Posted by Noa on February 3, 2000, at 18:55:06
In reply to cortisol and depression, posted by Lucia on February 3, 2000, at 17:37:04
I don't know how it causes depression (or whether it does or not) but I have read that people who are depressed have increased levels of cortisol in their systems, which can cause all kinds of damage, or at least supress repair and building. There was an earlier thread, way back a few months, on how cortisol causes the hippocampus to atrophy, so that over many years of untreated depression, the hippocampus functions less well, which leads to further bouts of depression, because the hippocampus helps us to deal with what the more emotional parts of our brains are throwing at us.
poster:Noa
thread:20469
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20472.html