After the big blow up, which is still being discussed, between Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields in 2005, many people wondered whether postpartum depression is ‘real’ or not. A news release from the NIH claims that researchers Istvan Mody and Jamie Maguire may have found a mechanism behind this disease (published in Neuron).
Researchers have pinpointed a mechanism in the brains of mice that could explain why some human mothers become depressed following childbirth. The discovery could lead to improved treatment for postpartum depression. Supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, of the National Institutes of Health, the study used genetically engineered mice lacking a protein critical for adapting to the sex hormone fluctuations of pregnancy and the postpartum period. – NIH News Release
Although it was first thought that this depression related to fluctuations in hormone levels, this theory was mostly disproved. Now, it seems that the hormones actually change the levels of a receptor in the brain. A mutation in this receptor in women suffering from postpartum depression may be the cause of this disorder (if women are anything like the mice used here).
The question now is, will this research have Tom eating his words? Probably not, but we have to keep trying…