Low Dose Naltrexone | Brain Fog
Upcoming articles, LDN genes, and brain fog solutions.
Hi there,
Low-dose naltrexone is a game changer for some people with chronic pain or autoimmune diseases. My recent article on LDN outlines several mechanisms of action for this prescription medication. Please share it with anyone you know who is dealing with a chronic condition and is considering trying LDN.
Also below is my article on brain fog. While it is not a brand new article, it is one that is chock full of information. I reread it while adding keyword tags this week and wanted to encourage anyone interested in optimizing cognitive function to read it this week.
I'm having a tooth extracted soon due to a root canal gone bad. So of course, I've been reading lots of clinical trials and research on implants. You can all look forward to an article next week on genetic variants linked to implant failure and research-backed ways to improve the rate of long-term success :-) There is a lot of research going on in this $1 billion industry, and genetic variants have a bigger impact on implant success than I would have guessed.
Gratefully yours,
Debbie
Naltrexone: LDN & Genetics
Key takeaways:
~ Low dose naltrexone is effective for some people with autoimmune diseases, pain syndromes, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
~ LDN modulates the immune response in a couple of different ways, including blocking TLR4 activation and impacting ion channels on natural killer cells.
~ Genetics plays a role in response to naltrexone by the mu opioid receptor, and genetic polymorphisms also impact the metabolism of naltrexone.
Brain Fog: Causes, genetics, and individualized solutions
Brain fog is a term that is hard to define — especially if you are currently dealing with it!
People describe it as having trouble remembering words or names, having difficulty with multitasking, being forgetful, being inattentive or uninterested in things, or just having plainly hazy thinking. If you are dealing with brain fog, understanding the physiological causes can lead you to solutions that actually work for you.
Let’s explore brain fog in detail, looking at the physiological causes, genetic susceptibility, and personalized solutions.
What I've been reading:
High-dose lithium carbonate has been used for bipolar disorder for many decades, but researchers are still discovering the many ways it works to improve mood.
This study shows that lithium affects tryptophan metabolism. In a nutshell, tryptophan is an amino acid that can either be used to make serotonin and melatonin, or it can take a different route and become kynurenine. The kynurenine pathway can lead to a neurotoxic metabolite called quinolinic acid. The researchers found that lithium inhibited tryptophan from going through the kynurenine and quinolinic acid pathways in microglial cells.
Read more about tryptophan metabolism and your genes.