Homeostasis: Equinox Serotonin (5HT) Headache Stories ~ New on the Bryan William Brickner Blog

Clusters and Migraines

“Cluster headaches are sometimes called ‘Suicide Headaches’ because the pain is so intense and difficult to resolve,” said Steve Young of Ew Publishing; “I’ve had cluster headaches, and I can't think of a pain that is more intense.”

“It should be a relief to everyone who suffers from cluster headaches, or migraines, that medical research is pointing to some relief and it’s based on the serotonin system,” he added.

Serotonin (5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine) is a ubiquitous biochemical found in animals and plants. Mammals use it as a neurotransmitter in the central and peripheral nervous systems and also as a local hormone in other systems ~ such as the digestive, heart and immune.

In Homeostasis: Equinox Serotonin (5HT) Headache Stories ~ New on the Bryan William Brickner Blog, serotonergic health is highlighted. The post focuses on new research from the National Institutes of Health (PubMed) to tell five serotonin brain tales regarding: pro-cognitive 5-HT4 receptors, mitigating medication overuse, abnormal headache chronicity, (red) wine interference mechanisms, and new cluster headache horizons.

“The pro-cognitive research also involves nicotine,” Young signaled, “as the serotonin system’s 5HT-4 receptors enhance acetylcholine release; acetylcholine is the endo-neurotransmitter that is also nicotine.”

“While science has tried to understand the relationship of serotonin to mood, serotonin does so much more, whether you suffer from headaches or not,” noted Young, "The serotonin system modulates our life.”

“And since we are discussing legal recreational drugs, new research on the serotonin system might explain why red wine gives people headaches,” explained Young.

“Dealing with headaches can make some people desperate, and they take so much conventional medication that it can actually make the headaches worse,” Young offered. “More research on serotonin should help to stop that problem too.”

Young is the author of Maximizing Harm: Losers and Winners in the Drug War (2000), How to Inhale the Universe without Wheezing (2008), and part of Publius and The Cannabis Papers (2011). In 2009 he produced the hemp documentary, Government Grown: How Polo Illinois Helped Win the War, and is currently writing a booklet on serotonin and a cluster headache journey.

The Bryan William Brickner Blog is a collection of published works and press coverage and an ongoing resource for the political science of constitutions and the biological science of receptors. Next Homeostasis: Publius’ Sleep Political Cannabinoid Science, Tuesday 30 September on the BWB Blog.

The Cannabis Papers is available at online retailers and for free by download.