A dietary supplement that provides an alternative for a protein that "eats" mood altering brain chemicals may be the key to preventing postpartum depression, according to research conducted at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
"We think that there may be dietary ways of preventing postpartum 'baby blues,' " said Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, a psychiatrist and the principal investigator of the study. "We could potentially come up with a strategy that is relatively simple and not unrealistic economically."
Meyer's research, published Tuesday in the Archives of General Psychiatry, discovered that levels of the brain protein monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) in healthy women peaked five days after delivery — 43 per cent higher compared to women not recently pregnant.
Day 5 is when postpartum blues — the precursor to full-blown clinical postpartum depression — are usually the most severe, said Meyer.
The MAO-A protein removes chemicals like serotonin and dopamine which help people maintain a normal mood. Higher levels mean that the removal process is overly active, making women feel sad.
Of Meyer's 30 test subjects, the two mothers with the highest levels of MAO-A both eventually suffered from postpartum depression.
Meyer said the creation of a natural health supplement enriched with amino acids that can act as an alternative "food source" for the brain chemical munching MOA-A could in effect, prevent the onset of a depressive episode.
Meyer said research has already shown that higher levels of MAO-A have been linked to other forms of clinical depression, but this study links the protein to postpartum issues for the first time.
About 80 per cent of new mothers experience a mild form of "baby blues," but those feelings usually resolve and disappear in a few weeks, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. Postpartum depression affects about 10 to 15 per cent of new mothers. Only a fraction of new mothers descend into postpartum psychosis, which is the most severe form of the illness.
While the exact cause of postpartum depression is not known, there are likely several risk factors such as previous depressive episodes, an unwanted pregnancy, an unsupportive partner, and the normal hormone changes that occur post-pregnancy, Meyer said.
While Meyer said the strongest social factor linked to postpartum depression is low socio-economic status, he said the research sheds light on a cause that may be preventable.
His team is already working with a natural product manufacturer to create a suitable dietary supplement for new mothers.
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