Understanding Autonomic Pharmacology: A Short Essay (Part 1 of 2)
by: Archimedes O. Bayquen, RPh, MPH The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has been described many years ago as a division of the peripheral nervous system. It is subdivided into Parasympathetic (Rest and Digest, Conservative and Restorative function) and the Sympathetic (fight, flight, fright, stress response). The Enteric Nervous system is also a division of the ANS consisting of Myenteric or Auerbach plexus and submucous/Meissner’s plexus. The ANS is involuntary, automatic, unconscious response. Think of whenever you breathe and whenever your heart is beating. You don’t utilize your conscious control to initiate and sustain their function as they do their job independently without your control even when you are at sleep.Most of the organs in our body are dually innervated by both branches. Only very few are not—worth mentioning are the sympathetic cholinergic sweat glands in the skin and the blood vessels. Let us very briefly take a look at how these two systems differ. In ter...