can i get that with extra MAO?

oh cool... thats a really good question that i didnt really know much about till i got here, and then, its like when you hear in on drug commercials it really stands out becuse instead of technical sciency talk, its something you are comfortable with and understand... its interresting how that happens...

MAOIs.. this stands for "mono amine oxidase inhibitor(s)"... MAO is an enzyme and the inhibitors... inhibit it. So we know that much, so what does MAO do normally? Well, it functions to break down neurotransmitters (seritonin- heard of SSRIs?-, norepiniephrine, dopamine).

SO- if you inhibit the endogenous (in your body) way of keeping those neurotransmitters down, there will be a higher concentration of them... now, these three neurotransmitters in particular are linked to depression when people have decreased levels of them... so the rationale is that if you can boost them up, you can make someone feel happier... there are only 3 still on the market- isocarboxazid, phenelzine, and tranylcypromine (i had to look those up cause they are rarely used)...

interrestingly, studies have also shown that natural remedies such as exercise will have the same effect of levels of these neurotransmitters as it was clearly shown that runners had higher serationin levels... not to be confused with the endorphins that cause the "runner's high"... thats a differnt issue all together...

oh and i didnt answer your question... ok... so thats how they work... there are lots of drugs you wouldnt want to take with MAOIs because there are lots of drugs that also interfere with the concentration or affinity of those same neurotransmitters... if you remove your body's ability to downregulate them, AND you take something else that boosts them up, or causes even a minor increase in any one of those neurotransmitters, you will see dramatic effects... kinda like... if you took away the kindergarden teacher (MAO) and then gave all the 6 year olds speed (drug that potentiates MAO effects)... it would just be crazyness because not only could you not control them because of the lack of the teacher, they would be running around like crazy breaking stuff because you juiced them up...

you can even get neurological problems when you take MAOIs and certain foods! i'm sure you have heard about that... tyramine, a common ingredient in olives, wine, cheese, turkey... ect... acts as a pseudotransmitter because of its similar structure to norepinephrine... it is normally broken down just fine with you have functional MAO enzymes, but when you knock them out, you flood the synapse with extra neurotransmitters... why would it make you really tired you might ask? doesnt it INCREASE the amount of excitatory chemicals in the synapse?! (although you didnt ask) becuase while it binds to the norepinephrine (NE) receptors, it blocks them (antagonist) instead of activating them... NE is usually for making you pumped up and excited and ready to run away from the dog that is chasing you, if you take the opposite of that, you get sedation, lethargy, ect...

did that answer your question?