Mutation in serotonin can cause increase gut pain?
GASTROENTEROLOGY NERD ALERT:
Mutation in serotonin can cause increase gut pain?
Check out this article from Neuroscience News about a genetic mutation that leads to the malfunctioning of an enzyme critical for serotonin production and subsequent high levels of unpleasant physical symptoms, previously thought psychologic in cause. This may be very relevant to the roughly 15% of the population that suffer from functional gastrointestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia.
“An international team spearheaded by researchers at McGill University has discovered a biological mechanism that could explain heightened somatic awareness, a condition where patients experience physical discomforts for which there is no physiological explanation.
Patients with heightened somatic awareness often experience unexplained symptoms – headaches, sore joints, nausea, constipation or itchy skin – that cause emotional distress, and are twice as likely to develop chronic pain. The condition is associated with illnesses such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and temporomandibular disorders, and is thought to be of psychological origin.
“Think of the fairy tale of the princess and the pea,” says Samar Khoury, a postdoctoral fellow at McGill’s Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain. “The princess in the story had extreme sensitivity where she could feel a small pea through a pile of 20 mattresses. This is a good analogy of how someone with heightened somatic awareness might feel; they have discomforts caused by a tiny pea that doctors can’t seem to find or see, but it’s very real.”
Thanks to an existing study on the genetic association, Samar Khoury and her colleagues might have found the elusive pea capable of explaining somatic awareness.
Their work, recently published in the Annals of Neurology, used data available through the Orofacial Pain: Prospective Evaluation and Risk Assessment cohort and demonstrates that patients who suffer from somatic symptoms share a common genetic variant. The mutation leads to the malfunctioning of an enzyme critical for the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter with numerous biological functions.”
Our providers are well versed in all of the latest treatment options for IBS (and other functional GI conditions) including optimizing the mind-connection with gut directed hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, nutritional interventions, and utilizing the huge variety of potentially beneficial supplements and medications. One size does not fit all – you need to have an individualized treatment plan.
We are eager to help IMPROVE YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE and have you THINK LESS ABOUT YOUR GUT. Call 224.407.4400 or visit compgihealth.com to schedule a consultation.