Is Excess Brain Histamine The Cause of Your Symptoms?
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, Dr. Hagmire explores the complex role of histamine in the brain, beyond its well-known connection to allergic reactions. Histamine acts as a neurotransmitter affecting sleep, mood, stress response, appetite, and even pain perception. The video highlights how excess brain histamine can lead to issues like insomnia, brain fog, and chronic pain, while also impacting mental health conditions like anxiety and ADHD. Dr. Hagmire emphasizes the importance of balancing histamine levels and offers insights into managing histamine-related symptoms effectively.
Takeaways
- 🔬 Histamine is a signaling molecule that communicates between cells in the immune system, skin, gut, and brain.
- 🧠 In the brain, histamine acts as a neurotransmitter and influences motivation, memory, mood, appetite, and sleep.
- ⚡ Histamine can impact mental health by affecting neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and glutamate.
- 😴 Too much or too little histamine can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle, potentially causing insomnia, narcolepsy, or brain fog.
- 💥 Excess histamine in the brain can cause pain sensitivity, especially in conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and neuropathy.
- 🧬 Enzymes like hnmt and maob are responsible for breaking down histamine in the brain, and problems with these enzymes can lead to excess histamine.
- 🍽️ Histamine suppresses appetite, but antihistamines can increase hunger, potentially leading to overeating and weight gain.
- 🔒 Histamine affects the blood-brain barrier, which, when compromised, can lead to various neurological disorders like epilepsy, MS, and strokes.
- ⚖️ Histamine balance is crucial for overall brain function; both excess and deficiency can lead to various issues such as mental fatigue, stress, and poor concentration.
- 📈 Histamine plays a role in addictive behaviors by influencing the dopamine system, which affects reward and pleasure pathways.
Q & A
What is histamine and what role does it play in the body?
-Histamine is a signaling molecule that helps different cells communicate. It is released by the immune system and has multiple functions, including regulating allergic reactions, sleep, mood, and how the body adapts to stress.
How does histamine affect the brain?
-Histamine in the brain functions as a neurotransmitter, affecting areas such as motivation, memory, mood, appetite, and even blood flow. It plays a crucial role in maintaining the blood-brain barrier and can impact neurological conditions like strokes, epilepsy, and MS.
What are the four types of histamine receptors, and how do they differ?
-The four types of histamine receptors are H1, H2, H3, and H4. Different tissues in the body have varying receptors, and histamine's effect depends on which receptor it binds to. For example, in the brain, histamine can affect sleep, appetite, mood, and pain perception based on the receptor type.
How can too much histamine in the brain affect health?
-Excess histamine in the brain can cause problems such as brain fog, difficulty concentrating, mental fatigue, chronic pain, anxiety, and even sleep disorders like insomnia or narcolepsy. It can also impact neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate, leading to various mental health issues.
What enzymes are involved in breaking down histamine in the brain?
-The enzymes responsible for breaking down histamine in the brain are HNMT (histamine-N-methyltransferase) and MAO-B (monoamine oxidase B). These enzymes differ from those that break down histamine in other parts of the body, like the DAO enzyme in the gut.
What impact does histamine have on sleep?
-Histamine plays a crucial role in the sleep-wake cycle. It helps keep the brain alert and awake. Excess histamine can lead to sleep disturbances, such as insomnia or narcolepsy, while low histamine levels can cause sleeping disorders.
How does histamine affect pain perception?
-Histamine can increase the firing rates of nerves, leading to pain hypersensitivity. This can contribute to conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic inflammatory response syndrome, or neuropathy. The H3 histamine receptor is particularly involved in pain transmission.
How do antihistamines work, and what are their limitations?
-Antihistamines block histamine from binding to its receptors, reducing symptoms like allergies and drowsiness. However, they do not reduce histamine production or break it down faster, and may have side effects such as increased appetite, weight gain, or fatigue.
Can histamine affect addictive behaviors?
-Yes, histamine can influence the dopamine system, which is linked to pleasure and reward. Changes in histamine levels can either stimulate or inhibit dopamine activity, affecting behaviors related to addiction, such as alcohol or drug use.
What is the connection between histamine and mental health disorders?
-Histamine can influence mental health by affecting neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and glutamate. Imbalances in histamine can lead to conditions such as anxiety, ADHD, depression, OCD, and other mental health disorders.
Outlines
💬 The Role of Histamine in the Body and Brain
Histamine is a crucial signaling molecule in the body, facilitating communication between different cells. Most people associate histamine with allergic reactions like itchy eyes, runny nose, and hives. However, it plays a much larger role, especially in the brain. There are four known histamine receptors (H1, H2, H3, and H4), and each impacts various tissues differently. In the brain, histamine can influence motivation, memory, mood, and appetite. This video explores the wide-ranging effects of histamine, particularly in the brain, and how excess histamine can lead to several problems.
