diseases Flashcards
what is parkinsons disease
tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture, loss of automatic movements, speed changes, writing changes
why is Parkinson’s hard to treat?
ongoing loss of brain cells neurones are made sick by pollution from alpha synuclein
causes of Parkinson’s
ange, gender, genetics, head trauma
what is the drug for parkinsons
L-Dopa
how does L-dopa work
it increases the levels of dopamine using levodopa usually improves movement problems
what disease is caused by a lack of dopamine
parkinsons
what disease Is caused by a lack of serotonin
depression
what is depression
a lack of serotonin, this causes low moods, sadness, anxiety, too much sleep or no sleep, change in weight for eating too much or not eating, aches and pains and sometimes suicidal thoughts
what role does serotonin play in the brain
its a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells, plays a key function in happy moods, sleep, digestion and sex drive
what drug can be used to help depression
prozac
how can drugs like prolix help depression
increases the levels of serotonin, prozac and similar drugs are agonist, prozac works fast and can help depression in a time span of 4-6 weeks
what is an agonist drug
eg prozac
they copy receptors and active them
what is antagonist drug
drugs that copy receptors but do not activate them, antagonists block receptor activation by agonists
what does inhibitory mean
it can decrease the likely-hood of action potential, serotonin is inhibitory
what does excitatory mean
increase the likely-hood of action potential, dopamine can be both