Neurotransmitters. Norepinephrine and MS- Is Deficiency a Secret Cause ?
dr.vanta
Why you should know about norepinephrine (aka noradrenaline): its deficiency is associated with MS, and boosting its levels can help improve the symptoms. In fact, some doctors consider norepinephrine deficiency as the most important cause for MS ( treat MS by correcting norepinephrine levels) , much like Parkinson’s disease is well-known to be linked with dopamine deficiency [1].
Neurotransmitters control the way we think, our personality, the ability to heal, sleep and enjoy life. They are the basic control mechanism of the body. Neurotransmitters are connected with immune system and your hormones thus they not only control your brain, but also every cell of your body. For more info read Neurotransmitters 101.
4.Close Interactions Between Norepinephrine, Immune System, Brain and Hormones
5.Norepinephrine Deficiency and MS- Direct Link
6.Norepinephrine Imbalance Correlates with Symptoms of MS (Depression, Tingling, Numbness, Pain, Brain Fog)
7.Norepinephrine As a Stress Hormone -Involved in “Fight or Flight “ Response
8.Symptoms and Conditions Related to Excess Norepinephrine
1.Intro
When I wrote about Dr. Brunes method, I mentioned I came across her work at the right time. I was doing my own research, looking at the connection between norepinephrine deficiency and MS, and realized how important is this connection. I even found a scientific study published in the 1980s (Berne-Fromell et al.) where the researchers suggested that norepinephrine deficiency can be a cause of MS just like dopamine deficiency is a cause Parkinson’s disease.
Technical: Dr. Berne-Fromell theory: in MS there is a deficiency of norepinephrine in the synapses and an interruption of (nerve) impulse transmission. If this interruption is intense enough and last long enough then it would lead to axon damage and secondary demyelination (which is characteristic to MS) [2].
I read Dr. Brunes’s book and found the author of the study mentioned above Dr. Berne-Fromell-was the first doctor who introduced her to neurotransmitters. They started to work together in 1987 and treated hundreds of MS patients (by correcting the neurotransmitter levels). Dr.Brunes own symptoms were related to norepinephrine deficiency and when she started to use medication to increase norepinephrine she noted symptom improvements within one week. You can read her story of reversed MS here.
Although I noticed that a few newer studies explore using norepinephrine boost for managing MS, I am wondering why there is so little research on this topic. Let’s see why norepinephrine levels are so important for reversing MS.
2.Signs and symptoms of norepinephrine. Quiz time. Do you have some of the following ?
*note: not all symptoms must be present
Feeling severe fatigue, lethargic (often the most important symptom) [4]
Low physical endurance (feeling weak even after a short walk)
Low blood pressure
Low heart rate
Weight gain
Troubles controlling your appetite
Wheezing (high-pitched whistling sound made while breathing)
Depressed mood, lack of zest of life
Inattention, poor concentration (brain fog)
If the answer is yes, you may have norepinephrine deficiency because this neurotransmitter/hormone regulates emotions, memory and learning, hormones, brain health, the immune system and inflammation. .
Norepinephrine protects the brain against oxidative stress, fights brain inflammation and supports healthy brain cells. It also promotes brain the formation of new healthy brain cells, and improve the network between brain cells (neurogenesis/ neuroplasticity) [5]. It also helps increase the blood flow to the brain [6], which means the brain will receive more oxygen and nutrients.
Technical : Norepinephrine increases the viability of the neurons by inducing neurotrophic factor expression and decreasing neuronal damage from oxidative stress;also elicits anti-inflammatory responses in glial cells [7]. Norepinephrine induces brain plasticity in a few ways- modulates the plasticity of the neurons and the plasticity of the synapses between neurons (both short and long term synaptic plasticity). In many cases the site of action of norepinephrine are beta-adrenergic receptors, causing a raise in intracellular levels of cAMP. The result: a broad cascade of events leading to reduced inflammation and neuroprotection via increased expression of BDNF, GDNF, and NGF. Treatment with norepinephrine, beta-adrenergic receptors agonists or direct increase of intracellular cAMP leads to suppressed inflammatory responses in microglia and astrocytes. Norepinephrine reduces LPS- induced TNFα expression in microglia [8].
Norepinephrine is produced in the adrenal glands and in the neurons from an area of the brain called locus coeruleus. It is released in almost all brain areas in a highly diffused manner (except for the basal ganglia) [9].
