Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : May 26, 2015 3:19 PM IST
Till now we linked all the postpartum troubles to changes in the hormones. But then hormones are not to be blamed alone. A new research has found that women's brain alters permanently once they experience pregnancy and enter motherhood. Here is all that you need to know about postpartum depression.
The research conducted by Dr. Liisa Galea, at the University of British Columbia, showed that previous motherhood alters cognition and neuroplasticity in response to hormone therapy. The study focused on a specific brain region, called the hippocampus, which has important roles in memory and spatial ability, such as navigational skills. Here are six ways to beat baby blues post delivery.
There are three forms of estrogens: estradiol, estrone and estriol. They found that estrone-based HT improved learning in middle-aged rats that had not experienced motherhood, but impaired learning in rats of the same age that experience motherhood.
The study explained that that estradiol-based hormone therapy may have more beneficial effects, while estrone-based therapy may have more detrimental effect on cognition and dementia risk in women. Read a mother's account on how postpartum depression treated her.
Dr. Galea concluded that hormones have a profound impact on minds and pregnancy is a life-changing event, resulting in marked alterations in the psychology and physiology of a woman, so these factors should be taken into account when treating brain disorders in women.
The research findings were presented at the 9th Annual Canadian Neuroscience Meeting.
With inputs from ANI.
Image source: Getty Images
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