Posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 24, 2002, at 15:54:49
In reply to WHY do AD's poop out?, posted by tina on September 24, 2002, at 10:14:21
> What is the mechanism that makes them stop working all of a sudden?
> Please, no sarcastic remarks. I genuinely want to know.
----------------------------I'm no doctor, but I would guess that the brain becomes conditioned to the presence and effects of these drugs after time, just as it does to other psychoactive drugs (alcohol, caffeine, etc.). There are many feedback loops in the body that ensure balance. If one neurotransmitter suddenly increases in presence, the body eventually makes less of that chemical, or tunes down the extent that it pays attention to it. The brain gets, in a sense, sensitized to the change.
Aside from those mechanisms, the liver also ramps up it's attempts to break down any unwanted chemical that it comes across frequently.
poster:Eddie Sylvano
thread:120927
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020922/msgs/120974.html