Do people have panic attacks because they don't produce enough GABA or because the GABA receptors are "lazy"? ?!
Question: Do people have panic attacks because they don't produce enough GABA or because the GABA receptors are "lazy".? .?
Just reading how Xanax works and about GABA. Basically from how understand it Xanax seems to make the GABA receptors in the brain more receptive. Do these need to be altered because they are not working right or are they being tweaked with to deal with the small amount of GABA available.?
I was also reading about GABA supplements and wondered if the receptors are not behaving how could the GABA work.? Or do I have it backwards and and Xanax helps you deal with the lack of GABA to begin with.
Or could it swing both ways and vary person to person who suffers from panic attacks.?
Please no wiki posts as an answer. If you are informed and can put it in English for me that would be great! Health Question & Answer
Answers:
You're asking a difficult question. It does stand to a certain amount of reason, but the reality is a bit more complicated.
While anxiety disorders could certainly show up due to alterations in the GABA system, 'direct' alterations do not seem to be the case. Anxiety problems do not seem to be directly associated with genetically poorly working GABA receptors (though other conditions are). However, there does seem to be some association between an in vivo dysfunctional GABA system (poor receptor function/poor supply or action) and an existing anxiety disorder. What that means is that genetically the GABA receptors and genes involved in producing and releasing GABA are normal, but their function in a living person is -altered-.
Anxiety and panic are thought to stem from an area of the brain known as the amygdala, the center for fear, 'novelty' and the like. When they do functional scans of the brain for people with this disorder, this little chunk of brain tissue is lit up like a miniature sun compared to a normal person (most of the time). This little area of the brain receives a significant amount of input from the GABA system. In theory, if the GABA system were working poorly, it wouldn't suitably control the 'throttle' of this area of the brain.
I'm speaking in some pretty big generalities here. More or less, what your describing is a part of the picture - how big a piece isn't clear at the moment. There's a lot of conflicting ideas about anxiety disorders because they are so diverse, so complicated and so widespread in the population. I do believe, that the 'supply' of GABA is rarely compromised. GABA neurons do a LOT more than just anxiety, making up at least a third of the brain by raw number. The GABA-A receptor itself has more possible variations than any other receptor in the brain.
If you'd like a bit of clarification, feel free to message me. I spent a fair bit of time on this system, and it's sort of difficult to phrase a lot of this stuff in plain simple english.Health Question & Answer
While anxiety disorders could certainly show up due to alterations in the GABA system, 'direct' alterations do not seem to be the case. Anxiety problems do not seem to be directly associated with genetically poorly working GABA receptors (though other conditions are). However, there does seem to be some association between an in vivo dysfunctional GABA system (poor receptor function/poor supply or action) and an existing anxiety disorder. What that means is that genetically the GABA receptors and genes involved in producing and releasing GABA are normal, but their function in a living person is -altered-.
Anxiety and panic are thought to stem from an area of the brain known as the amygdala, the center for fear, 'novelty' and the like. When they do functional scans of the brain for people with this disorder, this little chunk of brain tissue is lit up like a miniature sun compared to a normal person (most of the time). This little area of the brain receives a significant amount of input from the GABA system. In theory, if the GABA system were working poorly, it wouldn't suitably control the 'throttle' of this area of the brain.
I'm speaking in some pretty big generalities here. More or less, what your describing is a part of the picture - how big a piece isn't clear at the moment. There's a lot of conflicting ideas about anxiety disorders because they are so diverse, so complicated and so widespread in the population. I do believe, that the 'supply' of GABA is rarely compromised. GABA neurons do a LOT more than just anxiety, making up at least a third of the brain by raw number. The GABA-A receptor itself has more possible variations than any other receptor in the brain.
If you'd like a bit of clarification, feel free to message me. I spent a fair bit of time on this system, and it's sort of difficult to phrase a lot of this stuff in plain simple english.Health Question & Answer
Both ways are possible ,really the receptors will never be inactive totally ,it may be weak to interact to GABA ,and also the enzyme which break GABA may be in a high abnormal concentration causing rapid BABA degradation and low receptors affinityHealth Question & Answer