Define sympathetic nervous system (SNS)

[ChristianBBer]

I looked in Wikapedia, I looked on Google, and for the life of me I still can't understand what it is. Can someone please put it in lamense terms. Thanks

I know people with a nartual inclination of an overactice SNS are people who's parasympatheitc nervous syetm are very effiecient at burning calories, with a low insulin level, But what does SNS mean ?

[pu12en12g]

I looked in Wikapedia, I looked on Google, and for the life of me I still can't understand what it is. Can someone please put it in lamense terms. Thanks

I know people with a nartual inclination of an overactice SNS are people who's parasympatheitc nervous syetm are very effiecient at burning calories, with a low insulin level, But what does SNS mean ?

Some quick ones that might help:

reduced sympathetic activity and blunted thermogenic responses have been found to be a MAJOR factor in EVERY type of obesity that scientists have studied.

in addition to subnormal noradrenaline release by the nerve endings of the sympathetic nervous system, obese people also release insufficient adrenaline from the adrenal medulla

ephedrine exerts its thermogenic effect almost entirely via stimulating noradrenaline release from the sympathetic nerve terminals [endings]

By 1986, after decades of animal research, Dulloo and Miller had clearly established that obese humans suffered from a noradrenaline deficiency that could be corrected by the ephedrine/caffeine combination:

"It would seem that a deficiency of NA [noradrenaline] due to reduced SNS [sympathetic nervous system] activity, rather than an insensitivity to NA, is primarily responsible for the apparently higher efficiency of energy utilization in the obese or post-obese. The present study shows that this situation may be relieved by sympathomimetic drugs like the ephedrine methylxanthines [caffeine] preparation which normalizes their subnormal thermogenic response to food . . . Such ephedrine/methylxanthine preparations could be useful as aids in the treatment of obesity"

[Eightpak]

The sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system are parts of what is commonly called the autonomic nervous system. (Autonomic = can not be controlled by the mind). You can say that these systems work in balance with each other and directly or indirectly affect almost every structure in the body (e.g. heartfrequence, heartcapacity, lumbar function, kidneys, blood vessels, stomach and intestines)

The sympathetic nervous system has an active "pushing" function, the parasympathetic has mainly a relaxing function.

The sympathetic nervous system is located to the sympathetic chain, which connects to skin, blood vessels and organs in the body cavity. The sympathetic chain is located on both sides of the spine and consists of ganglias.

The autonomic nervous system is most important in two situations: emergency situations that cause stress and require us to "fight" or take "flight", and nonemergency situations that allow us to "rest" and "digest". The autonomic nervous system also acts in "normal" situations to maintain normal internal functions and works with the ****tic nervous system. When the body reacts to signals about e.g. danger it is the sympathetic ganglia that makes

The lungs and the bronchial tubes are widend to give us more oxygen.
The motility in the intestine is reduced - we shall not digest food - we must fight or run away!
Blood is sent to the brain while skin and internal organs get less.
Muscel tension is increased.
Heart rate and force is increased.

Below you can find a summary of some of these effects:

Sympathetic
Heart Rate increased
Heart Force increased
Lungs Broncial muscle relaxed
Eye Pupil dilation
Intestine Motility reduced
Bladder Sphincter closed
Decreased urin secretion

Parasympathetic
Heart Rate decreased
Heart Force decreased
Lungs Broncial muscle contracted
Eye Pupil constriction
Intestine Digestion increased
Bladder Sphincter relaxed
Increased urin secretion

[pu12en12g]

Massive Obesity

Massively obese people often have a very low levels of sympathetic activity. This causes their adrenergic receptors to upregulate. In other words, sensitivity to catecholamines is increased (via more receptors) in an attempt to compensate for the low levels of noradrenaline (NA) and adrenaline (ADR). Thus, when a massively obese person starts taking thermogenic supplements they may find that they are extremely sensitive to the stimulant effect. Although this condition is only temporary, some massively obese people may have to start with a very low dose of ECA. It would be tragic if someone, whose life could be saved by thermogenic supplements, gave up because of temporary side effects that can be avoided if one starts out at a low enough dose.

