As for the delay in the menopause, the less risk of depression

New research shows that the increasing age of menopause seems to be…
acts as a safeguard against the risk to develop women depression after menopause. The study opens new horizons in the understanding of the etiology of senile depression, and indicates directions for future preventive and therapeutic interventions.
The study was published on Wednesday, 6 January 2016 at prestigious medical journal JAMA – Psychiatry and was conducted by an international team of researchers, led by Eleni Petridou, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at the Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in cooperation with the Αλκηστι Σκαλκίδου, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Uppsala in Sweden and the Stella Δασκαλοπούλου, Assistant Professor of Pathology in the Medical School of the University of McGill in Montreal, Canada.
The depression infect one in ten seniors and women considered to be most vulnerable between the two sexes. In the period of reproductive life, the female body produces high levels of estrogen, which decline sharply with menopause. So the age of menopause, and the duration of the reproductive period, i.e. the period from the menarche until the menopause, indicate how many years during her life is a woman under the influence of endogenous of these hormones. In particular, the study showed that the age of menopause and longer duration of αναπραγωγικής period, associated with a reduced risk of depression in old Age.
“Studies in animals have shown that estrogens possess antidepressant action in the brain. However, the use of exogenous estrogen for the treatment of depression in women does not seem to have successful results, in accordance with clinical trials. In our study we used the age of menopause and duration of the reproductive period, as indicators of exposure to endogenous estrogen, with the aim to investigate whether the endogenous production of sex hormones is of importance for the onset of post-menopausal depression,” says the Professor of the Medical School of Athens Eleni Petridou.
Specifically, the researchers compiled data from the published βιλιογραφία at the global level, following the methodology of meta-analysis. The findings resulting from the synthesis of 14 studies and include a total of more than 67,000 women show that the increase in 2 years, so the age of menopause and the duration of the reproductive period is associated with a reduction in the risk of depression by 2%. It seems, namely, that the advanced age of menopause offers protection against post-menopausal depression. As stated Marios Georgakis, first author of the study, graduated with honors from Medical School of Athens and ph. d. candidate “with a first look at the degree of the protective effect seems negligible. However, if one considers that the age of menopause and the reproductive period can vary from woman to woman to 20 years, then the προστατευική action is sizeable. In fact, in women with very early menopause (
“Depression in the elderly can be considered as a different disease entity as compared with that which occurs in the younger ages, as it presents peculiarities in the etiology and treatment of available αντικταθλιπτικά drugs. The possibility of implementing preventive interventions, it also looks attractive, and probably workable,” says Stella Δασκαλοπούλου from Canada. Indeed, according to the findings of this study, subclinical forms of depression can be identified in a timely manner if women with early menopause have a systematic monitoring of their mental health in order to give them the opportunity πρωιμότερης and more effective intervention.
The study is a heated research interest with regard to the hormone replacement therapy during the postmenopausal period. “In accordance with previous studies, the hormonal replacement therapy after menopause was associated with serious side effects, which limit its use. Later, however, data suggest that there is a critical period immediately after menopause, during which if the woman starts hormone replacement therapy, it probably has the beneficial effect to prevent occurrence of depression. However, it should be borne in mind that the results of the publication referred to in the action of endogenous estrogen, which show differences in relation to the exogenously administered,” notes the Moscow Σκαλκίδου from Sweden.
The research team concludes that further investigation is needed in order to explore in-depth the effects of sex hormones on the brain and mental health in general. Even if the antidepressant action of estrogen is considered substantiated, falls short of the scientific knowledge for a recommendation of safe therapies based in estrogen for prevention of postmenopausal depression. Future research directions are expected to turn to the development of exogenous oestrogenic agents with targeted action in the brain, which should, however, minimize the side effects from the other systems of the body.40>