Beta-Endorphin (or make your own opioids at home)

[tom67inMA]

With so much talk here on the forum about off-label drugs and supplements, I thought I would throw in another "miracle" substance you can make in your very own body. This is also a follow-on to a post of mine from a few months ago asking about how important rest was to fighting cancer, hoping to find a scientific basis for deciding how to balance exercise with rest:

healthunlocked.com/advanced...

I've since discovered beta-endorphin, which is an opioid produced by the body which reduces pain, improves mood, and best of all has anti-cancer actions:

"It is becoming increasingly clear that stressful life events can impact cancer growth and metastasis by modulating nervous, endocrine and immune systems. ... The opioid peptide beta-endorphin (BEP) plays a critical role in brining the stress axis to a state of homeostasis. ... The cancer preventive effect of BEP is mediated through the suppression of sympathetic neuronal function that results in an increased peripheral natural killer (NK) cell and macrophage activities, elevated levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines and reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines. BEP inhibition of tumor progression also involves alteration in the tumor microenvironment, possibly due to suppression of catecholamine and inflammatory cytokines production that are known to alter DNA repair, cell-matrix attachments, angiogenic process and epithelial-mesenchymal transition."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

I'm pretty sure that "stressful life events" include receiving a cancer diagnosis, frequent blood tests and body scans, and endless doctor appointments. The irony is that science seems to be figuring out the molecular mechanisms by which worrying about your cancer will make the cancer worse.

If only there was a way to fight stress and increase beta-endorphin production:

"Exercise-induced increases in the peripheral beta-endorphin concentration are mainly associated both with changes in pain perception and mood state and are possibly of importance in substrate metabolism. ... Published studies reveal that incremental graded and short term anaerobic exercise lead to an increase in beta-endorphin levels, the extent correlating with the lactate concentration. ... In endurance exercise performed at a steady-state between lactate production and elimination, blood beta-endorphin levels do not increase until exercise duration exceeds approximately 1 hour, with the increase being exponential thereafter. ... These results support a possible role of beta-endorphin in changes of mood state and pain perception during endurance sports."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/155...

While this specifically mentions endurance sports, weight lifting should produce a good amount of lactic acid and provide similar benefits.

Is this scientific proof that a positive attitude really does help? At the very least, it does seem to stay stop worrying and get out there and make some lactate, or at least go for a good long walk.

Submitted for your approval... because I'm an approval seeker

[pilot52]

I love it....WTF? Everyone get in the habit.....of taking one too two hours a day..split it up if necessary....now if you miss a day do not beat yourself up....good habits are like lazy ones...get into it and pow! You will feel better...While we lay on our asses and worry this sh-- is loving it....quit making excuses....wow I am tired think I will take a nap I have been up two hours and I have cancer.....Blue Skies Grounded Sky King...

[Ldb01 in reply to pilot52]

My hubby is a retired Captain. Airline medicals missed his PSA rise in 2015....

[pilot52 in reply to Ldb01]

The actual AME medical would not check for PSA. Eye sight , color blindness which is sort of redundant , urine , BP, EKG , test to see if you are hearing deficient . They will listen to your lungs that's about it...Class 1 is every 6 months ..No blood work is done. Any blood work would be done on a yearly physical....they could have missed it...Blue Skies

[tom67inMA in reply to pilot52]

Hmm... interesting reply. Sometimes I do catch myself worrying about how much I worry.

I did check your profile and you seem to be doing a great job staying active.

[j-o-h-n]

to TOM,

I get all of my lactate production and elimination, and my blood beta-endorphin levels increase whenever I read your posts over and over for an hour.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 06/09/2019 10:07 PM DST

[tom67inMA in reply to j-o-h-n]

Thanks, I think. There hasn't been much feedback on this post but what there has been is very... interesting.

Anyhoo, I honestly do appreciate your efforts to turn most things into a joke. Here's a bonus link, just for you:

scientificamerican.com/arti...

[j-o-h-n in reply to tom67inMA]

Thank you.

Why laughter releases endorphins

Across all tests, the participants' ability to tolerate pain jumped after laughing. On average, watching about 15 minutes of comedy in a group increased pain threshold by 10 percent. Participants tested alone showed slightly smaller increases in their pain threshold.

I used to piss in my pants from laughter.... now with Pca I just piss in my pants...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 06/10/2019 1:00 PM DST