Indeed, initial sensitivity to thermogenic supplements may actually be an indication that your obesity is largely caused by subnormal sympathetic tone. Dulloo and Miller (6) noticed a big difference between lean and massively obese animals when they were screening thermogenic drugs:

"They were much less effective in lean animals. These findings lend support to the concept that obesity is due to a diminished activity of the sympathetic nervous system . . . Thus drugs that would correct the defect in the obese would effectively increase thermogenesis in these animals, whereas they would be of relatively little value in normal lean animals that have no such defective mechanism."

Are you beginning to see why some people do not respond to ECA? Thermogenic supplements correct a specific biochemical defect, and if your sympathetic activity is relatively normal, you may very well end up scratching your head and asking "what's the big deal with that ECA stuff?" Meanwhile, the guy down the street is burning fat like crazy and telling you that it's the best thing since sliced bread!

You see, after a short while, both the stimulation and the appetite suppression go away and -- in the long run -- the effectiveness of ECA depends on the normalization of noradrenaline and adrenaline release. Thus, if you are a massively obese person with extremely low sympathetic tone, you are probably going to be amazed at how effective ECA is. However, if you have a relatively small amount of weight to lose and/or relatively normal sympathetic tone, you might lose weight until the appetite suppression stops, but then the party might be pretty much over for you. Likewise, if your main biochemical imbalance is serotonin deficiency, then ECA can't do much for you. It all makes perfect sense when you read enough science to cleanse your head of all the prejudice and false assumptions about obesity.

Lets clear up another false assumption. Obviously, the beta-3 drugs that are being developed cannot completely normalize someone who has a serious noradrenaline/adrenaline (NA/ADR) deficiency because these drugs only act upon one specific type of adrenergic receptor. You see, although the beta-1 and beta-2 receptors are largely responsible for the temporary undesirable side effects of ECA, under-stimulation of these receptors (due to NA/ADR deficiency) will cripple your fat burning ability. This is especially important for massively obese people with extremely low sympathetic tone.

Up-regulation of the beta 1 and beta 2 receptor cannot completely compensate for a serious NA/ADR deficiency. Unlike ECA, the beta 3 drugs do not correct this deficiency. The beta-3 receptor has been estimated to be responsible for about 40% of noradrenaline-based fat burning (9). Do you see what I'm saying? ALL the adrenergic receptors contribute to normal fat burning. Thus, NO selective drug can completely make up for a serious NA/ADR deficiency. Understanding this important fact may be the difference between life and death for some massively obese people.

You see, obesity is a REAL disease and ECA helps to normalize our fat burning ability by correcting a specific biochemical imbalance. How could it possibly work for everyone? But the people who are most likely to benefit from it are the people who NEED it the most -- the massively obese. When people refer to thermogenic supplements as "appetite suppressants," they are ignoring the very heart of our disease and perpetuating prejudiced attitudes and ignorant treatment methods that don't have a snowballs chance of working in the long run. Let your speech reflect the science of liberation rather than old, offensive, "sloth and gluttony" nonsense. Obesity is a REAL disease. Think about it.

Furthermore, juvenile-onset morbid obesity is a chronic condition that requires life-long treatment. If you stop taking thermogenics, you will revert back to your old abnormal biochemistry and -- like a mirror image -- your set point will return to your previous level of obesity. Why can some people eat whatever they want and not get fat? Biochemistry! Your weight is a mirror image of your biochemistry. This is especially true in cases where a massively obese individual has a normal appetite. The downside to this reality is that, if you have several biochemical imbalances, ECA probably will not lower your set point as much as you would like. If you find yourself in this position, a couple of likely culprits are serotonin and insulin. Conventional weight loss methods have a near 100% long-term failure rate because they do not address the fact that obesity is a REAL disease. Such thinking reflects prejudice, not science.

