[Doe's Blog]
The world doesn't need anymore Hummers, leather shoes or a new flavors of chips, but it definitely needs more belly dancersPROLACTIN
2007-03-31
Prolactin (PRL) is a peptide hormone primarily associated with lactation.
Production and regulation
It is synthesised and secreted by lactotrope cells in the adenohypophysis (anterior pituitary gland). It is also produced in other tissues including the breast and the decidua.
Pituitary prolactin secretion is regulated by neuroendocrine neurons in the hypothalamus, most importantly by neurosecretory dopamine neurons of the arcuate nucleus, which inhibit prolactin secretion. Thyrotropin-releasing factor has a stimulatory effect on prolactin release.
Vasoactive intestinal peptide and peptide histidine isoleucine help to regulate prolactin secretion in humans, but the functions of these hormones in birds can be quite different.
Effects
Prolactin has many effects:
* The most important of which is to stimulate the mammary glands to produce milk (lactation). Increased serum concentrations of prolactin during pregnancy cause enlargement of the mammary glands of the breasts and increases the production of milk. However, the high levels of progesterone during pregnancy act directly on the breasts to stop ejection of milk. It is only when the levels of this hormone fall after childbirth that milk ejection is possible. Sometimes, newborn babies (males as well as females) secrete a milky substance from their nipples. This substance is commonly known as Witch's milk. This is caused by the fetus being affected by prolactin circulating in the mother just before birth, and usually stops soon after birth.
* Another effect, recently discovered by the University of Paisley and the Technische Hochschule Zürich, is to provide the body with sexual gratification after sexual acts. The hormone represses the effect of dopamine, which is responsible for sexual arousal, thus causing the male's refractory period. The amount of prolactin can be an indicator for the amount of sexual satisfaction and relaxation. Unusually high amounts are suspected to be responsible for impotence and loss of libido.
**this is the one that is important for me**
* Prolactin has been found to stimulate proliferation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells. These cells differentiate into oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for the formation of myelin coatings on axons in the central nervous system.
* Other possible functions of prolactin include the surfactant synthesis of the foetal lungs at the end of the pregnancy and immune tolerance of the fetus by the maternal organism during pregnancy.
Variance in levels
There is a diurnal as well as an ovulatory cycle in prolactin secretion.
During pregnancy, high circulating concentrations of estrogen promote prolactin production. The resulting high levels of prolactin secretion cause further maturation of the mammary glands, preparing them for lactation.
After childbirth, prolactin levels fall as the internal stimulus for them is removed. Sucking by the baby on the nipple then promotes further prolactin release, maintaining the ability to lactate. The sucking activates mechanoreceptors in and around the nipple. These signals are carried by nerve fibres through the spinal cord to the hypothalamus, where changes in the electrical activity of neurons that regulate the pituitary gland cause increased prolactin secretion. The suckling stimulus also triggers the release of oxytocin from the posterior pituitary gland, which triggers milk let-down: prolactin controls milk production (lactogenesis) but not the milk-ejection reflex; the rise in prolactin fills the breast with milk in preparation for the next feed.
Usually, in the absence of galactorrhea, lactation will cease within one or two weeks of the end of demand breastfeeding.
High prolactin levels also tend to suppress the ovulatory cycle by inhibiting the secretion of both FSH and GnRH.
Diagnostic use
Prolactin levels may be checked as part of a sex hormone workup, as elevated prolactin secretion can suppress the secretion of FSH and GnRH, leading to hypogonadism, and sometimes causing erectile dysfunction in men.
Prolactin levels may be of some use in distinguishing epileptic seizures from psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. The serum prolactin level usually rises following an epileptic seizure.
Conditions causing elevated prolactin secretion
Hyperprolactinaemia is the term given to having too-high levels of prolactin in the blood.
* Prolactinoma;
* Excess thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), usually in primary hypothyroidism.
* A side effect of many anti-psychotic medications
Conditions causing decreased prolactin
* Bulimia;
* Excess of dopamine.
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Pregnancy Hormone May Ease Multiple Sclerosis
2007-03-30
I see my Neuro next week and I WILL be asking about this!!
One of the side effects may be, bigger boobs!
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Pregnancy Hormone May Ease Multiple Sclerosis
THURSDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A hormone produced during pregnancy may benefit multiple sclerosis patients, a Canadian study finds.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects about 2.5 million people worldwide. It occurs when the body's immune system attacks myelin, which insulates nerve cells and plays a critical role in the transmission of messages from cell to cell. Reductions in myelin lead to a progressive loss of sensation and movement in MS patients.
Interestingly, MS goes into remission when women get pregnant. Since prolactin is a hormone that is produced during pregnancy, the researchers sought to determine if prolactin was the reason behind MS remission during pregnancy.
"It was thought that during pregnancy, [women's] immune systems no longer destroyed the myelin," study author Samuel Weiss, of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute of the University of Calgary, said in a prepared statement. "But no previous study has tested whether pregnancy actually results in the production of new myelin, which may explain improvement of symptoms," he said.
In the study, published in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers counted hundreds of cells in the brains and spinal cords of mice. They compared the cells in pregnant versus virgin female mice of the same age.
The team found that the pregnant mice had twice as many myelin-producing cells and continued to generate new ones during pregnancy. Even after giving birth, the once-pregnant mice had 50 percent more myelin coating their nerve cells.
The researchers also found that prolactin mimicked the effects of pregnancy, increasing both myelin production and repair in the mice.
If future research confirms the benefits of prolactin in animal models of MS, Weiss says the hormone will be ready for testing as a treatment for people with MS.
More information
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about multiple sclerosis.
