Estrogen Brings Relief To Women Suffering From Schizophrenia

Women suffering from schizophrenia benefit through an administration of the sex hormone estrogen along with regular antipsychotic medication. The estrogen estradiol has been proved to relieve symptoms of schizophrenia, like delusions and hallucinatory behavior, as per a study conducted by researchers from Monash University in Melbourne.

The team, led by Dr. Jayashri Kulkarni, found that estrogen's neuro-protective and psycho-protective actions might induce a rapid effect on cerebral blood flow and influence the utilization of blood sugar by the brain. The study also showed that estrogen could bring about permanent modification of neural circuits in the brain.

The researchers point out that estrogen therapy can be helpful in women with schizophrenia after childbirth or menopause, the time when they are most likely to suffer a relapse. It may also be handy to tackle low-estrogen phases during a woman's menstrual cycle.

However the study could not trace any impact of the hormone in curbing negative symptoms of schizophrenia, like social withdrawal.

"Estrogen treatment is a promising new area for future treatment of schizophrenia and potentially for other severe mental illnesses," the study said.

During the course of the study, researchers recruited 102 women of child-bearing age with schizophrenia. For 28 days, 56 of the women received 100 micrograms of estradiol daily through a skin patch, while the other 46 received a placebo similarly. Both groups continued with their regular medication – Zyprexa, also known as olanzapine, being the most common among them. Over the next month, their condition was recorded on a weekly basis.

The women on estradiol charted more improvement in their condition compared to the group on the placebo. They showed a marked decline in positive symptoms of the disease, like distorted thinking. However, there was no evident change in negative symptoms, such as social or emotional withdrawal.

The study was able to effectively establish the link between estrogen and mental illness, something that was first recognized more than a century ago. Although the present study has clarified many ideas, there is still much more that needs to be accomplished.

A spokesperson for mental health charity Rethink said, “We welcome any new research that could lead to the development of effective treatments for psychosis – especially if those treatments bring fewer of the horrible side-effects that are associated with some medications for schizophrenia.”

The spokesperson added, “These findings are exciting, but we can't jump the gun – this is one small study and it needs to be followed up with further research before any of us can be really excited about it."

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, schizophrenia affects about 1.1 percent of the population aged 18 and older in a year. It usually erupts during late adolescence or early adulthood and its incidence is far more common in men than in women. It is the most disabling of the major mental illnesses known so far.

The study has been published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.