Endorphin system of the body.

About what the endorphin system is and how to affect it.

Many people have heard about the body's endorphin system. It is often said that endorphins and enkephalins are hormones of joy, hormones of pleasure, hormones of happiness. But in reality this is not entirely true. This idea is very far from what this system actually is. The work of this system accompanies us from birth to death. Namely: the process of childbirth itself, birth, education and instillation of skills and habits, the learning process, work, illness, aging, dying and death itself - all this is directly related to the work of the body's endorphin system. And even if someone thinks that his soul will live after death, then this widespread misconception is also directly related to the work of the body’s endorphin system. Endorphins are not only pleasure and joy. It is also anger, aggression, rage, habits, addictions and mania. This also includes feelings of happiness and unhappiness. All spheres of public life are built on the work of the body's endorphin system: science, art, politics, economics, religion. Without the work of the endorphin system, neither the greatest discoveries nor the most terrible crimes could be committed.

But our focus will be limited only to the medical aspects of the operation of this system. To begin with, you need to decide on the categories. What is what, and what to call it.

 

What are endorphins?

Endorphins are polypeptide compounds that are produced in neurons of the brain. That is, these are neuropeptides. Neuropeptides consist of two main groups - endorphins and enkephalins. Within these groups there are subgroups.

 

What is the body's endorphin system?

The endorphin system includes (cells - substances - receptors):

Clusters of nerve cells capable of secreting special substances. These same substances are neuropeptides. Special receptors, called opiate receptors, which are capable of responding to neuropeptides, as well as the location of these special receptors in the body. What does this system regulate?

According to modern data, the endorphin system exercises control over all regulatory systems of the body, that is, it regulates the activity of all regulatory systems.

 

How do endorphins work?

Endorphins enter the blood, like pituitary hormones, and are distributed to all organs and tissues. From the blood they enter the nerve endings, where they connect with their receptors. Thus, they activate or excite opiate receptors.

 

In what areas of the nervous system are opiate receptors located?

Opiate receptors are located in synapses (impulse switching zone). In synapses of other types: acetylcholine, adrenal, dopamine, GABA, etc.

 

In which organs are opiate receptors located?

In the cerebral cortex

In the subcortical nuclei of the brain

In the gray matter of the spinal cord

In the nerve nodes of internal organs: heart, lungs, kidneys, bronchi, intestines

 

What types of receptors does the endorphin system have?

Kappa receptors

Mu receptors

Delta receptors

Sigma receptors

When different types of receptors are excited, fundamentally different effects are achieved.

 

What is the role of each type of receptor?

Functions of individual receptors:

kappa receptors provide pain relief with simultaneous excitation (combat arousal) Rapid stress response system

mu receptors are associated with potent and long-lasting analgesia, sedation, respiratory depression and a decrease in heart rate. Stress Resistance System

delta receptors regulate metabolic processes, restore the constancy of the internal environment, and cause a feeling of euphoria. Recovery and regeneration system

sigma receptors stimulate associative processes in the cerebral cortex. They are the ones who work in a state of supreme bliss, insight, revelation, visions and hallucinations. System for expanding associative connections/system for expanding consciousness

 

What functions does the endorphin system perform??

There are 2 leading functions:

The body’s protective reaction to stress or pain during severe physical and mental stress, during freezing and overheating, in the acute phase of almost all diseases; Incentive - for positive emotions: the release of endorphins in a person is directly related to the feeling of happiness, pleasure, achieving a goal, etc.

Thus, endorphins have the ability to reduce pain and influence a person’s emotional state.

In addition to these leading functions, it also performs other functions:

Regulation of excitation and inhibition

After the end of the extreme situation - “quenching” of adrenaline reactions,

return to normal functioning of the cardiopulmonary system and other internal organs

Pain relief during the wound process with simultaneous sedation, transferring the nervous system to a half-asleep state

Stimulation of regeneration, activation of the immune system, restoration of muscle mass. Stimulation of associations to develop new models of behavior in order to successfully confront life-threatening situations. This function is performed by an independent class of receptors, the stimulation of which enhances associations, imaginative thinking, and creative imagination.

 

What is the difference between the functioning of the nervous system under normal conditions and under stressful conditions?

