Pathology:
Hyper-NMDA is a central factor in exhaustion disorders. Below are the various complications of hyper-NMDA and disorders associated with hyper-NMDA:
- Antibeloning (withdrawal and withdrawal symptoms) and addiction
- Anxiety and trauma memory (anxiety disorders and PTSD)
- Biological and psychological stress
- Hypoglycemia
- Oxidative stress and hydrogen peroxide
- Hyperhomocysteinemia
- P38 MAP kinase
- Fatigue - ATP depletion and the importance of hydrogen (H2)
- Histamine
- Sleep disorders
- Memory disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease (Beta-amyloid)
- Hypocampal atrophy and cortisol
- Lyme disease
- Chronic and neuropathic pain
- Lactate-acidosis
- Cellular dehydration
- Tinnitus
- Th2 dominance and allergies
- Cysteine and glutathione (NMDA oxidizes cysteine)
- Reduced cerebral detox
- Reduced P450 detox
- MCS - multiple chemical hypersensitivity
- Nitrosative stress (nitric oxide= NO) and peroxynitrite
- Blood clots and thrombosis
- Elevated cholesterol
- Atherosclerosis
- Smoking
- Gallstones - gallobstruction
- Erectile dysfunction
- Major depression and suicide
- AD(H)D and autism
- High sensitivity
- Borderline
- Ziekte van Parkinson
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCS)
- Diabetes and insulin resistance
- Headaches and migraines
- Bedwetting and frequent urination
- Cancer
- Astma
- Epilepsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Inflammations
- Estrogen and progesterone
- Thyroid hormone deficiency
- Psychosis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Restless legs
- Vision problems
- Serotonin deficiency
- Osteoporosis
- Round-up
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Increase in NF-kappa-B
- Melatonin deficiency
- Melanin and neuromelanin deficiency
- Dopamine, adrenaline and norepinephrine deficiency
- Attachment disorders
Reward system
The endorphin system regulates the reward system, stress, energy, insulin and immunity.Endorphin resistance or endorphin sensitivity decreases due to over stimulation. The main causes are comfort food/ junk food (e.g., sugar, E621 and exorphins), stress and substance abuse (e.g., alcohol, drugs and stimulant medications).
In the terminal phase of endorphin resistance, NMDA dominates, which is a substance that activates the anti-reward and stress system. NMDA blocks the action of dopamine while activating biological stress. NMDA affects both the central nervous system (brain) and the peripheral nervous system (outside the brain).
Restore endorphin system
Restoring endorphin sensitivity and hyper-NMDA is best left to a specialist.
Endorphins are involved in more than a hundred different processes in the body. We list here some of the factors
Endorphins activate the action of dopamine (motivation, concentration). This process is called "wanting. 'Wanting' causes us to be interested in something, for example studying, but it could just as easily be the desire for a new car, a relationship or a handbag.
Dopamine is the introducer of the reward system; it causes us to shoot into action to achieve something. Hence dopamine has a very short duration of action, because as soon as we achieve something the dopamine light goes out. Dopamine sets us on our way to our goal, but the actual experience itself - what we can express as "happiness" or "liking" - is generated by endorphins. Liking is the appreciation and experience in the now. Wanting is the desire for a future something, the being on the way, the excitement of wanting to achieve something. Hence, people with endorphin resistance can be very enterprising, but rarely satisfied with what it is.
People with endorphin resistance (e.g., ADD/ADHD) have difficulty with motivation and concentration. They suffer from procrastination behavior that can be seen as "avoiding actions that do not yield sufficient rewards. With endorphin resistance, a person will tend to seek stronger rewards, since routine and compulsory activities are boring or quickly become boring: examples are addictions and eating disorders.
