sodium-ethylxanthate and Mood-Disorders

There is good evidence for sex differences in brain disease, and that oestrogen modulates brain development and ageing. For example, females are significantly more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease, depression and late-onset psychosis than are men. Moreover, hormone replacement therapy may reduce the rate of cognitive decline in post-menopausal women and reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (as compared to post-menopausal women who do not take hormone replacement therapy). The neurobiological basis of these differences in brain disease and ageing was unknown until relatively recently. In this chapter we discuss results of studies demonstrating that sex steroids (i) are crucial for development and ageing of brain regions affected in Alzheimer's disease; (ii) interact with neuronal networks and chemical systems at many different levels in brain, and (iii) affect mood and cognitive function in elderly women without Alzheimer's disease. The current literature supports the hypothesis that sex steroids can modulate brain ageing and provides a number of potential neurobiological explanations for the cognitive effects of hormone replacement therapy. There is only limited evidence that hormone replacement therapy is effective in women already suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Nonetheless, recent work may lead to new prevention strategies for age-related cognitive decline and brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Alzheimer Disease; Brain; Cognition Disorders; Estrogen Replacement Therapy; Female; Gonadal Steroid Hormones; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Middle Aged; Mood Disorders; Nerve Growth Factors; Postmenopause; Sex

This study examined lifetime treatment contact and delays in treatment seeking, including rates for receipt of helpful treatment, after the onset of specific mental disorders and evaluated factors that predicted treatment seeking and delays in treatment seeking.. Data were from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2, a nationally representative, face-to-face survey of the general population aged 18-64 (N=6,646). DSM-IV diagnoses, treatment contact, and respondents' perception of treatment helpfulness were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0.. The proportion of respondents with lifetime mental disorders who made lifetime treatment contact ranged from 6.5% to 56.5% for substance use disorders and from 75.3% to 91.4% for mood disorders. Delays in initial treatment contact varied among persons with mood disorders (median=0 years), substance use disorders (0-4 years), impulse-control disorders (4-8 years), and anxiety disorders (0-19 years). The proportion of respondents who received helpful treatment ranged from 33.5% for substance use disorders to 69.5% for mood disorders. Men, older cohorts, and respondents with younger age at onset of the disorder generally were more likely to have no lifetime treatment contact, to have longer treatment delay, and to have not received helpful treatment.. There was substantial variation in lifetime treatment contact and delays in initial treatment contact by mental disorder. Lifetime treatment contact, delays in treatment seeking, and receipt of helpful treatment did not vary by educational level.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Age of Onset; Anxiety Disorders; Delayed Diagnosis; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders; Middle Aged; Mood Disorders; Netherlands; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Sex; Substance-Related Disorders; Young Adult

Family study data on unipolar affective illness are analyzed by multiple threshold models of inheritance that incorporate sex effect. In these models males and females share a common genetic-environmental liability, but the less prevalent sex, i.e., males, has a higher genetic threshold for the disorder. Neither single major locus (SML) nor multifactorial-polygenic (MFP) transmission can account for the sex differences in the morbid risk for unipolar disorder. The implications for genetic research in affective disorders are discussed.

Topics: Chromosome Mapping; Female; Humans; Male; Models, Genetic; Mood Disorders; Risk; Sex; Sex Chromosome Aberrations