🧠 Histamine's Impact on Sleep and Brain Function
Histamine neurons are located in the hypothalamus and help regulate the sleep-wake cycle. High levels of brain histamine can lead to insomnia, narcolepsy, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Mental fatigue and brain fog can also be symptoms of excess histamine. Antihistamines can block histamine receptors but don’t reduce histamine production, leading to side effects like sleepiness and difficulty concentrating. Histamine also plays a role in how we perceive pain, and excessive histamine can heighten sensitivity to pain, contributing to conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndromes.
⚖️ Histamine and Mental Health
Histamine imbalances in the brain can contribute to mental health disorders like ADHD, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Histamine’s role in stimulating neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and glutamate makes it a key player in mood regulation. Too much histamine can lead to a range of symptoms, including Restless Mind Syndrome and OCD-like behaviors. Additionally, histamine has been linked to addictive behaviors by either stimulating or inhibiting the dopamine system, which plays a major role in reward and pleasure.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Histamine
💡Histamine receptors (H1, H2, H3, H4)
💡Brain fog
💡Neurotransmitters
💡Blood-brain barrier
💡DAO enzyme
💡Histamine intolerance
💡Leptin
💡Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)
💡Antihistamines
Highlights
Histamine is a signaling chemical released by the immune system and can communicate between different cells.
Histamine has a wide-ranging effect beyond allergic reactions, influencing sleep, mood, and brain function.
Excess histamine in the brain can affect motivation, memory, mood, and appetite, contributing to brain fog and mental fatigue.
There are four types of histamine receptors (H1, H2, H3, H4), and histamine's effects vary depending on which receptor it binds to.
Histamine neurons in the brain originate from the hypothalamus and play a critical role in the sleep-wake cycle.
Excess brain histamine can contribute to neurological disorders like narcolepsy, causing sleep instability.
Mental health issues like ADHD, depression, and anxiety can be influenced by histamine through its impact on neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
Histamine in the brain can alter blood flow, impact the blood-brain barrier, and cause nerve cell damage.
Histamine can inhibit serotonin release and regulate brain activity, affecting mood and stress response.
Histamine can stimulate or inhibit dopamine, which is crucial in behaviors related to pleasure and reward, such as addiction.
Taking antihistamines may lead to side effects like weight gain, increased appetite, and changes in taste perception.
Histamine affects pain perception, contributing to conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndromes through increased nerve firing rates.
Histamine can influence hunger and appetite through its interactions with leptin, contributing to overeating and unhealthy eating behaviors.
Excess histamine in the brain can exacerbate conditions like MS, epilepsy, and inflammatory diseases by breaking down the blood-brain barrier.
Balancing histamine in the brain is complex, and addressing excess brain histamine requires different treatment strategies than those used for histamine elsewhere in the body.
Transcripts
foreign
is a signaling chemical that your immune
system releases to send messages back
and forth between different cells
essentially histamine is how certain
cells will talk or communicate with one
another and so while you may be aware of
histamine in relationship to allergic
reactions like those itchy eyes the
runny nose the scratchy throat and those
red blotchy hives that you see on your
skin histamine does so much more than
that and that's we're going to talk
about today histamine has a powerful
effect on sleep how your body adapts to
stress your mood and then today I'm
going to be talking about how excess
histamine causes problems specifically
in the brain now when it comes to
histamine there are four known histamine
receptors H1 H2 H3 and H4 now the reason
why I tell you this is that different
tissues have different histamine
receptors and depending on what
histamine receptor histamine actually
binds to it's going to determine what
happens in that particular tissue so for
example when it comes to the brain
like I said the brain has all four
histamine receptors this means that
histamine can have a wide ranging effect
in different parts of the brain
depending on where that histamine binds
to now in the same way that histamine
can affect your skin causing hives and
your eyes causing them to water
histamine in the brain can impact things
like motivation memory mood and even
your appetite well hey there I'm Dr
hagmire and today I've had a great video
for you in today's video we're going to
be talking about and helping you
understand a little bit more about the
effects that histamine has on your brain
and the symptoms that one may experience
when too much histamine is present in
the brain now today's video is obviously
going to be a little bit different from
past videos that I've done on MCAS and
histamine intolerance and there's a good
chance that if you stumbled on this
video then you or a loved one is really
suffering with several problems that I'm
going to be talking about in this
particular video so when it comes to
histamine excess and your brain be sure
that you watch this video all the way to
the very end now one thing I want to be
