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Comment about possible problems -- biological, psvchological or even social for

ID: 3469136 • Letter: C

Question

Comment about possible problems -- biological, psvchological or even social for the following article: 5 REASONS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER NEUROTRANSMITTER TESTING 1. Neurotransmitters control communication throughout your body and brain. Neurotransmitters are complex chemical messengers that coordinate communcation between neruons, which in turn affect every cell, tissue, and system in your body. 2. Symptoms (and even diagnoses) don't tell the whole story. Although you can articulate a long list of symptoms, you can't identify the underlying imbalances causing those symptoms. Neurotransmitter testing gives me more information than your symptoms alone can. 3. You are unique, your symptoms are not. Many symptoms, such as fatigue, weight gain, anxiousness, and sleep disturbances can have strikingly different underlying causes. While your poor sleep may be due to low serotonin someone else's may be related to high glutamate. Neurotransmitter testing can identify your specific biochemical imbalances. 4. Complex health conditions require an integrated approach. Today's Diseases of Civilization demand a unified approach that conceptualizes nervous endocrine and immune functions as an integrated system. Neurotransmitter testing helps m as a clinician uncover adrenal and immune issues that affect proper neural balance. 5. Testing biomarkers helps us provide customized patient care. Most importantly, once we have the personalized, integrated information from your unique lab results, we can better address underlying imbalances. The promise of such an approach is increased care effectiveness and decreased care expenses.

Explanation / Answer

Neurotransmitters in the brain are a crucial component thst regulates our sleep cycle, mood, libido and over all mental health . A deviation in the inhibition or over production of neurotransmitter can lead to disruption in our ability of focus, handle stress, mood wings etc. It is estimated that 86% of overall American population have suboptimal neurotransmitter caused by psychological burnout or unhealthy lifestyle.

Although neurotransmitter testing can provide a mapping of the disturbances in the production of the chemicals in our brain, which can be used for mapping down the diagnosis and treatment of a disorder, it still has drawbacks. With too much focus on the chemical regulation and activities inside the brain, it devoids an individual of his/her subjectivity. The psychological health is effected and in return affect the activities of neurotransmitters in the brain. Both are mutually inclusive to each other. To rely on neurotransmitter testing alone, can lead to a false understanding of any disorder , thereby leading to an ineffective treatment /therapy plan.The production of neurotransmitter is constantly and rapidly changing. For example, a molecule of serotonin has half life of one second. Each moment, each thought, it impacts our neurotransmitter status on moment-to moment basis. Hence, the neurotransmitter testing results only shows the status of its production or under production, at that particular time. It fails to provide a consistent reporting of the chemical changes in the brain. Last but not the least, Even if one could accurately measures neurotransmitters in the brain, there are other factors that are responsible for healthy functioning of an individual. For example, many a times,an individual is on some kind of medication which binds the neurotransmitter receptors, that leads to disturbance is the chemicals. The neurotransmitter testing does not provide a detailed mapping of these binding receptors.

In short, neurotransmitter testing can be used as an adjunct diagnostic tool. Disorders like anxiety, depression or bipolar should be primarily be diagnosed based on Diagnostic statistical manual(DSM), which is a relaible source in diagnosing and treating any disorder. Neurotransmitter testing can be used as a tool to provide additional insight to the clinical problem.