"F. Frank LeFever" wrote:
> If you know better newsgroups to send this query to, please tell me.
> Although the quality of postings in a couple of these I'm posting to
> now has deteriorated badly in recent weeks (months?), truly
> knowledgeable people have in the past offered good information and
> expert opinion, and they may still be lurking in the wings.
>> Like many other animals, humans are said to gain weight in the winter,
> lose it in the summer.
>> Does anybody out there know of systematic, quantitative studies of
> seasonal weight changes in humans?
>> If broken down by age, sex, etc., it would be nice; but even some grand
> "average" of winter vs. summer weights would be helpful.
>> Too much to ask for, but I'll ask anyway: besides AMOUNT of winter
> weight gain, any good data on nature of weight gain, i.e. winter vs.
> summer body composition, fat or muscle vs. water retention, etc.??
>> F. Frank LeFever, Ph.D.
> New York Neuropsychology Group
Dear Frank,
The NGroups aren't what they used to be when we were young:-)
I may be stating the obvious, so I will be brief. SADS (winter depression),
weight gain at time of PMS, evening fatigue, and the increase of pain when
the clouds block the sun arise from a simple teleologically logical origin.
The decrease of photons hitting the retina at such times permit the
increase of melatonin. Melatonin being a dopamine antagonist, when thereby
increased, suppresses dopamine. The decrease of dopamine causes dysphoric
symptoms including increased hunger, depression, and even suppression of
TH1 cytokines.
With the decrease of dopamine, serotonin comes to the foreground. Serotonin
relative excess leads to increased edema.
The phenotypic expression of these variables depends on the genotype and
the environment.
References or discussion anytime. Just remember, it is DA deficiency,
relative to serotonin, that is the underpinnings of depression and fatigue
and somatic as well as neuropathic pain.
Please consider looking at www.phen4.com, especially the article to
Harvard.
Pietr Hitzig, MD
--
<html>
<font color="#0000FF">Pietr Hitzig, M.D.</font> <br>
<font color="#FF0000"><b>4863 Bella Pacific Row, Suite 147<br>
</font></b>San Diego, California, 92109-8511<br>
<a href="http://www.phen4.com/" eudora="autourl">www.phen4.com</a><br>
PietrHitzig at PHEN4.COM<br>
619.274.5910<br>
<br>
</html>