Under normal “peaceful” conditions, balance in regulation is carried out by the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of the autonomic nervous system. Under stress, when the adrenal system is fully activated, it is opposed by the endorphin system. During stress, the body switches to “military” operating conditions. All resources are switched to ensuring the most efficient activities in the external environment. At the same time, there is a ruthless reduction of resources for internal functions.

 

What clinical syndromes are formed in the body when the entire endorphin system or its individual links are insufficient?

Pain syndrome

Withdrawal symptoms. The most striking examples: the state of withdrawal from narcotic analgesics, withdrawal of a drug addict

Excitement syndrome

Depressive syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Asthenic syndrome (exhaustion)

"Black and white world" syndrome

 

How does the state of the endorphin system affect a person’s character?

The enhanced development of individual parts of the endorphin system makes it possible to form a number of special human character traits. For example: Detachment, yogis, hermits in various religions, which are characterized by calmness, peacefulness, and some lethargy;

Aggressiveness: fighters are professionals, fanatics, distinguished by aggressiveness, the ability to endure extreme pain, ignoring obvious injuries; Self-centeredness: bodybuilding fans with a huge sense of superiority, confidence in their own health, inward orientation, inability to feel the suffering of others;

Internal cerebral pseudo-enlightenment: artists, poets, mediators of all directions, mystics, spiritualists, people striving to achieve nirvana.

 

What factors influence the natural production of endorphins in the body?

Food (in the intestines)

Music (in the heart, in the cerebral cortex)

Laughter (in the lungs, in the bronchi, in the heart, in the subcortical nuclei, in the cerebral cortex)

Sports (in the lungs, kidneys, gray matter of the spinal cord)

Ultraviolet radiation (in the gray matter of the spinal cord)

Kisses with a loved one (in the heart, in the cerebral cortex)

Sex (in the heart, in the gray matter of the spinal cord, in the subcortical nuclei, in the cerebral cortex)

Sleep (neuropeptide synthesis)

Now you and I must understand what we are talking about when we talk about the endorphin system.

 

How does the regulatory system of regulatory systems work, and which parts of the endorphin system are turned on first, and which ones later?

1.        Kappa link

2.        Mu link

3.        Delta link

4.        Sigma link

 

The sigma link is activated when the first three cannot solve the problem. Moreover, it is structured fundamentally differently, compared to the underlying links.

Currently, sigma receptors are even excluded from the list of classical opiate receptors. And this is for the following reasons:

- Once these receptors are activated, opiate antagonists cannot reverse their effects. Cases have been described in which people who drove themselves into a state of extreme sigma stimulation remained in this state for about 100 days. This is what some call the "eternal high";

- These receptors have a slight affinity for classical apioids, but their structure is different;

- These receptors are selective for dextrorotatory isomers of agonists, while the remaining receptors are selective for levorotatory isomers. Those. are dextrorotatory neuropeptides. And all the other proteins in our body, including those that stimulate kappa, mu and delta receptors, are levorotatory.

Thus, stimulation of sigma receptors results in an expansion of associative-dissociative connections. In practice, this means that weak stimulation of this link increases imagination, creativity, creativity, and super-strong stimulation can cause visions and         hallucinations. When God created us, he specially made the sigma link of a special design. Otherwise, in our modern stressful life, we would all be walking around in continuous hallucinations and visions.

We have a system in our brain that is responsible for the “multiplier effect” and the “transfer effect” of nerve impulses from one area of ​​the brain to another. Sigma receptors belong precisely to this system. When the problem is not solved by the lower levels of the endorphinization system, the brain begins to accumulate information, process it, and transfer it from one zone to another (for example, from the auditory areas of the cortex to the visual, and vice versa). This and   explains the effect of insight, the effect of discovery, the effectvoice hearing, vision effect. It was by this mechanism that Mendeleev discovered his periodic table of elements. According to this mechanism, Buddha appeared on earth. And many more things can be remembered that appeared on earth through such a mechanism.

