To paraphrase an old saying "hormones make the world go round." During my 35 year career in medicine, one of the biggest advances has been the use of hormones for aging men and women. In recent years I have realized how much these hormones affect and change our moods through affecting our brain chemistry. But let me go back to beginning of my career first.
When I began to practice medicine in 1972 the treatment of depression was confined to a few drugs which had many side effects, took weeks to work and the use of psychotherapy. I studied psychotherapy for years because I found the drugs were ineffective or poorly tolerated. In 1987 Prozac was approved and overnight we suddenly realized the main reason people were depressed was because they had a "Prozac Deficiency".
I soon had patients telling me that after taking Prozac their mind and mood had improved to the point where they could finally talk to their psychotherapist about the underlying psychological issues causing their depression. I realized for the first time that optimizing brain chemistry was necessary before effective therapy could occur. What I didn't realize till later was you didn't need Prozac to do this.
Prozac has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry into finding new chemicals that affect our brain chemistry. But these drugs are all foreign molecules to our system and we easily forget that brain chemistry is affected by many natural processes. I have been writing about natural ways to improve your brain chemistry in this series. Here's how hormones are involved.
One of the aging changes we all experience is a decline in our production of sex hormones which can profoundly affect the brain neurotransmitter system. The decline can start in our 30's, often in our 40's and certainly in our 50's and 60's. So it is no surprise that depression is a common problem from middle age onward. In men with declining testosterone, 70% report depression and 60% report increased irritability. In women with declining estrogen and progesterone similar numbers report depression and irritability. The reason is these hormones affect the levels and functions of serotonin and the catecholamines in the brain. Research continues to reveal the ways in which these hormones affect the neurotransmitters but the simple answer is dropping sex hormone levels cause significant drops in these neurotransmitters or the receptors they act on in the nervouse system. I have personally experienced mood changes when my testosterone levels dropped in my mid-fifties and I have taken testosterone ever since with great results.
I have had success treating depression and irritability in men and women by restoring their sex hormones to optimal levels using bio-identical hormones. In many cases the need for anti-depressant medications ceased. I well remember a patient who came to see me after being hospitalized for an acute severe depressive episode. She had been placed on a number of psychiatric medications and felt drugged and like a zombie. She had become menopausal shortly before the acute episode and she was convinced her emotional changes had began when menopause arrived. When she began to use bio-identical hormone replacement there was a marked improvement in her mood and she was able to completely wean off the psychiatric medications. In many people, restoring these hormone levels can eliminate the need to take the natural building blocks for serotonin or the catecholamines, and in others reduced amounts are needed.
So if you are experiencing mood problems and your hormones could be declining, have them assessed and treated before starting on the "flavor of the week" anti-depressant.
Because Your Health (& Mood) Matters
drBob
