While you may not realize it, whenever you are feeling a certain way a lot of your body’s hormones are at work. Whether it is anger, sadness, or happiness, hormones like cortisol and dopamine are at work. Whenever you feel giddy or satisfied, it is basically your body pushing dopamine into your body. These triggers do not have to be extreme or funny, it could be a simple meme you saw, or a new follow. Dopamine plays a very important role in your day-to-day life. However, what happens when you stop feeling excited or happy when good things happen to you?

What if you stop seeing the point of doing certain things you enjoyed because they no longer bring you so much joy? You could be going through a dopamine deficiency.

What Happens When Your Brain Doesn’t Have Enough Dopamine?

The Cleveland Clinic explains that if your brain isn't making enough dopamine, you might start feeling like you have no energy or drive to do things. You could become more forgetful and even feel anxious because this important feel-good chemical is low.

In serious illnesses like Parkinson's disease, the brain loses cells that make dopamine, leading to a big drop in its levels. Some drugs, like cocaine, cause a huge, quick release of dopamine, but they also damage the parts of your brain that receive dopamine, making it harder to feel pleasure naturally over time and leading to addiction.

Could Your Lifestyle Choices Affect Your Body’s Dopamine?

The way you live your life every day can also change how much dopamine your brain makes. Eating a lot of unhealthy, saturated fats, not getting enough sleep night after night, and constantly feeling stressed out have all been shown to make your brain produce less dopamine. This means that simple things you do regularly can have a real impact on your motivation, mood, and overall well-being by affecting this important brain chemical. Taking care of your body and mind can help keep your dopamine levels healthy.

Sleep And Depression

According to a 2012 study in the Journal of Neuroscience explained that the dopamine rushes you get from seeing new posts or watching videos can actually keep your brain wide awake when it should be winding down. If you're already not getting enough sleep, it creates an even bigger problem. Studies have found that when you're sleep-deprived, your brain actually has fewer places for dopamine to attach, called receptors. This can make you feel much more tired, slow, and less alert throughout the following day because your brain isn't using dopamine as effectively as it should.

Stress And Dopamine

A 2012 review in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews explains that dopamine also plays a key role in how you handle stressful situations, and it depends on whether you feel like you have any control over what's happening. When you face something that feels overwhelming, your dopamine levels might initially go up to help you try and cope with the pressure. However, if the stress continues and feels like too much to handle, those dopamine levels can then crash and stay low.

Diet & Dopamine

When you're feeling down or stressed, you might often reach for comforting foods, but what you eat can actually affect your dopamine levels. The International Journal of Obesity Supplements explain that eating a diet that's high in unhealthy fats can actually keep your dopamine levels lower over time. Research in animals has even shown that when mothers eat a lot of high-fat foods during pregnancy, it can change the dopamine levels in their babies, making them crave even more fatty and sugary foods later in life

Modifiable risk factors such as quitting smoking, exercising regularly, and eating a balanced diet can certainly help protect your heart. However, when it comes to heart disease, the role of family history also deserves serious attention. In other words, are cardiovascular heart diseases (CHD) hereditary? And if so, what can be done to lower your risk?

Genetics account for up to half of a person's risk for cardiovascular disease. While it is only one among many contributing factors, it can be a significant—and often early—clue to a person’s potential for heart-related issues. Having close relatives like a parent or sibling with heart disease can increase the chances of developing a heart condition. Shared environmental factors within families, such as dietary habits and levels of physical activity, also influence heart health.

Learning about family history can empower individuals to take charge of their healthcare. This knowledge allows potential health concerns to be identified before a serious event occurs and helps prevent disease progression. Identifying a genetic diagnosis within the family enables both patients and healthcare providers to stay current on recommended screenings and treatments.

Heart Diseases Are Often A Mix Of Genes And Environment

Heart disease is often a combination of genetic and environmental influences. In certain cases, a gene may be passed down from one or both parents. If a parent carries a specific heart disease gene, there is a 50 per cent chance it could be inherited. Thus, parents can offer insight into potential future risks from a genetic standpoint.

Knowing family history helps clinicians assess whether a patient is at higher-than-average risk. It’s not just about anticipating what might happen—screenings and treatments based on genetic risk can offer more proactive management.

Certain Heart Diseases Can Be Inherited

Several types of heart conditions can be inherited. These include coronary heart disease (blockages in arteries supplying the heart), congenital heart disease (a defect present at birth), cardiomyopathy (abnormal heart function without obvious cause), high cholesterol (which raises plaque risk), arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms), and dilated aorta (an enlarged major blood vessel).

Although family history cannot be changed, modifiable risk factors can still be addressed. High cholesterol or blood pressure often shows up in families around the same age, but making lifestyle changes early can help. A low-fat, low-cholesterol, and low-sugar diet, along with at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week, can help mitigate risk. Working with a cardiologist can help determine whether lifestyle changes or early medication are needed.

Collecting family history includes asking relatives about medications, diagnoses of high cholesterol or blood pressure, cardiac conditions, sudden or unexplained deaths, use of pacemakers or defibrillators, and whether anyone sees a cardiologist or has had heart surgery.

After gathering this information, a physician can recommend genetic testing if necessary. Certain patterns, like multiple relatives with early heart attacks or high cholesterol, may point to inherited conditions such as familial hypercholesterolemia. Even in the absence of family history, conditions like aortopathy may qualify someone for genetic testing.

Genetic testing typically starts with a three-generation family history and involves either a saliva or blood sample. Results may be positive, negative, or uncertain. Even a negative result doesn’t rule out a hereditary component, so follow-ups and testing for other family members may still be recommended.

