Obesity is no longer considered to be an oddity. This is because the numbers of obese people are increasing all the time. At this rate, if you are a slim person on the road, people might stop and stare at you. Plenty of research is being concentrated on the problem of obesity and different approaches are being tried. All human beings possess some amount of brown fat cells. The difference between the brown fat cells and the white fat cells lies in the way they react to calories being supplied. The white fat cells tend to store calories as fat while the brown fat cells tend to burn calories to produce energy. This is precisely why the brown fat cells are well endowed with blood vessels and mitochondria. One of the reasons for the onset of obesity is orexin deficiency.
Orexin Activates the Brown Fat Cells
Orexin is a neuropeptide secreted from the brain. Actually, there are two orexins – orexin A and orexin B. Orexin A is believed to be more important as a hormone. Most of the attempts at reducing obesity have concentrated on altering the lifestyles including more physical activity and consuming healthy diets. The role of orexin in controlling obesity has raised the possibility of using orexin to treat obesity. One of the ways by which orexin reduces obesity is by its ability to activate the functioning of the brown fat cells.
Hormonal Control of Sleep
Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder. People affected by this disorder are having excessive sleepiness, but this sleepiness shows abnormal night time sleep and equally abnormal day time sleepiness. The phenomenon of sleep is basically under the control of two hormones. As with other physiological processes, sleep is also under the control of a homeostatic mechanism. The two hormones concerned with this homeostasis are melatonin and orexin. Both these hormones are secreted from the brain.
Orexin to Treat Narcolepsy
Melatonin has been called the hormone of darkness. This is because light inhibits the secretion of this hormone and also because the secretion of this hormone reaches a peak at midnight. Melatonin promotes sleep and this precisely why it is recommended that people should sleep with the bedroom lights switched off. Orexin, on the other hand, promotes wakefulness. People, who are sleep deprived, feel drowsy and to cope with their activities, resort to the use of stimulants like caffeine. Excessive use of caffeine can have deleterious consequences. It has been suggested that orexin, the hormone which promotes wakefulness, may be used to promote alertness in sleepy individuals. To make the administration of orexin easy, it is proposed to introduce orexin into the body in the form of nasal spray. Such a nasal spray would come in handy for individuals who want to drive after a night of disturbed sleep. One of the solutions suggested for the treatment of narcolepsy is the use of orexin.
Sources
- Sakurai T, Orexin and orexin receptors: implication in feeding behavior, Regul. Pept., 1999, 85(1):25-30
- Ohno K, sakurai T, Orexin neuronal circuitry: role in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, J. Neurophysiol., 2008, 29(1):70-87
- De la Herran-Arita AK, Guerra-Crespo M, Drucker-Colin R, narcolepsy and orexins: an example of progress in sleep research, Front. Neurol., 2011, 2:26
Disclaimer
The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis, or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or, her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Vangeepuram Satakopan - I am using my 32 years' experience in the field of BIochemistry to explain health related topics. Dr.Vangeepuram Satakopan
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