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WORDSANDME.ORG |
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Information = Self Help = Empowerment |
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The Oracle |
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I’ve been doing some very interesting reading on the enteric nervous system.
[Scientists say] that the body has two brains--the familiar one encased in the skull and a lesser known but vitally important one found in the human gut....The gut's brain, known as the enteric nervous system, is located in sheaths of tissue lining the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon. Considered a single entity, it is a network of neurons, neurotransmitters and proteins that zip messages between neurons, support cells like those found in the brain proper and a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember, and as the saying goes, produce gut feelings and ‘butterflies in the stomach’. Apparently it contains more nerve cells than the spinal cord and more neurons than all the rest of the peripheral nervous system with over 100 million nerve cells in the human small intestine alone. Impressive!
The gut is, in fact, a major immune organ, containing more immune cells than the rest of the body combined, and the enteric nervous system interacts intimately with the immune system and affects mood and behaviour by signalling the central nervous system.
The enteric nervous system is responsible for gut motility muscle function. It also processes all of our emotions,
There’s not much difference between the two nervous systems. Both brains originated during foetal development. One section turned into the central nervous system, essentially the cerebral brain and the spinal cord, and the other developed into the enteric nervous system, or the brain in your gut.
The similarities between the nervous system in our head and the one in our gut make them both vulnerable to the same illnesses; e.g. in both Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, the degenerative processes found in the head brain are also found in the gut brain. It’s been found that sufferers of both diseases suffer from constipation because the nerves in their gut are as sick as the nerves in their heads. Malfunctions of this ‘gut brain’ may be involved in irritable bowel syndrome.
It’s been found that both brains influence sleep patterns. During the night an empty gut brain produces 90 minute cycles of slow wave muscle contractions punctuated by short bursts of rapid muscle movements, and the two brains may influence each other in this state. People with bowel problems have been shown to have abnormal REM sleep.
The enteric nervous system is the internal processor of our emotions. When the brain signals danger, gut cells release histamine into the gut to help protect it from danger (evolution). But this inflammatory reaction can get out of whack and do damage such as irritable colon, and ulcerative colitis, not to mention a stressed immune system.
Emotional repression has been linked to gut infective disorders. As emotional repression becomes habitual, its impact shows in the body. Chronic held emotions are locked into the body, and over time disrupt normal functions. As these things become habituated, the nervous system interprets these chronic holding patterns and responds by creating tightness and tension in the musculoskeletal system. Because these defensive responses have been interpreted as necessary for survival, the physical changes can be difficult to release and can lead to numerous woes including immune and digestive system problems.
So, how does this all tie in with M.E./CFS/FM/PVFS?
The World Health Organisation and much of modern medicine consider M.E. a neurological illness because the neurological conditions are extensive. Also in M.E., stomach and bowel problems are rife; immune dysfunction is chronic (remember the gut brain has more immune cells than the rest of the body combined) and sleep disorders are common.
The gut is our powerhouse and a gut brain out of whack is M.E./CFS/FM/PVFS just waiting to happen. I know, it happened to me! Learn more……. See it all in action….
Click here to visit ….. down in the bowels of M.E. ….
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