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Side effects of Endorphins Natural Painkillers


stanleyg

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Endorphins are neurotransmitters found in the brain that have pain-relieving properties similar to morphine. There are three major types of endorphins: beta endorpins, found primarily in the pituitary gland; and enkephalins and dynorphin, both distributed throughout the nervous system. Endorphins interact with opiate receptor neurons to reduce the intensity of pain: among individuals afflicted with chronic pain disorders, endorphins are often found in high numbers. Many painkilling drugs, such as morphine and codeine, act like endorphins and actually activate opiate receptors. Besides behaving as a pain regulator, endorphins are also thought to be connected to physiological processes including euphoric feelings, appetite modulation, and the release of sex hormones. Prolonged, continuous exercise contributes to an increased production and release of endorphins, resulting in a sense of euphoria that has been popularly labeled “runner’s high.” Published quote from Columbia Encyclopedia.

 

I wish it were somehow possible for the Courts to allow neurologists to testify as expert witnesses in criminal proceedings about the side effects of endorphins affecting human emotions or behaviors. Often time’s jurors may not be able to rationalize how persons commit heinous crimes. The latter testimonies would better educate jurors to understand how individuals may be suffering from the side effects of their natural painkillers.

 

My belief is that medical science could have a tremendous impact on reforming our system of justice. Rather than incarcerating convicted felons in prisons, society may come to the point of committing persons in hospitals to recover from their emotional illnesses.

 

Of course I am just an old cranky fool. What I believe or say really doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

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The quote is definitely medical science, but the subject matter of the discussion is probably better suited for social sciences...

 

That said - do you believe that endorphins are the cause of some criminal activity? Perhaps that people get addicted to the "runner's high" involved with commiting a crime? I would think that a crime of passion (such as the consequences of walking in on your spouse and another man/woman/whatever) would be directly tied to the release of endorphins upon a person's behavior. I don't think a premeditated crime would be applicable to this line of thinking, simply because (chronic illness aside) high levels of endorphins are a temporary biological reaction to an immediate condition.

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it wasn't the devil... it was the blue dress she was wearing. :hihi:

 

i don't think this changes much in the way of legal defenses - overall, this is still a biological / chemical analysis of an inability to control one's temper: "I saw Betty-Jo with Hank, and I thinked - hey, she's my girl! An I got so dern ticked I couldn do much else but what I did... He had it comin, anyway."

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I subscribe to the notion that medical science offers the solution to all problems relatiing to human behaviors. The medical opinions of physicians outweigh the opinions of judges, lawyers or lay persons. Doctors pursue the course of reliieving all mankind from pain and suffering. I tend to follow their opinions as opposed to chasing the counter.

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Would you then assume that all human behavior considered to be criminal can be rehabilitated through medical treatment?

 

There is a thread (I believe in the social sciences area) about capitol punishment you might be interested in... If the medical opinions of physicians outweigh judges, lawyers or lay persons, then there should be no need for the legal system as a whole. That's an interesting thought. Is it beyond the realm of possibility that a doctor(s) could be wrong? Assuming that medical school might not provide the requisite skill set to conduct crime scene investigations, what would we do if nobody confessed to the crime? Perhaps the police would still handle that, but report to a board of doctors instead of the current system. Of course, the police may occassionally apprehend the wrong person; should this happen, and 'rehabilitation' begins on the 'criminal' - how do you reverse the medical changes you have made to the patient when it is discovered that his evil twin from Michigan (just an example - nothing wrong with people from Michigan) actually pulled the trigger.

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Something like this was done before...It was called eugenics. We have seen great strides in the medical comunity, as well as great blunders (electro-shock therapy). The idea of medically/surgically/chemically altering someone as a form of rehab could easily mis-used and applied in areas that the medical knowledge could still be lacking. Do we really know what a child raised on Ridlin or Prozac will turn out like in the long run? How about chemical castration, that's got to be good for you....

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i don't think this changes much in the way of legal defenses - overall, this is still a biological / chemical analysis of an inability to control one's temper: "I saw Betty-Jo with Hank, and I thinked - hey, she's my girl! An I got so dern ticked I couldn do much else but what I did... He had it comin, anyway."

 

Unfortunately, defenses like this can work - there is a well-known legal defense called the "Twinkie defense". I cannot cite the case, but a man was legally deemed temporarily insane, and given a lower sentance because he had consumed massive amount of sugar.

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Unfortunately, defenses like this can work - there is a well-known legal defense called the "Twinkie defense". I cannot cite the case, but a man was legally deemed temporarily insane, and given a lower sentance because he had consumed massive amount of sugar.
Supervisor Dan White murdered San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978 and made this one famous. Moscone Center in SF is named for George... Thanks to Twinkies, he only got 7 years in prison, but then thankfully did what the jury should have done in the first place and commited suicide a year after getting out...

 

Cheers,

Buffy

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...because the counselor was homosexual.
Even Dan White--although conservative by SF standards--wasn't homophobic. He was mainly after Moscone, because he resigned from the board then changed his mind by George wouldn't agree to go through the process of getting him reinstated. He had numerous political run ins with Milk and Carol Ruth Silver, and he claimed later he was also going to shoot her and Willie Brown too.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

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...just trying to remember what I had heard about it in a spoken word tour by Jello Biafra...

That's prolly the way that Jello would present it on a visit to Arlington Texas, just to razz the rednecks! He's quite the muckraker. No need to appologize, that's what we fact checkers are for...

 

Cheers,

Buffy

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  • 3 weeks later...
Unfortunately, defenses like this can work - there is a well-known legal defense called the "Twinkie defense". I cannot cite the case, but a man was legally deemed temporarily insane, and given a lower sentance because he had consumed massive amount of sugar.

 

Keep in mind that us homo sapiens are swimming in hormones (and autocoids) all of the time. If the "twinkie defense" were extrapolated to suggest that any variance in hormone homeostasis (in this case probably insulin and glucagon, but potentially including cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine) was a defense, we could probably all be characterized as certifiably nutty almost all of the time. Many hormones in pharmacologic doses cause extreme behavior (e.g., corticol, epinephrine, nor epinephrine, thyroid) and many other may cause physiologic changes that affect motor skills (acetylcholine.) And perhaps SOME of the brave among us might even suggest that female sex hormones affect behavior of some females on a regular schedule.

 

If female hormone variations become a successful criminal defense, we should expect to see a dramatic rise in life insurance rates for married males.

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  • 1 year later...

If female hormone variations become a successful criminal defense, we should expect to see a dramatic rise in life insurance rates for married males.

 

Of course you have heard the famous case of the Australian Man who died of PMT?

No?

Well, his wife shot him.

 

Seriously you do have a point about the link between the chemical soup we are swimming in and behaviour.

 

I had a friend who started to act strangely and drink heavily.

She was always thirsty and drank heaps of alcohol.

A couple of times she passed out.

We all thought she was becoming alcoholic.

She had a very high-powered management job.

She went for medical treatment and it was found she had a "benign" growth the size of a big plum on her pituitary.

 

They operated, (through the roof of her mouth! yuck!), she is fine now does not drink at all, has joined AA, and takes a pituitary supplement

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