Stress system
Endorphins are the main regulator of the stress system, also called the HPA axis. The first function of endorphins is the filtering of sensory and psychological stress stimuli, it ensures that sounds or smells, for example, are filtered out. With endorphin resistance, something goes wrong with this filtering, so we quickly become stressed by watching the news, for example, or by criticism from our employer or from our partner. The second function of endorphins is to inhibit the stress hormones (CRH, ACTH and cortisol) in the HPA axis. With endorphin resistance, the body has difficulty reducing stress hormones. Possible complications include too much cortisol (hyper-cortisol) or depletion of cortisol (hypo-cortisol and/or cortisol resistance) and/or a complicated thyroid problem.
The gene that regulates endorphin production (POMC gene) is also responsible for producing ATP (cellular energy) in the brain. In endorphin resistance, the brain lacks energy, which manifests itself in mental fatigue and difficulty concentrating, among other things.
The gene that regulates endorphin production (POMC gene) also regulates insulin release and sensitivity. With endorphin resistance, rapid fluctuations in insulin and glucose levels occur. Examples include reactive hypoglycemia (being tired quickly after eating sugar, potatoes, bread, and pasta, for example), insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. In an advanced stage of insulin resistance, beta-amyloid plaques (harmful proteins) can store in the brain; the complications are Alzheimer's disease and insulin-dependent diabetes.
Immune System
The balance of the immune system is regulated by the ratio (ratio) of Th1 and Th2 cytokines. With Th1 dominance, autoimmune disorders arise and with Th2 dominance, allergies and allergic disorders arise. In the prenatal phase, the mother's body suppresses Th1 cytokines to prevent the embryo from being rejected. For this reason, babies are born with Th2 dominance, making babies very susceptible to developing food allergies (e.g., cow's milk). After the first year of life, the balance between Th1 and Th2 is restored by endorphins. However, babies with endorphin resistance remain "stuck" in the Th2 profile, causing them to develop allergic predispositions (often lifelong) such as asthma, hay fever/pollen allergy, respiratory infections and food allergies. In infants, endorphin resistance is caused by epi genetic heredity, diet with cow's milk/soy milk and vaccines with thiomersal (mercury), among others.
All factors that lead to over stimulation of endorphins can reduce endorphin sensitivity. This decreased sensitivity is called endorphin resistance. As a result, the body must activate more endorphins to achieve the same result.The main causes of endorphin resistance: Too many comfort foods: comfort foods are foods that cause over stimulation of endorphins. Examples include sugar, exorphins, E621 (flavor enhancer) and the combination of carbohydrates and fats (e.g. chips, fries, hamburgers, croquette from the wall, chocolate and cookies). Exorphins are especially a problem in people who have difficulty breaking down these food opiates using the DPP-IV enzyme. This is also called exorphin intolerance, in which exorphins start to accumulate due to a DPP-IV enzyme deficiency. An exorphin intolerance can be measured through an exorphin analysis. This involves analysis of both dietary and bacterial exorphins.
Stress a major cause
Stress is a major cause of endorphin resistance. The stress may have a biological cause (e.g. Lyme disease, pain, immunological stress, exercise stress, lack of sleep and acidosis). The stress may also have a psychological cause, either acute (e.g., abuse, trauma) or chronic (e.g., work pressure, relational stress, financial stress).Medications and drugs can quickly lead to endorphin resistance. Examples of drugs include paracetamol, oxytocin (labor accelerators), medicinal dopamine agonists (medications with a dopamine stimulating effect such as ADHD medications), opiate analgesics (e.g., morphine, codeine, tramadol) and drugs with an acidifying effect (antipsychotics, aspirin). Non-legal drugs include the recreational drugs dopamine agonists (cocaine, speed), the oxytocin agonists (XTC) and cannabis (THC).Lactate acidosis occurs with too little drinking of water, too much coffee, smoking, after prolonged exercise (e.g., endurance sports) and with insulin resistance. People with endorphin resistance and especially with hyper-NMDA are more quickly acidified. An example of lactate-acidosis is CFS, where one produces 20 times more lactate than normal after physical exertion.The important characteristics of endorphin resistance: weakened reward system: mental fatigue and malaise, difficulty with motivation, concentration and experiencing normal happiness experiences, procrastination (avoiding actions that do not provide sufficient reward) and seeking stronger reward stimuli (e.g., addictions, eating disorders, computer games).Impaired stress resistance: difficulty processing stimuli (e.g., noise, comments) and stress. Being easily irritated (short fuse), reactive behavior and discharge of unprocessed stress stimuli (anger, aggression, inappropriate behavior).
