Enzyme may be the cause of baby blues
Filed under: Baby health — Alan @ 1:51 pm
A new study may lead to a cure for the baby blues, also known as postpartum depression. This affliction is suffered to some degree by up to 70% of women who have just given birth, and though it is well known and documented, the reasons for it has never been clear.
While childbirth is for most women a joyful experience, it is common knowledge that in the days immediately following, a large majority of them get the blues. The symptoms may include irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety, loss of appetite and terrible sadness with no ‘logical’ cause.
Most women just get over it and forget it, but in about 13% of cases, the blues get worse until they become a full-blown depression and a major health risk. Researchers in the current study, led by Julia Sacher of Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, found a definite correlation between female depression at this stage and the enzyme called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A).
It has been long known that women’s oestrogen levels drop drastically in the first few days after childbirth, but now it has been discovered that levels of the MAO-A enzyme in the brain increase proportionately in the same time period.
The enzyme breaks down neuro-transmitters in the brain that not only transmit signals but are also mood influencers. If the transmitter’s serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine are lacking or deficient, the result is a sad mood, which can lead to severe depression.
Researchers are pursuing the possibility of dietary supplements such as amino acids that would help maintain the level of monoamines prior to and during the initial postpartum stage and prevent the onset of depression.