clear on is that histamine is not a bad
thing while most of what bloggers and
health enthusiasts and nutritionists and
doctors are really writing about these
days seems to be about histamine
intolerance and just how bad histamine
is I want to make the case that not
that's not entirely the whole story okay
as an example when somebody has low
histamine
they may have problems with sleeping
they have sleeping disorders they could
have abdominal pain or bloating they
could have seizures they could have
ticks but having too much histamine and
not having the ability to break it down
now that's a bad thing but I hope by the
end of this video you're going to think
about histamine a bit differently now as
I mentioned uh histamine is a signaling
molecule right in the gut in the skin
the immune system but in the brain and
the nerve system histamine is actually a
neurotransmitter if you've ever heard of
like a leaky gut well too much histamine
can actually cause a leaky brain and it
can cause nerve cell death and it can
cause areas of the brain that play a
role in appetite and temperature and
Regulation
and hunger and thirst and a lot of other
different things neuronal histamine or
histamine in the brain can really do
things like alter blood flow in the
blood vessels of the brain of course so
this can lead to changes in the
blood-brain barrier and that blood-brain
barrier acts as a physical barrier it's
also anabolic barrier and here's why
this may be important for you or even a
loved one is if you've been suffering
with the residual effects of a stroke or
you have seizures or you have epilepsy
or you have MS or some other
demyelinating inflammatory disease that
affects the central nervous system
histamine most likely is a part of this
histamine can break down the blood-brain
barrier and that can cause problems
and many more things that I'm going to
be talking about in today's video
histamine can inhibit the release of
serotonin in fact in the brain histamine
has been suggested to be a regulator of
whole brain activity and so in today's
video I'm going to break it down on how
these things can be affecting you or
your loved ones now unlike some of the
past videos where I've spoken about
histamine intolerance you may have
watched those I talked a lot about this
Dao enzyme again that Dao enzyme is the
enzyme that actually degrades or breaks
down histamine in the gut but when we
talk about histamine in the brain
there's actually two other enzymes that
you really should be aware of one is the
hnmt enzyme and the other is maob now
problems with these enzymes are in part
responsible for the symptoms we're going
to be talking about throughout this
video now here's the thing problems with
either of these can lead to excess
histamine in the brain and the reason I
tell you that is is this
you can't treat excess histamine in the
brain the same way you would treat
excess histamine in other parts of the
body because the enzymes are different
and they have different requirements so
I just want you to be aware of that and
with that said let's jump into some of
the problems with excess brain histamine
and how this might be causing some of
the symptoms that you or loved one is
suffering with okay so in the brain
histamine neurons originate only in the
hypothalamus and they're thought to play
an important role in the sleep wake
cycle and sleep State stability now in
other words histamine keeps the mind in
awakened or Alert state you may
recognize this as insomnia or even
something known by the name of
narcolepsy right narcolepsy is a chronic
neurological disorder that involves a
decreased ability to regulate the sleep
wake Cycles symptoms often include
periods of excessive daytime sleepiness
and brief involuntary sleep episode
where you're just falling asleep now
about 70 percent of those affected in
individuals also experience episodes of
muscle loss excess brain histamine can
certainly be a culprit now many people
these days struggle with brain fog and
mental fatigue now here again histamine
can be a problem when histamine
receptors are blocked as in the case of
someone taking antihistamines or in the
case of Excess histamine where it's not
being properly broken down by those
enzymes that I mentioned just a moment
ago we get this flooding of histamine in
our brains this again leads to mental
fatigue brain fog trouble focusing and
concentrating think about it this way
have you ever took an antihistamine like
Benadryl how do you typically feel after
you took it right did it make you sleepy
did it make you drowsy how did it affect
the way you thought and how you were
thinking did your heart begin to race
did you experience dizziness did you
have headaches or ringing in the ears
again these are all common side effects
of antihistamines now remember
antihistamines are only blocking how
histamine binds and attaches to The
receptors it's not reducing the
production of histamine and it's not
breaking down histamine faster it's just
blocking it from binding to the receptor
antihistamines while incredibly helpful
to managing some of the symptoms they
still fail to address the root cause now
another area that we see histamine
affecting is our ability to perceive
pain are you someone who struggles with
chronic pain maybe you have fibromyalgia
or serves chronic inflammatory response
syndrome well mold exposure can trigger
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and in the
peripheral nerve system histamine is
released in response to tissue injury
and inflammation and tissue of course
tissue damage now the nerve system when
you have too much histamine it can lead
to increased firing rates of these