I will give below how this system works in medicine using 3 real examples. So, there is a system for spending endorphins and a system for restoring them. To make this clearer, you can compare this process with a personal bank account. We replenish the account and spend funds from the account. But if we top up with a ruble and withdraw 10 for expenses. What will happen? The account will be depleted. This is the mechanism of many conditions of modern man. He doesn’t get enough sleep (and neuropeptides, like all proteins, are actively synthesized during night rest), but in order to feel alert during the day he drinks coffee, tea, energy drinks, and so on. As a result, modern man earns exhaustion and all the conditions that accompany it. But it should be said that the endorphin system is not only a bank account. This is also a bank loan. I took out a loan for a phone and became dependent for several months; I took out a loan for an apartment and became dependent for the rest of my life. In the same way, artificial and extreme stimulation of the endorphin system creates addictions. And the greater the strength of irritation of the endorphin system, the stronger the addiction. The larger the loan, the stronger the dependence. Everything is fair. We conclude that emergency stimulation is intended only for emergency life-threatening cases.

 

Medical methods of artificially stimulating the production of endorphins:

Emergency

Not emergency

 

Medical non-emergency methods of artificially stimulating the production of endorphins:

-TES therapy. Transcarnial electrical stimulation (Endorphin crutches)

-Low dose naloxone method. In 2003, the NLD technique, low-dose naloxone, was used in New York. Its essence is that a person takes 2-3 mg of an endorphin receptor locator at night. The body experiences endorphin starvation and responds by increasing the synthesis of its own endorphins. As a result, your mood improves during the day and your immune system improves. The authors of this technique now claim that they successfully cure many hopeless diseases, including AIDS and tumors.

 

Medical emergency methods of artificially stimulating the production of endorphins:

-Energetic techniques of manual therapy (method of artificial hernia formation). In various manual therapy manuals, the emphasis is placed on the fact that during the manipulation to eliminate subluxation there must be a crunch (click), this supposedly indicates the correctness of the manipulation. Some chiropractors note the fact that during twisting or other manipulation, after “something crunches,” in many cases the patient notices significant pain relief. When asked by a patient: “What happened in the spine?”, as a rule, they answer: “It’s the discs that are falling into place.”

In this regard, a number of questions arise:

 

- What is the nature of such a crunch? The mechanism of crunching in the facet joints

Crunch is a hydrodynamic shock of the intra-articular fluid of the facet joints. Water hammer is formed due to a sharp jump in the pressure of the intra-articular fluid and is caused by a very rapid change in the flow rate of this fluid in a very short period of time. It is precisely this water hammer with a characteristic sound, formed after appropriate manipulations by a chiropractor, that generates microtraumatization of the joint capsule with micro tears, areas of hyperextension, and microcracks.

Is this a positive or negative result of the manipulation? Hemorrhage in the cavity of the facet joints after the use of manual therapy can be considered a negative result.

 

- Why does the patient experience lightness after the crunch?

Why, during the manipulation of a chiropractor after a crunch (in most cases), the patient experiences extraordinary lightness, almost euphoria, after which “the pain goes away,” “the mood improves,” and so on. The answer is probably already clear to you: the culprits of this sudden rush of “pain relief” are endorphins and enkephalins.

But the question is what price the patient will subsequently pay for this pleasure. After a series of such manipulations, the joint is weakened, its instability increases and, as a result, the pressure on the intervertebral disc increases significantly. And this is a direct path to hernia formation.

 

Conclusion: every specialist who uses energy techniques of manual therapy in their practice must be aware of their responsibility for the consequences of their actions.

 

Examples of some patients where the work of the sigma link of the endorphin system is clearly visible

1.        An example of an artificial protective (protective) start of worksigma link. The teacher and communist was on a business trip to Tibet. He studied the religion of Zen Buddhism.

Associate Professor of the Department of Scientific Atheism at Moscow State University. Through the Central Committee of the CPSU he was sent to Tibet for several years to study the religion of Zen Buddhism. In the 1970-80s. In 1978, he reported to the department and to his students about his experience as a Zen Buddhist. It must be said that in a Tibetan monastery he received a high level of training in Zen Buddhism. And after returning from a business trip, he defended his doctoral dissertation. He described his feelings during the training course and highlighted the features of the preparatory process for Zen insight:

Lack of sleep (no neuropeptide recovery)

Food deprivation (no food satisfaction, no building materials for neuropeptides) Sensory deprivation (limited communication with the outside world - preparation for activation of the sigma link)

Constant sitting in a dimly lit room reading special prayer texts (something like meditation)

When the student fell asleep, the overseer or the instructor for entering nirvana or the instructor for merging with God would give a very strong blow to the ribs with a bamboo stick. (stimulation and depletion of the kappa unit)

At some point, such many daily encounters with the higher mind, suddenly a state of indescribable bliss, ecstasy, the feeling that you knew everything and everyone, connected with the universal mind, felt the real meaning of existence. After staying for some time in such ecstasy, the Zen Buddhist returns to the mortal earth and immediately forgets all his insight and all his knowledge, which it seemed to him was revealed to him from merging with the Almighty. But something remained, and remained for the rest of my life. A teacher at the department of scientific atheism, the communist always admitted to his students that he had never felt so good in his life, and for the rest of his life he would like to return to this state of bliss.

