edvinsson of Lund University in Sweden, "is that the drug can be given only intravenously. We need a cgrp blocker that works as a tablet...
...least part of the answer. In a study of 31 babies who died of SIDS and 10 who died from other causes, the SIDS babies had many more abnormalities among the neurons in their brain stem than did the other infants. The defects involved the processing of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that, among other things, controls arousal from sleep. When SIDS babies get into a position in which their access to fresh air is blocked, they can fail to wake up and move...
...correlated it with existing research on the brain and blood chemistry of people with thrill-seeking personalities or certain emotional disorders. Their findings support the estimate that about 40% of the high-thrill temperament is learned and 60% inherited, with telltale differences in such relevant brain chemicals as serotonin, which helps inhibit impulsive behavior and may be in short supply in people with high-wire personalities...