nerves and what that means is that it
can generate pain and pain
hypersensitivity so think about it like
this many people who suffer with
neuropathy or fibromyalgia or chronic
pain syndromes they may be affected by
this now remember what I said there are
four kinds of histamine receptors H1 two
three and four in the brain H3 receptors
can affect how pain is being transmitted
having too much or too little histamine
in your brain you may end up perceiving
pain much stronger than you would under
normal circumstances but that's not all
those H3 receptors are involved in those
H3 receptors are involved in mental
health problems like ADHD depression
anxiety panic attacks now the reason we
see this connection between histamine
and mental health problems has to do
with both the inflammatory effects that
histamine has on the brain the impact it
has on the blood-brain barrier and its
effects on the release of other
neurotransmitters in the brain you see
histamine stimulates serotonin it
stimulates norepinephrine dopamine
glutamate Transmission in the brain we
all know that too much glutamate in the
brain is why many people struggle with
anxiety or a Restless mind or constant
worry or OCD or disorganized thoughts to
the name just a few now I hope by now
you're starting to appreciate just how
important histamine balance is in the
brain and just how widespread the
effects that histamine can really be
when things get off kilter but what if I
told you that histamine has also been
shown to play a role in addictive
behaviors like alcohol and drug use
right well you see it turns out that
histamine can either stimulate or
inhibit the dopamine system well why is
that important well dopamine is one of
the neurotransmitters that's typically
associated with pleasure and and reward
and we continue to do things that
obviously make us feel good and we avoid
the things that make us feel bad or hurt
us well that's dopamine and if you have
MCAS or histamine intolerance
Mast Cell Activation disorder and your
doctor or your specialist has you on
antihistamines like Benadryl or Allegra
or Zyrtec or Claritin or some other
prescribed medication ask yourself have
you gained weight have you noticed
changes in how food tastes are you
hungry more than usual well if you said
yes to any of these questions here's why
it turns out that histamine in the brain
puts the brakes on our hunger drive it
suppresses appetite and again when you
take an antihistamine it often increases
our appetite and this can lead to
obviously overeating and finally the end
result weight came but that's not the
only way histamine can affect hunger
histamine affects our leptin levels now
leptin is another hormone that I've
spoken about it's a hormone that
actually suppresses appetite and hunger
and so when someone becomes leptin
resistant it can increase binge eating
it can increase emotional eating or
unhealthy snacking and again promote bad
eating habits now I'll bet if you're
still with me that you never thought
that histamine as it relates to all of
these areas of the brain would be
affected so here are some fine thoughts
and things that I really just want you
to remember about histamine and the
Brain the obvious set is that it's now
apparent more than ever that too much
histamine in the brain really can be
very very damaging and while our brain
really depends on histamine too much of
it or too little can really have
terrible consequences histamine can lead
to poor sleep it can lead to increased
stress response increased pain
perception it can increase brain fog and
focus it can compromise other
neurotransmitters like serotonin and
dopamine and norepinephrine and
glutamate it can feed into unhealthy
feeding behaviors increase weight
addictive behaviors poor memory low
motivation and so there's still a lot we
don't know about the role that histamine
plays in our body and there really is no
simple solution to fixing it but I get
calls every single day from people who
are following a low histamine diet
they're taking supplements for histamine
intolerance feeling so discouraged and
if that's you don't feel discouraged
just understand that there's a lot of
pieces to the histamine puzzle it's so
much more than just following a low
histamine diet and taking a few
supplements to try to break down
histamine faster and again this is
especially true when you're dealing with
the brain and the mental aspects of
excess histamine well there you go if
you have questions feel free to drop
those in the comment section below if
you learned something new tell me what
you learned right I've got a lot of
other great videos on this channel and
on my website about histamine that I
think you'll enjoy reading or watching
and if you've been dealing with the
symptoms of histamine intolerance or
excess brain histamine and you feel like
you've hit a brick wall I invite you to
visit my website learn a little bit more
about how I work with patients and
lastly if you like today's video here's
another video that I did on histamine
intolerance that I think you might find
interesting as well
foreign
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
HISTAMINE AND MIGRAINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Type I hypersensitivity (IgE-mediated hypersensitivity) - causes, symptoms, pathology
Hypersensitivity Type I |Simplified Explanation|Immunology|Allergy|Immune System|IgE Antibody|
Say GOODBYE To BRAIN-FOG - Dr. Anderson's Tips for Healing the BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER
How stress affects your brain - Madhumita Murgia
SCALP FIBROSIS: Mast Cells, Activators & Solutions
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)