4.Close Interactions Between Norepinephrine, Immune System, Brain and Hormones
Central norepinephrine innervates many important components of the immune system – the lymph organs, spleen, bone marrow and thymus. Many cells of the immune system have specific receptors that respond when norepinephrine is released in the periphery by secreting certain molecules called cytokines. The immune system uses these cytokines to communicate with the brain. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter and hormone, working closely with other hormones produced by adrenal glands, thyroid hormones and sex hormones [10], [11].
5.Norepinephrine Deficiency and MS- Direct Link
Locus coeruleus (LC) is the major source of norepinephrine in the central nervous system. Several research studies found that norepinephrine deficiency and damage of the locus coeruleus are both associated with MS in humans and EAE, the animal model of MS (similar findings had been discovered in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease). The researchers suggest this shortage of norepinephrine may play an important role in the development of MS, since norepinephrine protects the brain against degeneration and has anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, treating the norepinephrine deficiency and improving locus coeruleus function may be of benefit of treating MS [12],[13], [14].
6.Norepinephrine Linked with Symptoms of MS (Depression, Tingling, Numbness, Pain, Brain Fog)
Norepinephrine and depression : norepinephrine deficiency is strongly correlated with depression [15] (dopamine and serotonin imbalances also play a key role in depression). In fact most antidepressants work by improving the levels of these neurotransmitters, and are classified based on their mechanism of action (SSRI means “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors”, SNRI: serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors or NARI -noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors).
Norepinephrine plays a key role in memory/learning: Norepinephrine plays a key role in arousal, memory and learning [16] , [17] and boosting norepinephrine levels can help improve cognitive functions [18].
Norepinephrine and tingling, numbness: Antidepressants SNRIs also showed benefits for treating for neuropathic pain (numbness and tingling) associated with MS [19].
Norepinephrine and pain : Norepinephrine can help manage pain [20] and some painkiller drugs help decrease the pain by improving the levels of norepinephrine and serotonin in the tissue [21].
Technical : noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli to the skin raise the release of substance P and somatostatin and noradrenaline inhibits the release of substance P and glutamate [22].
7.Norepinephrine As a Stress Hormone, Involved in “Fight or Flight “ Response
Norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline) are responsible for the fight or flight response, thus helping you think and prepares your body to take action in an emergency/ when in danger.
Seeing this lion coming towards you (especially around his lunch time) would surely get you in the “fight or flight response”. Luckily, you don’t need to go in the jungle to get a norepinephrine boost because you have other options (ie. fasting, cryotherapy, certain foods and supplements can effectively raise norepinenphrine levels ). To learn more about how you can boost your norepinephrine levels read this article.
Norepinephrine increases arousal, strength, alertness and speeds reaction time. It increases vigilance and focused attention. In the body, this neurotransmitter raises the blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate, increases the blood flow away from the skin into skeletal muscles while reducing the blood flow to the digestive tract and triggers the release of glucose into the bloodstream. It expands the pupils, decreases saliva production, reduces the bowel and bladder contraction. Norepinephrine is important in your well-being because plays an important role in your mood and ability to concentrate. It also decreases inflammation.
Cortisol is widely known as the “stress hormone”. However, cortisol tends to accumulate in the body during stress, and stay high thus leading to more stress, anxiety, as well as diabetes, heart diseases, autoimmune diseases, cancer, migraines and obesity. In contrast, norepinephrine is short-acting and produced when needed; its levels will drop quickly after the acute stressful situation is over [23]. However, when you experience chronic/continous stress, the body will constantly create and use extra amounts of norepinephrine, leading to an imbalance of this neurotransmitter.
Your body’s ability to produce norepinephrine increases with physical fitness. Those who work out regularly release less norepinephrine per workload, but will have higher levels of this neurotransmitter during exercise compared with those who are sedentary. This is one reason why physically fit people respond better (more effective) to stress compared with an unfit person.
A very important note : you need to have optimal levels of norepinephrine- not too little, not too much. If you have symptoms of norepinephrine deficiency it is totally worth looking to correct this neurotransmitter.
8.Symptoms and Conditions Related to Excess Norepinephrine
Too much of this neurotransmitter is not good either. Typical symptoms of excess norepinephrine include : high blood pressure, heart palpitations, headaches (sometimes severe), profuse sweating, anxiety and nervousness, skin pale and cold to touch, nausea, vomiting and constipation The excess of norepinephrine had been researched as a possible cause of some cancers [24], and may play a role in epilepsy [25] , some cases of Alzheimer s disease [26] , Parkinson s disease [27] , lupus, metabolic syndrome, atrial fibrillation, macular degeneration [28].
