On the Road in Edinburgh, Part II

Great to see you at the session on improving communication between doctors and patients in Edinburgh. Patient/user Michael Grinter's tale of woe is familiar but things like self-management, run by users for users, give hope. ********************************************************* Hi, Stewart. It was great to be in Edinburgh, and I was very glad to meet you there. I'm just writing up a more complete account - which includes Michael's moving talk - for my email newsletter, McMan's Depression and Bipolar Weekly. You can subscribe going to my website at www.mcmanweb.com. John

Hi John. Wow. Wish I could have gone to Edingurgh. I love that place. When I was there I had to walk in a drizzle but I did not feel chilled nor get sick. Strange. A little blurb on Dopamine as a drug. It occurs naturally in the CNS where it functions as neurotransmitter as well as adrenal medulla. In lower doses it stimulates cardiac receptors whereas at higher doses it can cause vasoconstriction. Dopamine is drug of choice for shock. Dopamine is readily metabolized so that its side effects (nausea, hypertension, arrhytmias) are short lived. One of the receptors for dopamine, when activated, will interfere with release of norepinephrine, which John was talking about in his blog. Technically, dopamine is characterized as an indirectly acting drug on the nervous system and adrenal medulla. ******************************************** Hi, Connie. Many thanks for the info. In my email Newsletter, I awarded dopamine "Neurotransmitter of the Year." I'll definitely have to do a blog on the topic. John