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    • Massage Biochemistry 101

MASSAGE BIOCHEMISTRY 101

How Can Massage Therapy Help Us Feel Good and Get Better?

Biochemistry helps to explain several benefits of massage.                                     By rebalancing concentrations of two key neurotransmitters and an                    anti-inflammatory, massage therapy can restore some calm, clarity and       balance to our experience of ourselves…to the textures of life itself.    
It’s win-win: feeling good, getting better.


HOMEWORK:
Massage raises levels of “activating neurotransmitters 
(serotonin and dopamine)” by about 30%.
(1)
Dopamine transmits signals across nerve synapses in the brain, 
where it serves an essential function in reward motivated behavior. (3) 
It's also a key chemical messenger in the body’s autonomic 
nervous 
and endocrine systems. 
Serotonin plays various important roles throughout 
the body, but it really gets our attention because it
modulates aspects of mood and memory.
 
iiiiiiiiiiiii
Massage reduces levels of the steroid, cortisol, by around 30%. (1)
Cortisol is the ‘heavy’ in our story. This steroid lowers tissue inflam-                mation brought on by physical insult and stress—and that's good.
However concentrations of cortisol that remain persistently above
normal are cumulatively damaging. Chronic stress and the body’s
efforts 
to control it (allostatic load) can contribute to death of neurons                       in the hippocampus and to “depression, apathy, and cognitive decline.” (2)            Over time elevated cortisol levels also impair our immune systems.     

A nasty stew: Chronic stress feeds inflammation, which (via interactive
pathways) feeds (and feeds on) depression, sleep difficulties, and weight problems. These are the findings of a recent study that calls for diagnostic
and treatment protocols to take account of such interactions. (4)

So please consider the benefits of a massage program that can ease
your aches, help heal your traps, buoy your spirits, calm your nerves,
and reduce your exposure to serious threats from allostatic (over)load. 
​Take care…

Expect a pop quiz part way through your third massage.
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References:
1) Tiffany Field, Maria Hernandez-Reif, Miguel Diego, Saul Schanberg, Cynthia Kuhn. “Cortisol Decreases and Serotonin and Dopamine Increase Following Massage Therapy." International Journal of Neuroscience, 2005, Vol. 115, No. 10, pp. 1397 - 1413.
2) Zora Djuric, Chloe E. Bird, Alice Furumoto-Dawson, Garth H. Rauscher, Mack T. Ruffin IV, Raymond P. Stowe, Katherine L. Tucker, Christopher M. Masi. “Biomarkers of Psychological Stress in Health Disparities.” Open Biomark Journal., 2008 Jan 1; 1: 7—19.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841407/
3) Kent C. Berridge, "The debate over dopamine's role in reward; 
the case for incentive salience." Psychopharmacology. 2007 Apr; 191(3):391-431. 
4) Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Heather M. Derry, Christopher P. Fagundes. "Inflammation: Depression Fans the Flames and Feasts on the Heat." American Journal of Psychiatry, 2015; 172 (11): 1075 DOI: 10.1176/ap‐ pi.ajp.2015.15020152 
5) Dov Michaeli, "Massage and Your Brain." The Doctor Weighs In.   2012 Feb. 7. http://thedoctorweighsin.com/massage-and-your-brain/
6)
Serotonin molecule illustration by Benjah-bmm27.


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