This is a typical example of an artificially induced protective (protective) activation of the sigma link of the endorphin system with the development of a certain form of addiction.

 

2. An example of the spontaneous launch of a sigma link.

A patient whose sigma link has been triggered in a critical situation.

A man about 45 years old, for an unknown reason, began to experience severe malaise, general poor health, back pain, anemia, a drop in hemoglobin levels, shortness of breath, requiring stop and rest. After treatment by a massage therapist, the condition worsened. They referred me to me, but it was not possible to accept me due to the large number of patients. Therefore, through an acquaintance, he went to the Kharkov Railway Hospital for examination and treatment. Conducted tomography, biochemistry, clinical tests, etc. as a result, nothing of the kind was found. The last method proposed was a blood transfusion. The man refused, after which he was told to write a will and was sent to oncologists as hopeless and incurable. In this state, almost dying, he is taken home to his son in Kharkov. And suddenly something interesting happens. According to his conviction, he receives information from above from God. He hears instructions in his head to get in and steam in the hot bath. He followed this instruction. After a half-hour procedure, he went to bed. The next day a similar order followed, and he again obeyed. After he had a good steam in the hot bath, he felt the urge to, as he says, stretch. He did this, and something crunched between his shoulder blades. After which he quickly began to recover and a week later in the same hospital they simply did not believe his miraculous healing. This is an example of when at lower levels the problem was not solved and in a critical situation the body resolved the problem through an emergency launch of the sigma link of the endorphin system. There was no dependence in this case. Why? Because although it was an emergency, it was a natural process. And the body stimulated the sigma link, only to the level of need, no more.

 

3. An example of a constant redundant function of a sigma link with insufficient function of all other underlying links.

Woman about 50 years old. By profession: doctor. Psychotype: emotional, insecure, always looking for new knowledge, having personal unresolved problems, sacrificial for the sake of children, very conscientious, afraid to take money for her services. Physical condition: intolerant of pain, afraid of aggressive manual techniques like fire, weak, ill. In other words, an organism with very low reserves of the mu, kapa and delta parts of the endorphin system. This is her usual state. Many insoluble situations are resolved through some kind of insight, that is, through stimulation of the sigma link of the endorphin system. In these cases, she hears a voice. She shared with her relatives that in some cases she hears a voice: soft, gentle, not aggressive, which helps her solve her most difficult problems. Relatives said that she had gone crazy. I went to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist said: “You are healthy!” Until we figured out what was happening in her body, she thought she was hearing the voice of God. In his life experience he has many such voice prompts. For example: my heart hurt: the voice said that it was not the heart, but the spine. I was looking for some kind of grass in the forest: a voice said, here it is, this grass. The priest in the church treated her inappropriately: the voice briefly explained the situation and reassured her. Thus, this is a rare example of the weak links of the mu, capa and delta endorphin system, with an overdeveloped sigma link of the endorphin system. I say “Buddha in a skirt” to her.

By the way, an interesting observation is that this woman gives birth in a state of ecstasy. She had two births and both were in a state of ecstasy more vivid than during sex. She is ready to give birth and give birth.

Apparently, this mechanism should have been activated in all women on earth, that is, all women should have given birth with a low level of pain and in a state of ecstasy. But after Adam and Eve sinned, God said the following to Eve: “...He said to the woman: “I will increase the pain of your pregnancy, you will bear children with pain...” (Genesis 3:16). Now this is the common state of all sinful women. They usually give birth with pain.

 

What diseases can an artificially strengthened endorphin system help cope with?