SOURCE: Society for Neuroscience, news release, Feb. 20, 2007
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Well Poooo!
2007-03-30
I just wrote the most fascinating blog entry I've ever written, only to have it wisked away into cyberspace! 
Long story short, I'm house hunting again and have a lovely home to go look at today. More than likely it's a deadend but, it never hurts to look.
------------------------------------------------------------------------later that afternoon:
Well, the house was a flop. The home itself was lovely but, how it's situated on the property and the itself stinks!
If I could pick up the house and move it to a nice wooded lot elsewhere, I'd be happy and I could dig hubby a basement to sit the house on top of. I might even let him come upstairs ;) Oh well, looking for the perfect house, in the perfect place, at the perfect price, is what keeps me going!
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RELAX MAX
2007-03-29
When I walk on the treadmill, I always plug my headphones in so I can watch TV while I'm walking. It makes the time go by much faster.
So a few weeks ago, I'm walking when a commercial break comes on and the most amazing tune starts playing. With a tad bit of research I found out that it was Dinah Washington singing, Relax Max.
I didn't want the song to end! I was walking and swaying and shaking my booty! I hope the others that were close enough to see me, were tuned into the same channel!
I searched You Tube for the full version but could only find the commercial. The commercial is for Double Tree, a branch of Hyatt Hotels. I have the full version downloaded on my PC from Rhapsody. Lexy and I boogied around the livingroom to it yesterday... and "Hips Don't Lie" and "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" <---(you should hear Lexy say that!)
Here's the You Tube...Enjoy :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VrqAQJyPsc
STAY COOL FOOL THAT'S THE RULE FOOL
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AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. JAMES THATCHER, BRAND MANAGER, PROCTER & GAMBLE
2007-03-27
Dear Mr. Thatcher,
I have been a loyal user of your Always maxi pads for over 20 years, and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi-pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.
Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from "the curse"? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my "time of the month" is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call "an inbred hillbilly with knife skills." Isn't the human body amazing? As brand manager in the feminine-hygiene division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers' monthly visits from Aunt Flo. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps. Crazy! The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in capri pants. Which brings me to the reason for my letter.
Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: "Have a Happy Period."
Are you kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness - is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak girl, there will never be anything "happy" about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreens armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory. For the love of God, pull your head out, man. If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like "Put Down the Hammer" or "Vehicular Manslaughter Is Wrong"? Or are you just picking on us?
Sir, please inform your accounting department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flexi-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending BS. And that's a promise I will keep. Always.
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It's official
2007-03-25
Warm weather is here and I, being the fruit loop that I am, just finished mowing the grass. It was really too wet to mow but, all those little sprouts of wild onion and tiny white flowers were making me bonkers!
Before I could mow, I had to pick up two carts full of sticks from just the front yard! Those dern trees have more rotten branches in them than they do live ones I think. I wish I had a truck full of money so that I could hire someone to come in here and trim all my trees, paint my trim, clean out all the flower beds...ummmm, yep, that would take care of the truck load of money!
Ya know come to think of it, those trees have been a pain in the rear since we moved here. We have lots and lots of big old maples all over our yard. The first problem was the septic. The dern roots grew right down into the septic and made holes in it. Not 4 months after we moved in, we had to put ten thousand dollars worth of work into our septic and build up the backyard. Then there are two maples along side the driveway. You'll never guess what the birds do to my car! What? Poop on it? YES, how did you know? Of course my husband has the garage so full of his own poop (figuratively speaking of course) that I can't get my car in there. And then, the maples in front, everytime the wind blows and living in the midwest, he get a freaking tornado everytime you turn around, my front yard is covered in sticks, limbs, bark and leaves! They are beautiful but OH what a pain in the arse!
Well, I think I'm gonna go whip out the leaf blower and blow all the leaves out of the flowerbeds now. My arms should be like limp noodles shortly.
Good Day :)
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Stretching does a body good!
2007-03-23
I just got home from the gym. I found a new piece of equipment called a stretch trainer (I think?) anyway, it's just this awesome little piece of equipment that you use to stretch your back, legs, shoulders, arms, etc.. and it was WONDERFUL! OMGosh, it felt so good. I've been seeing a physical therapist and massage therapist for months now because I'm so spastic from Multiple Sclerosis. I can't believe that little miracle machine has been sitting there all this time and I'd never taken advantage of it before today! Woo Hoo, I'm loose as a goose I want one of those little babys for my house!
I also RAN on the treadmill...you read it right, I RAN! I haven't RUN in probably 2 years, now mind you, I didn't run long but, who cares, I RAN!! I have such a rush right now I could jump over the moon! I worked out for an hour and half, which is the longest since I've been going back to the gym. I really hope I can treat my back myself with excercise. I've shoveled out truck loads of money on doctors, PT, etc...and I don't see a lot of improvment. Although I would really miss Ann and Sara, my peeps :) They are a delight to work with and really take such good care of me. I have entirely too much fun with them! HA!
Well, I guess tonight I get to shop for a 3 year old's birthday party...go me! I love buying toys. It's for our Great Nephew, Andrew. He's a living doll. A red haired little tyke, I just love him. We'll pick up Lexy and Kaden tomorrow so they can go to the party too. We haven't seen them in a few weeks, so Mimi is needing a fix! Hubby will be glad to see them too.
Sunday I think we're taking a road trip to a wonderful little restaurant in KY. It will be a 4 hour round trip but, I think it sounds like fun. The weather is supposed to be warm and my BIL & SIL will be with us, so it will be worth the long drive.
I better get hoppin' my house is a mess and hubby will be home in 45 mins. I have to make it look like I've slaved all day. 
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