Moreover, positive results may lead to cascade testing—where relatives are tested for the same condition—and can influence treatment strategies. Precision medicine and gene therapy now offer the possibility of correcting genetic defects at a molecular level, offering new hope for those at risk.

A recent study found that we scroll a distance which is equivalent to four times the height of Mount Everest in a year. Intrestingly, it stated that an average person's newsfeed in terms of scroll length can be the same as the Statue of Liberty in a day, two Eiffel Towers in a week and three Burj Khalifas in a month. But where is all this doom-scrolling taking us?

If neurologists and brain scientists are to be believed, then all these hours we spend mindlessly with our phones have only resulted in brain rot. If you ever want to witness the last vestiges of human intellect swirling down the drain, you just open your phone and type the words "skibidi toilet". The video, which will emerge, features an animated human head protruding from a toilet bowl while singing the nonsensical lyrics "skibidi dop dop dop yes yes". The 11-second clip has been viewed more than 215 million times, directly highlighting the intensity of brain rot.

Not so surprisingly, Brain Rot is the Oxford word of the year 2024. The dictionary defines it as "the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging".

Technology Is Causing Brain Rot And We Know It

Beyond the obvious, there are still several people who are aware of how literally technology is rotting our brains, and how decisively compulsive internet use is destroying our grey matter. For the uninitiated, grey matter is the region with high concentration of neurons in the brain and spinal cord.

The concept was portended almost 20 years ago when scientists studied the effects of the then-new invention called "email". They wanted to fathom the impact of a barrage of information on the brain. After conducting multiple studies, they concluded that constant cognitive overload had a more negative effect than taking cannabis, with IQS of participants in a study dropping an average of 10 points. And imagine this was before the internet brought the world to our fingertips.

How To Stop Doomscrolling?

This is not about completely avoiding screens (because let’s be real, that's practically impossible). But we can help kids and teens reduce their reliance on technology and recalibrate their brains. Here are a few tips:

• Lead by example: The most effective way to change behaviour is to model it. Parents who set their own boundaries around screen time and engage in offline activities will set a positive example for their children.
• Set digital boundaries: Start by setting limits on screen time, whether it's through built-in screen-time trackers or apps that help monitor usage. Encourage regular breaks and give time for the mind to relax and recharge.
• Tech-free hours: One of the best ways to reset is by establishing tech-free zones, like at mealtimes or right before bed. These are opportunities to engage in meaningful, face-to-face conversations. As tempting as it may be to scroll late at night, it’s important to keep phones out of reach during sleeping hours—screens can disrupt sleep patterns and negatively impact health.
• The 80/20 rule: Aim for 80% of screen time to be dedicated to educational, enriching or creative content. The other 20% can be reserved for lighter, more entertaining content.
• Rediscover hobbies and offline activities: Encourage kids to get involved in hobbies and activities that don’t involve screens. Whether it’s taking a walk in nature, playing a sport, crafting, reading a book or learning a musical instrument, these offline experiences help foster curiosity and creativity—qualities that doomscrolling tends to suppress.

Biohacking may be the future, but not a lot of people know about it. For the advocates of this trend, it is anything that could boost your weight loss effort or help you hack your brain. American billionaire Bryan Johnson is currently the most popular biohacker, who, from time to time, comes up with ways to boost longevity. Notably, while the biological alterations he does are something that requires clinical assistance, some undertakings are relatively safe to perform at home.

What Is Biohacking?

Biohacking is a do-it-yourself (DIY) form of personal improvement in which people attempt to change aspects of their biology to improve their health, performance or well-being. It is not a specific term or undertaking. Rather, a currently popular anecdotal umbrella term for broad, nonspecific activities. There are many ways to biohack:

Fasting

People have engaged in fasts for millennia. It is not only believed to accelerate your weight loss process but also helps you get rid of toxins in your body.

Nootropics

Another popular form of biohacking is using a group of substances called nootropics or "smart drugs". Non-prescription nootropics include tablets, supplements, drinks, and foods. They contain substances that manufacturers claim to help boost brain performance.

Prescription Drugs And Risks

Prescription nootropics (drugs) are medications that have stimulant effects, which doctors prescribe for medical conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A person should only ever take prescription medications as directed by their doctor. Prescription stimulants have several potential side effects and may be dangerous if people misuse them.

Research shows people who take prescription stimulants for medical reasons are at high risk of many diseases such as anxiety, other drug use, post-traumatic stress disorder and impaired academic performance.

Wearable Technology

Wearable tech, such as smartwatches, head-mounted displays, and fitness-tracking bands, is a common form of modern technology. People may use them to:

1. track aspects of their health and use the data to make improvements
2. reach fitness and health goals
3. track reproductive health cycles

3 Primary Types Of Biohacking

DIY biohacking, which some people also call garage biology, involves experts in scientific fields sharing biohacking techniques and information with people who are not experts. This allows more people to conduct experiments on themselves outside of a constrained environment. Examples of these include some people who consider DIY biology to be an open revolution against the academic institutionalization of science and aim to spread an attitude of citizen science and action research without rigid gatekeeping.

Nutrigenomics

It is another type of biohacking that explores how food interacts with people's genes and how a person's genes affect their body's response to food. Researchers are using nutrigenomics to learn more about diet and genes, how they may affect a person’s health risks, and to help find new ways to prevent and treat disease. In this case, a person can send samples to labs where they are tested

Grinders

Grinders are biohackers who consider themselves pioneers of human augmentation. Example: Bryan Johnson. This type of biohacking typically involves devices implanted under the skin and the use of technology to perform body modifications.