Oxytocin: the love hormone <3

Structural Makeup of Oxytocin

Synthesized Oxytocin

What it does... The hormone gets its name from a Greek word meaning “quick birth” Found in mammals Acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain In humans, oxytocin is thought to be released during hugging, touching, and orgasm in both sexes. In the brain, oxytocin is involved in social recognition and bonding, and may be involved in the formation of trust between people and generosity In women, large amounts of this hormone are released after labor and while breastfeeding

What does it play a role in?? Child birth dilating of the cervix breast feeding making emotional connections having orgasms

The discovery of... discovered by British pharmacologist Sir Henry Hallett Dale in 1906Henry Hallett Dale The milk ejection property was described by Ott and Scott in 1910 and by Schafer and Mackenzie in 1911 The nine amino acid sequence was described by Vincent du Vigneaud et al. and by Tuppy in 1953Vincent du Vigneaud Oxytocin was synthesized biochemically soon after by du Vigneaud et al. in Oxytocin was the very first polypeptide hormone to be sequenced and synthesized.

Too little Oxytocin? Labor may not come naturally Have difficulty breastfeeding May not have the same types of emotional responses as others with high levels of Oxytocin

Treating Oxytocin Defeciency If one has low levels of Oxytocin doctors will inject the hormone into a vein. Other ways to get oxytocin include nasal sprays containing the hormone. Injected oxytocin analogues are also given by doctors to increase this hormone level.

Too Much Oxytocin Having abnormally high dosages of Oxytocin can cause: ■ Subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage ■ Increased heart rate Increased heart rate ■ Decreased blood pressure Decreased blood pressure ■ Cardiac arrhythmia and premature ventricular contraction Cardiac arrhythmiapremature ventricular contraction ■ Impaired uterine blood flow ■ Pelvic hematomahematoma ■ Afibrinogenonemia, which can lead to hemorrhage and death Afibrinogenonemia ■ Anaphylaxis Anaphylaxis ■ Nausea and vomiting Nauseavomiting

Treating too much Oxytocin While hugh levels of oxytocin can be very dangerous, this rarely occurs naturally. Most high levels are caused by injecting the hormone into the body. Thus, the treatment of this disorder is to let the hormone run its course because of its very short life span once it is in the blood stream.

Diseases relating to Oxytocin The inability to secrete oxytocin and feel empathy is linked to sociopathy, psychopathy, narcissism and general manipulativeness.

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