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Norepinephrine (adrenaline)

Related Topics:

• dopamine / serotonin

Medications that may increase norepinephrine:

• Effexor (venlafaxine) / Remeron (mirtazapine) / Strattera (atomoxetine) / Cymbalta (duloxetine) / Edronax (reboxetine) / Wellbutrin® (bupropion)

Supplements that may increase norepinephrine:

• tyrosine / phenylalanine / St. John's wort

General Information:

News & Research:

• Depression Protocol - Life Extension Foundation - "Tyrosine is used by the body to make the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, which play a role in elevating mood and keeping us alert; 500 to 1500 mg a day is recommended"
• Is Exercise the Best Drug for Depression - Time Magazine, 6/19/10 - "depressed adults who participated in an aerobic exercise plan improved as much as those treated with sertraline, the drug that was marketed as Zoloft ... Subsequent trials have repeated these results, showing again and again that patients who undergo aerobic exercise regimens see comparable improvement in their depression as those treated with medication, and that both groups do better than patients given only a placebo ... exercise may alter brain chemistry in much the same way that antidepressant drugs do — regulating the key neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine"
• The Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761((R)) and its main constituent flavonoids and ginkgolides increase extracellular dopamine levels in the rat prefrontal cortex - Br J Pharmacol. 2010 Jan 25 - "A single oral dose of EGb 761 (100 mg.kg(-1)) had no effect on monoamine levels. However, following chronic (100 mg.kg(-1)/14 days/once daily) treatment, the same dose significantly increased extracellular dopamine and noradrenaline levels, while 5-HT levels were unaffected. Chronic treatment with EGb 761 showed dose-dependent increases in frontocortical dopamine levels and, to a lesser extent, in the striatum. The extracellular levels of HVA and DOPAC were not affected by either acute or repeated doses. Treatment with the main constituents of EGb 761 revealed that the increase in dopamine levels was mostly caused by the flavonol glycosides and ginkgolide fractions, whereas bilobalide treatment was without effect. Conclusions and implications: The present results demonstrate that chronic but not acute treatment with EGb 761 increased dopaminergic transmission in the PFC. This finding may be one of the mechanisms underlying the reported effects of G. biloba in improving cognitive function" - See Ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com.
• Functional Roles of Norepinephrine and Dopamine in ADHD - Medscape, 3/9/06
• Sex, Sexuality, and Serotonin - Medscape, 7/20/04 - "From our study of the brain, we have some nice evidence that elevated activity of dopamine is involved in that intense sense of passion and arousal of romantic love. I also maintain in my book, Why We Love, that we're going to find out sometime that norepinephrine is also involved, largely because heightened activity of norepinephrine is also associated with focused attention, elevated energy, motivation to win a reward, elation, and 2 characteristics of romantic love -- obsessional following and object imprinting ... low activity levels of serotonin are going to be involved"
• Adrenaline Packs A Powerful Punch In The Use Of Antidepressants - Science Daily, 6/7/04
• Depression, The Mind Body Connection - Physician's Weekly, 2/16/04 - "People who are depressed are likely to have norepinephrine abnormalities; the proper functioning of blood macrophages is dependent upon health norepinephrine"
• Hormones for Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Depression - Psychiatric Times, 1/04 - "Estrogen inhibits MAO, thereby diminishing the degradation of norepinephrine and serotonin and thus increasing their activity, while progesterone has the reverse impact on MAO"
• Non-Stimulant Approved for ADHD - WebMD, 11/26/02 - "it affects only one major brain chemical, norepinephrine -- thought to be important in regulating attention, impulsivity, and activity levels"
• The Neurobiology of Depression: Focus on Norepinephrine - Medscape, 11/21/02
• New Antidepressant [Cymbalta] Works Faster - WebMD, 11/11/02 - "Cymbalta affects two different brain chemical messengers -- serotonin and norepinephrine"
• Chronic Therapy with Beta-Adrenergic Receptor Blockers Improves Endothelial Function in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 9/30/02 - "Plasma norepinephrine levels decreased from 591 pg/mL before treatment to 426 pg/mL after six months of beta-blockade" - So does that mean beta-blockers can cause depression?
• Which Antidepression Drug Is Best? - WebMD, 4/30/02 - "As initial therapy for depression, most doctors tend to use newer drugs that target a specific brain chemical -- serotonin -- involved in depression. These drugs, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs ... Effexor does this, too, but it isn't quite as specific. It also increases the amount of another chemical -- norepinephrine -- in the brain ... Those who received Effexor were 43% more likely to have their depression go into remission than those taking SSRIs"
• St. John's Wort: Effective, with Caveats - Nutrition Science News, 3/02 - "Using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, 47 percent of those taking St. John's wort improved compared with 40 percent of those taking the sertraline ... Hyperforin increases the effectiveness of norepinephrine, dopamine, L-glutamate, and gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), as well as serotonin. Researchers in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Frankfurt in Germany concluded, "no other antidepressant compound exhibits a similar broad uptake-inhibiting profile.""
• Happily ever after? It's all in your head - CNN, 2/14/02 - See the video.  Claims that love is dependent on a cocktail of chemicals (dopamine, norepinephrine and PEA) and that oxytocin is responsible for bonding and that vasopressin is responsible for monogamy.
• Doctors Target Two Brain Chemicals to Treat Depression, Anxiety - WebMD, 9/17/01 - "Prozac works by increasing the availability of the mood chemical serotonin, while Effexor targets serotonin and norepinephrine, another brain chemical that plays a role in anxiety and depression ... there's a whole series of other studies in the area of anxiety disorders and new medications that are in development that target both brain chemicals ... One such drug, Remeron, is currently available"

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