(no subject)
Jul. 30th, 2004 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheBrain 'helps stop muscle damage'
[R]esearchers warn it is the brain, not the body, which controls when fatigue hits.
A team from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, writing in New Scientist, say the brain "steps in" to prevent muscle damage.
[...] The team which looked at fatigue say it is traditionally seen as the result of overworked muscles ceasing to work properly.
But they say it is actually the brain that controls the feeling.
The researchers say a body signalling molecule called interleukin-6 plays a key role in telling the brain when to slow down.
Blood levels of IL-6 are 60 to 100 times higher than normal following prolonged exercise, and injecting healthy people with IL-6 makes them feel tired.
[R]esearchers warn it is the brain, not the body, which controls when fatigue hits.
A team from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, writing in New Scientist, say the brain "steps in" to prevent muscle damage.
[...] The team which looked at fatigue say it is traditionally seen as the result of overworked muscles ceasing to work properly.
But they say it is actually the brain that controls the feeling.
The researchers say a body signalling molecule called interleukin-6 plays a key role in telling the brain when to slow down.
Blood levels of IL-6 are 60 to 100 times higher than normal following prolonged exercise, and injecting healthy people with IL-6 makes them feel tired.