OK, lets look at the science and see what we can come up with for a massively obese person who has a high initial sensitivity to sympathetic stimulants. Toubro et al. (3) started moderately overweight people out at the full dose (20 mg ephedrine & 200 mg caffeine) and found that the stimulant side effects can last for quite some time:

"The side-effects are minor and transient and no clinically relevant withdrawal symptoms have been observed . . . Eighty percent of symptoms lasted less than 4 weeks, 13% lasted 4-8 weeks, 5% lasted 8-12 weeks and the remaining 2% lasted 12-16 weeks."

There is no direct data to tell us if a person who starts at less than the full dose will adapt at the same rate, however, the Toubro et al. study should serve as a rough guide. Notice how very few people felt any stimulation by the third month? Using a model where the dosage is increased by one capsule per month until the full dose is achieved, an herbal formula where three capsules equaled the full dose would reach the full dose at the beginning of the third month (week 9). A four capsule formula would reach the full dose at the beginning of the fourth month (week 13). Here is an example for a three capsule formula:

Week 1-4: One capsule (1/3 dose) three times daily.
Week 5-8: Two capsules (2/3 dose) three times daily.
Week 9: Three capsules (full dose) three times daily.

5.0 Selecting a Good Thermogenic Formula

Despite the hype, herbal stacks are not better than home-brew stacks (mini thins and caffeine capsules). The "extra" ingredients in the herbal stacks add little to the fat burning effect. In addition, if you review the price data, you will see that the stacks with lots of "extra" ingredients cost twice as much. These "extra" ingredients are simply not worth the "extra" expense. On the other hand, due to the political situation, the home brew stack is becoming more expensive than some of the better herbal stacks.

At any rate, the important thing is the ephedrine/caffeine content. The ephedrine/caffeine combination corrects a specific biochemical imbalance that is extremely common among the obese -- and there are decades of scientific research on this. Ignore the hype. Real science gets real results! If you have not done so, check out the illustrations in my post, "How ECA Works." As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

As discussed earlier in this FAQ, I prefer formulas that do not contain willow bark. I also do not recommend formulas that contain synephrine -- based on its mode of action, it is unlikely to increase fat burning. And these formulas are almost always more expensive. Although yohimbe is a legitimate thermogenic, I do not recommend formulas that combine ephedrine (or related alkaloids) and yohimbe. I have experimented with these combinations and after a short period of time the body temperature returns to the same level as with plain ephedrine/caffeine formulas. So what's the point of taking additional stimulants?

When Dulloo and Miller screened drugs to determine their thermogenic potential, they were looking for a way to normalize the sympathetic tone and adrenergic biochemistry of obese people -- without the problems associated with most stimulants. The synergistic effect of caffeine made it possible to normalize our biochemistry with a low dose of ephedrine. The result was ECA -- the safest and most effective obesity drug in existence. Obesity is a real disease and we would be well advised to ignore the endless marketing hype and follow the path blazed by scientists like Dulloo, Miller, Stock, Rothwell, Arch, and others.

FYI

[BuckeyeMuscle]

Sympathetic Nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that stimulates the "fight or flight" responses, such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and decreased digestion.

[pu12en12g]

I looked in Wikapedia, I looked on Google, and for the life of me I still can't understand what it is....

The wiki is actually a excellent, easy to read write up... what part of that was confusing to you ?

[ChristianBBer]

I remember reading an article on the ECA Stack, the doctor said the (A) Aspirine only works on obeese people. I never knew why, so am I correct in assuming this ??

Since obese people have a subnormal nonadrelina system, aspirin's purpose is to basically make the endings of the nerves where the nonadrelina released increase its activity ??

And people who arent morbidly obese already have a fine working nonadrelina/adrelina system ??

[blah12345]

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[ChristianBBer]

bump

[User1238]

Hi, how to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity? I have side effect : Heart Rate increased, rhythm problems.

[jaimeruiz99]

Hi, how to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity? I have side effect : Heart Rate increased, rhythm problems.

Alpha and Beta adrenergic receptor blockers.

[User1238]

Alpha and Beta adrenergic receptor blockers.

really? and it eliminate the problem? or just in some time( when i use that medicaments) stop the problem?

[User1238]

Can i train and use beta blockers?