ENDORPHINS, CORTISONE, PROLACTIN, AND VASOPRESSIN

ENDORPHINS, CORTISONE, PROLACTIN, AND VASOPRESSIN

Endorphins prepare the body to endure hardship and injury until it gets out of danger. They also raise the pain threshold. With an injury that would have caused pain at a lower level, with the 'umbrella' of endorphins, the body will be able to continue with its task. Because of childbirth and monthly menstruation, women seem to access this hormone much more readily. They generally have a greater ability to withstand pain and stress.

Cortisone will initiate the remobilization of stored energies and raw materials. Fat is broken down into fatty acids to be converted into energy. Some proteins are once again broken down into the basic amino acids for the formation of extra neurotransmitters, new proteins, and some special amino acids to be burned by the muscles. During pregnancy and at the time of feeding milk to the child, this hormone and its 'associates' will mobilize a uniform flow of primary materials for the purpose of offspring development. If the action of cortisone continues for long, soon there will be some selective depletion from the amino acid reserves of the body.

Under the influence of cortisone, the body continues to 'feed off itself.' The effect of cortisone is designed to provide emergency raw materials for the production of most essential primary proteins and neurotransmittersto get the body rover the hump.' It is not designed for the continued breakdown of materials employed in the maintenance of the structural/integrity of the body. It is this phenomenon that produces the damage associated with stress, if the 'stressor' maintains its unabated influence.

Prolactin will make sure that the lactating mother will continue to produce milk. All species have it. Prolactin will prime the gland cells in the breast to continue milk production even if there is dehydration or stress that will cause dehydration. It will prime the gland cells to regenerate and increase in quantity.

We should remember that although we concentrate on the solid composition of the milk, it is its water content that is of primary importance to the growing fetus. Every time a cell gives rise to a daughter cell, 75 percent or more of its volume has to be filled with water. In short, growth depends on the availability of water. When 'water' is brought to the area, the cells will be able to access its other dissolved contents. This hormone is also made in the placenta and stored in the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus. In short, this hormone has a 'mamotrophic' action. It makes the breast glands and their ducts grow. Growth hormone has much similarity to prolactin. They have similar actions, except that prolactin mainly targets the organs of reproduction.

It has been shown in mice that increased prolactin production will cause mammary tumors. In 1987,1 proposed in my guest lecture address of an internationally gathered select group of cancer researchers that chronic dehydration in the human body is a primary causative factor for tumor production. The relationship between stress, age-dependent chronic dehydration, persistent prolactin secretion, and cancer transformation of the glandular tissue in the breast should not be overlooked. A regular adjustment to the daily water intake in womenparticularly when confronting stresses of everyday lifewill at least serve as a preventive measure against possible development of stress-induced breast cancer in the age group of women predisposed to this problem and prostate cancer in men.

Vasopressin regulates the selective flow of water into some cells of the body. It also causes a constriction of the capillaries it activates. As its name implies, it causes vaso-constriction. It is produced in the pituitary gland and secreted into the circulation. While it may constrict blood vessels, some vital cells possess receiving points (receptors) for this hormone. Depending on the hierarchy of their importance, some cells seem to possess more vasopressin receptors than others.

The cell membranethe protective covering of cell architecture is naturally designed in two layers. Tuning-fork-like solid hydrocarbon 'bricks' are held together by the adhesive property of water (see Figure 14, page 85). In between the two layers there is a connecting passageway where enzymes travel, selectively react together, and cause a desired action within the cell. This waterway works very much like a moat or 'beltway,' except that it is a water-filled 'beltway' and everything has to float in it.

When there is sufficient water to fill all the spaces, the moat gets filled and water will also get into the cell. There may come a time when the rate of water flow into the cell may not be sufficient, and some of the cell functions may become affected. To safeguard against such a possible catastrophic situation, nature has designed a magnificent mechanism for the creation of water filters through the membrane. When vasopressin hormone reaches the cell membrane and fuses with its specially designed receptor, the receptor converts to a 'shower head' structure and makes possible filtration of only water through its holes.

The important cells manufacture the vasopressin receptor in greater quantity. Vasopressin is one of the hormones involved in the rationing and distribution of water according to a priority plan when there is dehydration. Nerve cells seem to exercise their priority by manufacturing more vasopressin receptors than other tissue cells. They need to keep the waterways in their nerves fully functional To make sure the water can pass through these tiny holes (which only allow the passage of one water molecule at a time), vasopressin also has the property of causing vasoconstriction and putting a squeeze on the fluid volume in the region.

Thus, the hypertensive property of the neurotransmitter vasopressinbetter known as a hormoneis needed to bring about a steady filtration of water into the cells, only when the free flow and direct diffusion of water through the cell membrane is insufficient Figure 10 is designed to explain this mechanism. For more information on the cell membrane, read the section on cholesterol.