Shock Medicine Essay
Read “Shock Medicine” in Scientific American from March 2015, and discuss the following questions. Submit your answers on SafeAssign by the due date specified on Blackboard.
1. Summarize reflex circuits and how the nervous system sends signals to organs. Why is the pharmaceutical industry interested in this function?
Reflex circuits harmonize single organs activities, so you don’t have to consciously plan your heart beat and breathing. Reflex circuits are made up of neural circuits, which are the basic building blocks of the nervous system. The neurons transmit signals down axons, and then the signals stimulate the release of neurotransmitters which cross over the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors on organ cells. Chemical neurotransmitters …show more content…
It helps regulate the response of the immune system to a foreign object, especially to a cancerous tumor. It promotes inflammation and can help cells heal. However, over-production of TNF can result in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. CNI-1493 is a molecule that blocks the effects of TNF, which helps those with the aforementioned diseases because it reduces inflammation.
3. Discuss how the nervous system is intertwined with the immune system (including lymphatic organs), and the techniques that bioelectronics medicine is developing to control inflammatory diseases.
Both systems are connected by the brain; the brain uses nerve cells (nervous system) to send messages to the immune system to trigger an immune response. For example, the vagus nerve sends signals from the brain to the spleen. Along this path, action potentials move down the nerve to the abdomen, which terminates the nerve cells that send their fibers to the spleen. These fibers release a signaling molecule that binds to T lymphocytes. The signaling molecule then attaches receptors to the T cells which begin production of acetylcholine, which then attaches to macrophages, which produce TNF. The techniques being developed to control inflammatory diseases will most likely involve deciphering the electrical signals carried in nerves to diagnose and control inflammatory
1. Summarize reflex circuits and how the nervous system sends signals to organs. Why is the pharmaceutical industry interested in this function?
Reflex circuits harmonize single organs activities, so you don’t have to consciously plan your heart beat and breathing. Reflex circuits are made up of neural circuits, which are the basic building blocks of the nervous system. The neurons transmit signals down axons, and then the signals stimulate the release of neurotransmitters which cross over the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors on organ cells. Chemical neurotransmitters …show more content…
It helps regulate the response of the immune system to a foreign object, especially to a cancerous tumor. It promotes inflammation and can help cells heal. However, over-production of TNF can result in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. CNI-1493 is a molecule that blocks the effects of TNF, which helps those with the aforementioned diseases because it reduces inflammation.
3. Discuss how the nervous system is intertwined with the immune system (including lymphatic organs), and the techniques that bioelectronics medicine is developing to control inflammatory diseases.
Both systems are connected by the brain; the brain uses nerve cells (nervous system) to send messages to the immune system to trigger an immune response. For example, the vagus nerve sends signals from the brain to the spleen. Along this path, action potentials move down the nerve to the abdomen, which terminates the nerve cells that send their fibers to the spleen. These fibers release a signaling molecule that binds to T lymphocytes. The signaling molecule then attaches receptors to the T cells which begin production of acetylcholine, which then attaches to macrophages, which produce TNF. The techniques being developed to control inflammatory diseases will most likely involve deciphering the electrical signals carried in nerves to diagnose and control inflammatory