Catecholemines?
Adrenaline! Noradrenaline! Dopamine! Let's go!
September 25, 2023 Written by Dr Rudy Wietfeldt 0 Comments
Catecholemines are a group of neurotransmitters that play a critical role in the human body's response to stress. The three primary catecholamines are dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. Let's do a quick review of what catecholemines are, how they function, some health-related concerns, and how we can mediate these concerns.
Physiology, medicine, and psychology have a lot of technical terms, like neurotransmitters. They sound pretty complicated, and they are. But neurotransmitters are essentially hormones that act in the central nervous system and work in the synapses (that is, the spaces) between nerve cells.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter you've probably heard about a fair amount about lately. It plays a key role in mood regulation, motivation, the reward center of the brain, and movement control.
Adrenaline, also called epinephrine, is released in the fight or flight response of stress. It enhances the body's preparedness for a stressful situation by redirecting blood flow to muscles, increasing heart rate, and dilating pupils and airways.
Noradrenaline, also called norepinephrine, is similarly involved in the body's stress-reactivity plan, increasing heart rate, constricting blood vessels, and raising blood pressure.
Catecholemines are produced in specific parts of the brain: Dopamine is produced in the substantia nigra, and adrenaline and noradrenaline in the adrenal medulla. Abnormalities in the levels of catecholemines or problems with their receptors on the receiving side of the nerve cell can cause a range of health problems. These include mood disorders, neurological problems, and cardiovascular disorders.
Dopamine dysregulation is found with mood disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and addictions. Medicines that affect dopamine levels are often used as part of the treatment of these conditions.
Excess adrenaline and noradrenaline can lead to persistent high blood pressure with a further risk of cardiovascular disease.
Chronic stress can also lead to significant anxiety disorders, immune system suppression, and sleep disorders.
So what can be done?
In some cases, medications like antidepressants or beta-blockers may be described to help reestablish homeostasis.
Lifestyle changes encouraged through psychotherapy can help reduce the amount of external stress. This can be facilitated through a stress reduction exercise, which begins as a thought experiment and then continues with step-by-step healthy habit building. Therapy can further help by affecting the way in which an individual responds psychologically to those stressors that remain after the stress reduction exercise is complete. This is the stress management component of treatment.
Note that this approach is not just reactive, it is proactive. By taking a lifestyle approach to stress, you are actively looking at how to stop the catecholemine levels from being out of whack in the first place.
This is part of healthy, preventative psychology and is undoubtedly a part of your desired approach to life as evidenced by you reading this today. But we still need to have a good defensive strategy, even after lifestyle changes have been initiated.
This is why, say every three to six months, these stress reduction and stress management exercises should be repeated and reviewed to ensure the best possible outcomes.
Like everything biological and psychological, the successful regulation of stress and catecholamine levels should be discussed with your health care team. Your family physician and psychologist can work together to ensure that you have personalized treatment options for your individual needs and circumstances. Slowing your life down enough to have awareness of your needs for self care is the first step. This is not selfish; it is necessary! If you are not good yourself, how can you be good for others?
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