It would be appropriate to pay attention to those diseases that, as a rule, official medicine cannot cope with (some of them):

Panic attacks (suddenly occurring destabilization of cell membranes)

Vegetative-vascular dystonia

Vasomotor rhinosinusopathies

In principle, if the endorphin system is a regulator of regulatory systems, then all dystonias, pathies and the like, all spherical diagnoses that are quickly made but are almost never cured, should be corrected.

 

Endorphin system training:

General conditions for training all parts of the endorphin system:

Remove mechanisms that weaken the will

Creating conditions for the full restoration of neuropeptides

Creating conditions for partial sensory deprivation Creating conditions for the harmonious development of all parts of the ES

In details:

— Complete refusal of strong and low-alcohol drinks (Mechanisms that weaken the will);

— Sharp restrictions on television, radio, video (Creating conditions of partial sensory deprivation);

— Complete rejection of energy drinks, stimulants of nervous activity (mechanisms that impede the development of one’s own endorphin system);

— If possible, limit coffee and tea. Hypotonic patients can have no more than 1 cup of one drink or another in the morning (mechanisms that prevent the development of their own endorphin system);

— Forbid yourself to be nervous, sulk, whine, complain, get angry, sort things out, make trouble, try to work on a mobile phone and solve work issues (mechanisms that prevent the imbalance of the mu and kappa parts of the endorphin system);

— Minimize the use of mobile phones and other means of communication (creating conditions of partial sensory deprivation);

— Full sleep: complete sleep during treatment is considered to be sleep under the following conditions (mechanisms that contribute to the restoration of one’s own neuropeptides):

Sleep 5-10% more than your usual amount of sleep

Go to bed as close to sunset as possible

Wake up without an alarm, taking into account the amount of sleep needed for recovery

Daytime and afternoon naps are advisable

- Walk at a leisurely pace for at least 2 hours a day (a mechanism that involves all parts of the endorphinization system);

— Morning leisurely jogging (a mechanism that involves all parts of the endorphinization system);

— Daily morning facial exercises in front of the mirror: grimaces, antics, playing with facial muscles (conditioned feedback mechanism mainly for the sigma link);

— Full water regime: the amount of water per day is calculated by the formula: weight (in kg) * 30 = amount of water in ml/day that should be drunk daily (mandatory background regime).

 

Specialized activities to strengthen the endorphin system:

This is something that you can apply in your practice.

 

Mu link:

The key to training is two factors: enduring pain and holding your breath.

Guasha therapy

Cupping massage

Vacuum cans

Breath holding training

Training for staying underwater with breath holding Training for scuba diving without an apparatus and a breathing tube

 

Kappa link:

Pain associated with tissue damage.

Guasha therapy for moderate bruising

Cupping massage with bruises

Acupuncture

Cauterization (points E-36)

Muscle stretching with moderate to above moderate pain

Daily lying on the Lyapko or Kuznetsov applicator

Daily tapping on bones and joints until moderate pain occurs

 

Delta link:

Anything that promotes muscle growth.

Abdominal, back,

Push-ups, squats, pull-ups.

Exercises with weights

 

Sigma link:

Strengthening the mechanisms of associative connections

Positive emotional attitude

Contemplation of the beauty of the world: feeling beauty with all the senses with a feeling of delight, satisfaction, happiness, etc.

Reading, studying, thinking, insight, epiphany, discovery Positive emotional communication Mushroom picking, hiking, fishing

Tea ceremony... everything that requires the ability to hear and enjoy silence

 

Conclusion

Any artificial violent extreme stimulation of the endorphin system will require some kind of payment. This fee is not always acceptable and justified.

 

For example:

Energy techniques of manual therapy – herniated discs

Chemical stimulants of the system - dependence and addiction

Excessive muscle load (muscle pumping) – deformation of the individual’s mentality

Derivational techniques – dependence, addiction, delusion

 

Thus, any imbalance, both in social life and in human health, is due to the work of the endorphin system. But we are not here to solve the problems of all humanity, we are talking about medicine.

The only reasonable acceptable option: harmonious, balanced development of all parts of the endorphin system. This should be the basis of the work of a doctor and health specialist who cares about the well-being of his patient. This is the direction in which a specialist, an expert and his ward collaborate: the client, the patient. This is how the most socially adapted individuals are formed.

In the Wellness Lifestyle project, course healing is built on the basis of the above-described mechanisms of the body’s endorphin system, taking into account the individual physiological characteristics of a person.