Depression Screening Urged for Women With Depression Like Symptoms

Young women with a ‘menopause-like’ condition called primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) should be evaluated for depression, a new study suggests. Symptoms of POI include developing hot flashes, infertility, and what is now believed an increased risk for depression.

Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a condition where women stop producing normal amounts of reproductive hormones, or produce them in an unbalanced fashion. POI can develop as early as the teens or 20s, according to the researchers, from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The investigators evaluated 174 women with POI and found that 67 percent either currently had depression or had been clinically depressed at least once in the past. That rate is more than twice the rate found among women in general, the researchers noted.

The finding was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The important thing to recognize here is that all hormones work in symphony together; this is inclusive of reproductive hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, as well as thyroid.

Symptoms of what is called estrogen dominance, where a person might have excess estrogen and/or deficient progesterone levels, include depression. Efficient progesterone utilization has a direct effect on the health of thyroid as well.
What doctors should do, however, was made clear by the study, according to one of the study's senior authors, Dr. Lawrence M. Nelson, head of integrative and reproductive medicine at the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

"Because of the strong association with depression, our results indicate all women diagnosed with POI should be thoroughly evaluated for depression," Nelson said in an NIH news release.

In addition to that, we recommend to have a balanced hormonal, lifestyle, medication and diet assessment. There is a direct correlation to the foods that we eat, medications we take, exercise, levels of stress and how we manage it, and our hormone levels.