Alexis
Petnuch
University
of California – Los Angeles. "Is This Peptide a Key to Happiness? Findings
Suggests Possible New Treatment for Depression, Other Disorders." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 07 Mar. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307145720.htm>.
Recently, studies have shown that
the release of the peptide called hypocretin, increased when subjects were
happy and decreased when they were sad. The study also measured the release of
the peptide, melanin concentrating hormone and found that it was released in
small amounts upon waking, but increased during sleep. The information
collected from the studies explained the sleepiness of narcolepsy, (a sleep
disorder causing excessive sleepiness and sudden daytime sleep attacks) and the
depression that very often goes along with the disorder. Jerome Siegel, a
professor at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and
his team published findings showing that narcoleptics had 95% fewer hypocretin
nerve cells in their brains than those who did not have the disorder. Because
narcoleptics often experience depression, Siegel’s lab studied the possibility
of hypocretin and its link to depression.
In a current study, researches
received their data on hypocretin and melanin concentrating hormone from the
brains of 8 patients treated at the UCLA Medical Center for intractable
epilepsy. The releases of hypocretin and the melanin concentrating hormone were
measured during activities like watching television, eating, and talking to
doctors. Upon waking every hour, patients’ moods were charted. The study showed
that hypocretin levels were highest during positive emotions, anger, social
interactions, and awakening and melanin concentrating hormones were highest
during sleep onset and minimal during social interactions.
The results of these studies showed
that the release of these peptides can increase sleep and happiness in
individuals. Several drug companies are now working on using hypocretin for use
in sleeping pills. It is believed that the use of hypocretin will elevate mood
and alertness in humans.
I think that article was interesting
and showed a possible new drug that can be used in treating a disorder that
effects many people all over the world, depression. The article gave a lot of
information on studies being conducted, but it was a little confusing as to who
was conducting the study. The article bounced back and forth between comments
from Dr. Siegel and studies conducted on how the peptides may play a role in
narcolepsy and depression; it was just a little confusing at some points.
Marika Chrisanthopoulos
ReplyDeleteAP Biology Review #14
March 11, 2013
Comment on Alexis Petnuch’s Review of "Is This Peptide a Key to Happiness? Findings Suggests Possible New Treatment for Depression, Other Disorders” from ScienceDaily
In her review of the article presented in ScienceDaily, Alexis detailed a new study that showed that the release of the peptide hypocretin, which was increased when subjects were happy, was also increased when they were sad. The study also measure the release of the peptide melanin concentrating hormone and found that it was released in small amounts when the subjects were awake, but the frequency and amount it was released when the subjects were sleeping increased as well. This information was used to determine and explain the sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, which is a sleep disorder causing excessive sleepiness and sudden daytime sleep attacks, and the depression that is quite often found among patients with the disorder. A professor at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior named Jerome Siegel and his team published their findings from the study; these results included and showed that narcoleptics have 95% fewer hypocretin nerve cells in their brains than those that do not have the disorder, and since narcoleptics often experience the depression, Siegel and his team also hypothesized that hypocretin amounts can be linked to depression. In another study that is currently going on, 8 patients that were treated for intractable epilepsy are being studied; the releases of hypocretin and the melanin concentrating hormone were measure during activities one may perform during the day, as well as when they slept. The study found that hypocretin levels were highest when the patients experienced positive emotions, anger, or were involved in social interactions, while the melanin concentrating hormones were highest during sleep and minimal during social interactions. The results show that the release of these peptides can increase sleep and happiness in individuals; several drug companies are currently working on using hypocretin in sleeping pills to elevate mood and alertness.
One thing that Alexis did well in her article is that she thoroughly described the studies and made it easy to understand; I fully grasped the concept and the study described in the article upon reading her review. Another thing she did well was relate the findings in the study to a common disease that affects a large population of the world today; depression, and how new drugs containing this peptide may be able to help people experiencing the symptoms. Another aspect she did well was critique the article; she focused on how “the article bounced back and forth between comments,” and how this made it a bit confusing for her to fully understand what was going on. To improve her review, Alexis could have provided further information about the drugs that are being created today, and more about how they will affect people in the future. For instance, where are these drugs being created? Who will be able to obtain them, and will they be available by prescription only or over the counter? Another way Alexis could have improved her review was by adding some numerical statistics, if possible. It would have been interesting to see exactly by how much the percentages of the levels of the peptides were different when the patients performed such activities. I learned that depression is a disease that can be triggered by other disorders; for example, narcolepsy, and that it is not only a disease that inflicts the mind emotionally, but it is caused by physical absences of certain chemicals and hormones in the body. I hope that in the future, these drugs will be developed and will have positive effects on all those that consider taking them to lessen their symptoms.
I read Alexis’ review of the article “Is This Peptide a Key to Happiness? Findings Suggests Possible New Treatment for Depression, Other Disorders”. Alexis did a great job summarizing the article. She included all of the major points about the study’s findings. She explained the different disorders and how the study was conducted. Alexis also did a nice critique of the article. I agree that the author “bounced back and forth between comments from Dr. Siegel and studies conducted”. Because the author did this it was sometimes hard to follow the article. A third and final aspect of Alexis’ review that was particularly well done was her inclusion of important names, places, and disorders. This added credibility to her review because she cited specific things.
ReplyDeleteWhile Alexis did a great job on her review there were some areas of improvement. For example, she barely mentioned the implications of the article. She stated that the study could help people with depression. But it would have been interesting to know who would be able to receive this treatment and how. In addition, Alexis could have added more information about depression. Such as, “Depression is the leading cause of psychiatric disability in the U.S, Siegel noted. More than 6 percent of the population is affected each year, with lifetime prevalence exceeding 15 percent.”
I learned many interesting things from reading this article. I did not know that new information was found that could help people with depression. A large amount of people suffer from depression so it would be nice if there was a very helpful treatment option for them.