

Ask HN: What is a good forum to ask specific physiology questions? - Mz

I know I completely suck at asking such questions, but I really need an answer here (and I apologize to the ghost of Rider of Giraffes, but this is literally life and death at stake here for me since I have a genetic disorder and I just don't know where else to ask this).  Last night I posted a link to a blog post I wrote and I asked for feedback and got zero replies. Okay, maybe stupid since that, duh, prevented it from getting put on the Ask HN section.<p>I am looking for info on the following channels and how they interrelate:<p>TRPV1 -- The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1(TrpV1), also known as the capsaicin receptor and the vanilloid receptor 1. (Capsaicin is the active ingredient in this family of peppers.) It is involved in the sensation of burning pain in the nerves. Calcium has some relationship to this, I'm not clear what, and it can be activated by high acidity (something
my condition promotes).<p>CFTR -- Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator -- the channel that is the root cause of the symptoms for my condition (atypical cystic fibrosis). It processes chloride.<p>CaCC -- Calcium Activated Chloride Channels. From what I gather so far, these are apparently alternate routes of chloride processing in the cell (assuming I am understanding what I have read so far).<p>So I am basically wondering if capsaicin, in the process of impacting the TRPV1 and apparently also impacting calcium use in the body may be able to force the body to use this other chloride pathway more. I am wondering if it is like a hack to get around the deficient
channel. My chronically bloated belly shrank dramatically in just a few days. I wrote about my experiences with consuming habanero peppers and my thought process on this in a bit more detail in the blog post mentioned: http://www.healthgazelle.com/blog/?p=87<p>I'm really not trying to promote my pathetic blog.  I'm just trying to save my pathetic life.  So if anyone here can either answer the question or suggest a forum where I might get some answers (in laymen's terms, preferably) on how these channels work and how they impact each other, a million thanks.
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Mz
Clickable: <http://www.healthgazelle.com/blog/?p=87>

