Hormones effect on brain

[JuliaFaith]

Reading a book called 'Sex, Lies, and Menopause' (homework given by my dr.). and they are discussing how hormones affect brain inflammation. It just occurred to my very analytical brain that there could be a connection to discussions on here. Anyone know about this connection? Have never seen a discussion relating the two before. Any ideas?

[Mayzoo]

Anecdotal information, but I suspect my kiddo had very mild PANDAS that went untreated/undiagnosed since she was 2-3. The moderate, long term flare did not occur until she entered puberty. We have been battling this steadily since then.

[JuliaFaith]

According to this book, our hormones begin going down after age 28. Had my son when I was 37. Wondering if child's hormones are permanently affected by mothers reduction in them?

 

Mayzoo-I wonder if there is a blood test to test hormones? Sounds like a possible connection with your daughter. Ummmm...will try to do some research today. Will look at pubmed site and see if any clinical studies on it. (If possible).

Edited March 15, 2013 by JuliaFaith

[dut]

Yeh - recall Dr T saying that hormonal changes can affect girls. He felt the contraceptive pill could pose problems, as could pregnancy. Ocd is very common post partum and I certainly felt my OCDish personality swell post 1st baby. My mom went thru the menopause with virtually no noticeable physical symptoms but did develop kleptomania for a bit. my father had to go in every shop with her so she wouldn't take stuff for a while :-0. She'd never had his before. Klepto is considered by some to be an OC spectrum disorder. Her dr at the time said he'd seen this before in menopausal women.

 

I imagine that hormones could play into this in many ways.

[Mayzoo]

According to this book, our hormones begin going down after age 28. Had my son when I was 37. Wondering if child's hormones are permanently affected by mothers reduction in them?

 

Mayzoo-I wonder if there is a blood test to test hormones? Sounds like a possible connection with your daughter. Ummmm...will try to do some research today. Will look at pubmed site and see if any clinical studies on it. (If possible).

 

No reason it cannot correlate. They have recently stated that the older the father is increases the likely hood of autism. I was 34 and hubby was 39 when kiddo was born.

 

There is a blood test to check women for hormones levels.

[Mayzoo]

Here are a few articles I found so far:

 

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/12/01/brain-inflammation-linked-to-suicidal-tendencies/21371.html

 

http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v7/n3/full/4001007a.html (associates MS with hormones)

 

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/05-12BrainInflammation.asp "discovered a steroid hormone that inhibits inflammation in the brain."

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/225195.php "Estrogen Receptors Play Anti-Inflammatory Role In The Brain"

 

 

I have not read all these articles yet, but will when I get a chance. Just a quick google search to see what I found.

[MomWithOCDSon]

Keeping in mind that Sammy Maloney's, my son's and a number of other kids we've "met" here on the forum began their primary or biggest PANDAS exacerbations at about the onset of puberty (around age 12), I fully believe that the hormones contributed to the enormity of the behaviors we saw. I mean, your average pubescent gets a little "nutty" around that time, and it just seemed to exaggerate our DS's issues.

 

I know estrogen causes inflammation in my body, as well.

 

Would love to see any studies anyone happens to have or dig up along these lines, though . . .

[Broo100]

I thought it was the opposite that PANDAS was mainly a pediatric condition that's my times resolved at puberty. Dr T mentioned this to me

[SurfMom]

My daughter started her PANDAS onset at 15. She is a bundle of symptoms packed into her petite frame. That said, the ONE thing we have noticed, by their noticeable absence, is that she has no obvious mood swings with her periods even though has been in full exacerbation for five months.

[SurfMom]

I thought it was the opposite that PANDAS was mainly a pediatric condition that's my times resolved at puberty. Dr T mentioned this to me

 

For some children, whose PANDAS is related to the T cells matured in the Thymus, their exacerbations my lessen or resolve when the Thymus begins to shut down and turn into adipose tissue at puberty.

 

For other children, onset can begin in teens if there are other antibodies/pathogens at the root of the cause. Technically, pediatric means anything before final maturity....height, brain development, etc. You will find that it depends on whom you talk to.

Edited March 17, 2013 by SurfMom

[JuliaFaith]

 

For some children, whose PANDAS is related to the T cells matured in the Thymus, their exacerbations my lessen or resolve when the Thymus begins to shut down and turn into adipose tissue at puberty.

 

For other children, onset can begin in teens if there are other antibodies/pathogens at the root of the cause. Technically, pediatric means anything before final maturity....height, brain development, etc. You will find that it depends on whom you talk to.

Thank you for this info. Still trying to find time to research more.