Dopamine - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Tag: Dopamine

a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That’s why it’s sometimes called a chemical messenger.

Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It’s a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting.

Your body spreads it along four major pathways in the brain. Like most other systems in the body, you don’t notice it (or maybe even know about it) until there’s a problem.

Too much or too little of it can lead to a vast range of health issues. Some are serious, like Parkinson’s disease. Others are much less dire.

05Sep 2020 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Flower power and the happy hormones

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

One of the featured pictures below is a sunflower from 2015, something I planted with my own hands, and it grew taller than me (not difficult), even taller than my garden fence (more difficult). Of course, I have to mention my wife Chris because she does infinitely more gardening than I do, and she would have nurtured the sunflower from start to finish after I planted it. Nonetheless, I still felt a remarkably close association with the outcome! It made me happy just to look at it! My most liked Facebook posts in 2020 (the year of COVID) related to plant and forest pictures and there is a reason flowers proved to be more popular than my other posts. Flowers, particularly with vibrant colour, stimulate our happiness hormones, including serotonin. I…

08Sep 2016 by Ronny Allan 20 Comments

Serotonin – the NET effect

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, The NET Effect Series

picture shows an actual serotonin receptor BackgroundI'd never heard of Serotonin until I was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer in 2010. It is frequently discussed, often with contrasting views from the respondents. One common assumption/question is that it is responsible for many things that can go wrong with Neuroendocrine Cancer patients who have serotonin-producing tumours. To a certain extent, that's true but statement such as "it's the hormones" is an easy assumption to make; or an easy answer to give in response to a complex set of circumstances. It's difficult to get a definitive answer and the science behind the behaviour of our hormones isn't really 100% tied down - the human body is extremely complex.You may see serotonin referred to as a 'neurotransmitter', a 'chemical' and a 'hormone' - this…

02Aug 2016 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer Nutrition Series Part 4 – Amines: Food for Thought?

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Neuroendocrine Cancer Nutrition Series Part 4 – Amines: Food for Thought?Reviewed and updated 11th July 2023BackgroundNutrition is an important subject for many cancers, but it can be particularly important for many Neuroendocrine Cancer patients. When I started writing my nutrition series (listed below), I said that my intention is not to tell you what to eat, even though that might be a challenge for many, and this theme continues. The issue with Nutrition and Diet, in general, is that it's very individual and what works for one may not work for another. Often the the best diet for you is the one that works for you. I like to focus on why such things might have an effect - patients can then experiment and see what works for them. Sometimes…