One study has shown that 8 out of every 10 people suffer from neurotransmitter imbalance. Left undiagnosed and untreated, it can lead to severe health complications, mainly brain improper functioning. It is challenging to diagnose neurotransmitter-related disorders due to the wide range of symptoms they exhibit. A proper test can help you identify and treat neurotransmitter imbalances before chronic illnesses develop. To find out more about neurotransmitter tests and their efficiency, keep reading.
Neurotransmitters are the chemical messages which carry information from one nerve cell to another nerve cell, glands, and muscles. By transmitting the nerve impulses, neurotransmitters coordinate all bodily functions. It is responsible for your body's movement, heartbeat regulation, digestion, and interaction of the body's internal environment with the external environment.
There are different types of neurotransmitters working in the nervous system. Here are some of their functions briefly.
Serotonin: It is the inhibitory type of neurotransmitter that works by inhibiting the function of effector cells. This neurotransmitter is responsible for regulating mood, hunger, sleep cycles, anxiety, and pain sensation in the body.
Histamine: It is responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle, motivation, appetite, and other vital body functions such as preventing asthma, bronchospasm, and mucosal edema.
Dopamine: Dopamine is mainly involved in developing feelings of pleasure in the body. It is mainly related to the reward system, which motivates a person to accomplish the targeted task. It prevents people from diseases such as Parkinson's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, bipolar disease, and restless legs syndrome.
Epinephrine: This neurotransmitter belongs to the sympathetic nervous system, which is involved in fight or flight conditions and enables the body to combat emergencies. It works by increasing heart rate, breathing rate, muscular blood flow, blood sugar level, and blood pressure and inhibiting digestion.
Nor-Epinephrine: It also belongs to the sympathetic nervous system and regulates bodily functions with epinephrine in emergency situations. Nor-epinephrine is mainly involved in increased blood pressure and heart rate.
Glycine: It is the inhibitory neurotransmitter that works by inhibiting the function in the spinal cord and controls hearing and metabolic processes. It is also involved in the transmission of pain in body receptor organs.
Glutamate: It is the most abundant type of neurotransmitter present in the brain with excitatory nature. Glutamate regulates cognitive behavior, such as learning, thinking, and retention of memory.
GABA: Gamma amino butyric acid, or GABA, is the inhibitory type of neurotransmitter in the brain, which maintains normal psychological activities and prevents depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
Besides the abovementioned neurotransmitters, a large number of neurotransmitters work in the nervous system and play crucial roles in regulating normal active metabolism.
A variety of diseases occur due to imbalanced levels of neurotransmitters in the body. Some of the comparatively common neurotransmitter-related diseases are mentioned below.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: ADHD occurs because of the low level of dopamine in the body. It is mainly prevalent among children. Due to this disease, children lose their ability to focus on any target, and they develop hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Like ADHD, it is also a prevalent disease but not necessary to occur among children. It causes uncontrollable thoughts development and repetitive occurrence of specific behavior.
Alzheimer's Disease: It is the loss of proper brain functions due to the accumulation of protein in brain cells. It causes the brain cells to shrink and die, resulting in the loss of cognitive functions. It adversely affects the person's thinking and learning abilities and also results in memory loss. Increasing the level of acetylcholine can help recover symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Anxiety: It occurs due to a deficiency of GABA neurotransmitters. An imbalance in histamine and nor-epinephrine can also be a reason for anxiety. People suffering from anxiety always experience anxious thoughts, feel like everything is getting uncontrollable in their surroundings, feel depressed, and also experience adverse health conditions such as insomnia.
Parkinson's Disease: It occurs because of the deficiency of dopamine in the brain. A person suffering from Parkinson's disease experiences uncontrolled body movements such as shaking and stiffness.
Military veterans may experience some symptoms, which can be signs of imbalanced neurotransmitter levels. After a long duration of military service, sudden changes in daily routine can disturb the production and release of chemical messengers(neurotransmitters) in the body. Therefore, if any of them experience uncomfortable symptoms such as depression, anxiety, loss of interest, weakness, and any other neurotransmitter-related symptoms must undergo proper checkups and treatment.
During the tough service in the military, it can be difficult for people to visit laboratories after getting an appointment, giving samples, and then waiting to get test reports. But what if these tests are made possible at home? Several online sites offer at-home blood testing for the evaluation of neurotransmitter levels. When going with an at-home neurotransmitter test, you have to collect your sample at home according to the instructions given on the testing kits. After collecting the sample, send the sample back to the laboratory, and your results will be available online for a fixed duration.
Among a large number of online laboratories, finding an accurate laboratory can be a challenging task. Labme has sorted out this issue as well. LabMe is a trustworthy laboratory that offers authentic blood, urine, and saliva testing with accurate and verified reports.
People looking for at-home neurotransmitter tests must consider LabMe as their first priority. LabMe offers at-home advanced neurotransmitter tests to their clients. You can buy this test online; a testing kit will be delivered to your given result. Now, it's time to collect the urine sample carefully and send it back to the laboratory address. When the laboratory receives your sample, your results will be available after 5 to 7 days. It will then help point out the cause of emerging disorders in the body.Â
LabMe offers clients trustworthy at-home neurotransmitter tests, which help them evaluate the levels of various neurotransmitters in the body. The expert team at LabMe analyzes and evaluates your sample and then prepares a medical report. You can also get recommendations and consultations with medical experts from LabMe and then proceed accordingly for treatment.
