Explanation Of Postpartum Depression And Postpartum Psychosis ?
Q: Explanation of Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Psychosis
A:DHEA is provided for the mother and fetus from the adrenal glands of the
mother. The adrenal glands of the infant do not start producing DHEA until
birth. This means that the DHEA provided by the mother must provide for all
of her tissues and the fetus. At the first pregnancy, DHEA decreases
significantly in the mother (J Clin Endocrin Metab 1987; 64: 111). In 1985,
because of my principle hypothesis, I proposed that low DHEA will result in
depression and Alzheimer’s disease (copyrighted, 1985). In 1997, DHEA was
used in “six middle-aged and elderly patients with major depression and low
basal plasma DHE
A: ” These investigators found that: “In both studies, improvements in depression ratings and memory performance were directly related to increases in plasma levels of DHEA and DHEA-S and to increases in their ratios with plasma cortisol levels. These preliminary data suggest that DHEA may have antidepressant and promemory effects and should encourage double-blind trials in depressed patients.” (Biol Psychiatry 1997; 41: 311). So, in mothers of low DHEA who give birth, according to my theory, one would expect to find depression. A posting at a bulletin board mentioned that a number of women, with whom the person had experience, who required oxytocin (pitocin) for birth, exhibited postpartum depression and infanticide. This area also fits my explanation, because use of oxytocin for labor actually increases DHEA, in low DHEA women. “RESULTS: Oxytocin augmentation followed standard indications in 29 of the 55 patients. The mean maternal DHEA sulfate level was significantly lower in these patients than in the remaining 26 who progressed spontaneously through labor. CONCLUSION: Among term nulliparous women, maternal serum levels of DHEA sulfate are significantly lower in those clinically requiring pharmacologic augmentation than in those progressing spontaneously through labor." The following quotation, from 1998, adds further support that women who have difficult labor may have difficulty due to low DHE
A: The conclusion of the report is that: “Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate may be an important factor in successful labor induction.” Above, I mentioned my explanation of depression as a result of low DHE
A: One may read my explanation of schizophrenia, as a result of low DHEA, at my web page, http://www.naples.net/~nfn03605/. Psychotic behaviors also may occur in Alzheimer’s disease and AIDS, both of which exhibit low DHE
A: I suggest that the coincidence of postpartum depression and psychosis in some women following birth, especially in those who have difficult labor, is due to low DHEA in these women. “OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the maternal serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfate level as a factor associated with the outcome of labor induction.