Endorphin resistance
People with hyper-NMDA often feel tired; this phase occurs with advanced endorphin resistance, burnout, CFS, fibromyalgia, anhedonia, major depression, Lyme disease, habituation to (medicinal/non-legal) opiates, long-term use of dopamine stimulants (e.g., dextro-amphetamine) and extreme sports addiction.Three phases can be distinguished in hyper-NMDA The cerebral phase: hyper-NMDA mainly takes place in the brain, characteristics are mental malaise, restlessness, agitation, grinding thoughts (brooding) and being easily irritated. Since NMDA activates the anti-reward system, the following symptoms may occur, depending on the severity of the hyper-NMDA: difficulty in experiencing pleasure (advanced: anhedonia, aversive and/or reactive behavior, being interested in almost nothing anymore), problems with motivation and concentration, addictions (which still provide little pleasure), severe mental fatigue and black/white thinking. NMDA activates the stress system, without the need for psychological stress to occur, this is called biological stress. One feels stressed, so to speak, even when there is no reason for it. In an advanced stage NMDA resistance arises, this occurs in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and type 3 diabetes (cerebral diabetes).The peripheral phase (outside the brain): NMDA activates histamine, without the need for allergy. To make it even more confusing, NMDA has some properties in common with histamine such as constricting the bronchi. The characteristics of a peripheral hyper-NMDA are different according to severity, these may include reactive hypotension (low blood pressure when standing up, dizziness), tense muscles and joints, acidosis, oppressive sensation on the airways (due to constriction of the bronchi) and pain in the chest area (due to constriction of blood vessels in the heart). In advanced stages The combined stage: in most cases, hyper-NMDA occurs in both the brain and the peripheral system.
Comfort food and exorphins
Comfort foods and exorphins have the ability to maximally stimulate endorphins and dopamine, which is why we are so addicted to them. For the same reason, you will rarely meet someone with an addiction to cucumbers or peppers. Comfort foods are foods with maximum effect in stimulating endorphins and dopamine. This category includes sugar (including fake sugars), foods with a high glycemic index (e.g., potatoes and corn starch), unbound glutamate (E621, yeast extract, fermented soy products and aged cheeses such as Parmesan), the combination of fat and carbohydrates (e.g., potato chips), phosphoric acid (flavor enhancer in soft drinks) and trans fats. Beverages with a similar effect are alcohol, commercial fruit juices and soft drinks.Exorphins are opiates from gluten (wheat, spelt, kamut, barley and rye), casein (dairy products), soy, spinach (weak exorphins) and body bacteria. Exorphins activate the same receptors as endorphins, quickly leading to endorphin resistance. This occurs especially in people with DPP-IV enzyme deficiency, since DPP-IV is the enzyme that breaks down exorphins. Impaired breakdown of exorphins is called exorphin intolerance, this can be measured through an exorphins analysis. This involves analysis of both dietary and bacterial exorphins.
Treatment BeterKlinic
BeterKliniek is the clinic for Integrative Medicine that bridges regular and non-regular medicine.
An van Veen (physician) and Michael van Gils (therapist) look for the cause of a condition or disease. That is where the treatment starts, otherwise, as people often say, it is 'carrying water to the sea'. We call this cause medicine. Sometimes it is also desirable to treat the symptoms (at the same time). We call this symptom medicine.
Chronic disorders often have their cause in epi- genetics. You can schedule a free informative telephone consultation (phone number 040-7117337 until 1 p.m.) at BeterKliniek to discuss your symptoms so that we can provide you with further advice.
