Talk:Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
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[edit] I
I rounded out this article with a start on anatomy and function, but am stalled for the moment on specific methods of action for ANS-induced adrenal releases from the adrenal medulla and how they relate to corticosteroid releases from the adrenal cortex mediated by CRF/ACTH.
This is the sort of writing where a well-informed editor might do a lot of good by just reading, correcting, commenting and suggesting direction. Of course there is a lot of detail to be added as well, about the anatomy, function and study of the HPA Axis, and about its role in physical and psychiatric diseases.
I've seen a couple notes of writers intending to work on this, but it's a tough subject to get exactly right in every detail, and can take a bit of meticulous checking. But it is an important topic for many reasons, and it gets front-page listing from Google searches, so this is an open call for any contribution to this topic anyone might have to offer. SoCal 20:29, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)
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I don't beleive this is accurate. The language seems scientific enough, but it seems like vague stabs with no real explanation of how this thing operates. And the 5HT research is only one of thousands of studies - this isn't a news service its an encyclopedia and I haven't seen anybody here qualified to say that research warrants mention in an encyclopedia, and there is certainly no evidence that it is anything but a study somebody published and it deals with interesting subjects that can be related to interesting world events. The entire Wikipedia approach to the subject of stress is laced with generalizations and vague snippets of anatomy that tend to suggest ideas familiarized by the popular press. There is no specific pathway described here to explain the activation of the HPA axis, or how one part of it gives way to another, or if it even really does correlate with any part of that general adaptation responses. I wrote it and I would rather see it reduced to the stub it was before I started using it as a note page. User:172.196.16.3 (contribs) (Apparently User:Bird)
User:SoCal wrote much of the text you removed. I've no reason to believe that user did anything wrong. Jamesday 21:13, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
The role of 5-HT in HPA regulation is indeed contraversial, and there are many other systems that impinge on the PVN. 5-HT IS an input to the PVN, but the data is not clear as to its role as of yet. Any discussion of HPA activation is nearing the limits of knowledge and as such may not belong in this article. Its not just wikipedia that is confused when it comes to stress, its the whole world! The mainstream media often publish stuff about stress which is utter balderdash, and the whole field is prone to quackery. One thing that should be mentioned about HPA activation in response to stress is that it's mechanisms seem to vary with respect to the type of stress being experienced. Stresses have been catagorised as interoceptive (psychological) and exteroceptive (physical) but this is flawed, as often a physical stress will have psychological aspects and vice-versa. Povmcdov 21:15, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
from the article:
- (Svante Winberg, Olof Tottmar, Per-Ove Thörnqvist, Olivier Lepage, Joachim Schjolden for Department of Comparative Physiology - Uppsala University, Norbyvägen, Uppsala, Sweden)
credits moved here as part of the policy of no in-article credits for editors
I believe that the two should be merged. The issue would be to include all the information in both articles in the merged article. Mention to the PVN and specifying the anterior pituitary gland is pivotal. User:Wesley1610
Hi guys.
I'm a post-doct who studies this sort of thing. I'm trained in anthropology, but now I'm doing my post-doc in Consumer Psych at McGill University. I've published in Human Nature, Hormones and Behavior, Brain and Behavior Sciences, etc. I am currently writing a review article for Yearbook of Physical Anthropology that addreses some of the ambiguities and differences in viewpoint that have emerged between the different commenters in this discussion.
I have not had a chance to read this entire Wiki article yet, so I just wanted to give a quick response.
My view, is that the HPA is not a "stress axis," but is a general regulatory axis. It regulates immunity, reproduction, growth, metabolism, growth and breakdown of tissue. It regulates these each and every day, irrespective of any exceptional events that one might feel compelled to regard as "stressful" or even "challenging." The article I am currently writing, which I believe is both timely and controversial, is primarily focused on making this central point, which is in fact contrary to the prevailing wisdom among nearly everyone who formally studies the topic.
So, I guess the short answer to any discussion about a Wiki article on the HPA is that, even the experts are not yet in full agreement about what it is, how it influences the ANS, and other key questions like, whether it is always elevated under situations of distress, whether "stress" is always operationalized as relatively increased levels of activity, etc.
The histology, pathology, molecular biology part of the puzzle are I think fairly better understood, but because the HPA is so QUINTESSENTIALLY pscyho-biological, i.e., it lies right at the intersection between our minds as perceiving, appraising, and feeling machines and our bodies as devices used by our minds to get its purposes achieved, the HPA as a physiological topic remains still highly controversial. I believe that the next 10 years will show tremendous advances in our understanding of what it really is for, how it really does work, and what it really does do under X, Y, and Z psychosocial and psychosomatic contexts. But at present, there is a whole lot of anedotal evidence, which is not surprising because up till now, people have been largely occupied just answering the basic questions.
- Yes, I agree that it is more accurate to say that the HPA axis is the body's energy regulation system rather than simply the "stress axis". In the article it does say that the HPA axis is involved in regulating digestion, the immune system and energy usage, so I think this is covered. But please feel free to contribute your knowledge by adding to the article or tidying it up. --Sciencewatcher 23:10, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Cleanup
This page was merged. If it looks okay to the doctors around, please feel free to remove the cleanup tag. Ste4k 05:40, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] HPA
AS the article stood before I made a few explanatory additions it was short on basics and long on bald statements that are only half-correct. It still needs more work. Essentially the basic nature of the HPA axis needs explaining and some of the finer details need leaving out: this is not after all a medical textbook. Nervous and hormonal inputs to the hypothalamus cause release or not of the releasing hormones that control the pituitary; this is the crucial point and it is not properly made. The pituitary hormones GH, Prolactin (Acidophils) and basophils: FSH, ACTH, LH and TSH are then released and do their thing. The adrenals also need a bit more explaining: basic cortex versus medulla differences and how the secretions (into the bloodstream) then feedback onto the H and the P of the axis. Maybe a few practical considerations also: for example to get proper GH secretion (vital for anti-ageing, healing, body maintenance, etc) you need Phase IV sleep before midnight, etc. Lgh 02:39, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Pituitary Adrenal
The "pituitary adrenal axis" section of the article (which I assume was added during the merge) seems to be a duplicate of the main article, and is very badly written. As far as I can see it doesn't really have any information that isn't included in the main section, so I have removed the section. If anyone has any objections, feel free to discuss it here (or make changes). --Sciencewatcher 23:10, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
