Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Overview
- Part II Hormones and mental health in the elderly
- 3 The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in aging: preclinical and clinical studies
- 4 The hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis
- 5 Estrogen and depression in aging women
- 6 The role of testosterone in male depression
- 7 Dehydroepiandrosterone in aging and mental health
- 8 Sex hormones, cognition, and dementia in the elderly
- 9 Effects of estrogen on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and cognition: implications for brain aging and dementia in women
- 10 Gender and schizophrenia
- 11 Sex steroids and anxiety disorders
- 12 Gender and hormonal factors in pain and pain inhibition
- Part III Effects of hormones and behavior on immune function
- Part IV Hormones and gender differences in psychotropic drug metabolism
- Index
6 - The role of testosterone in male depression
from Part II - Hormones and mental health in the elderly
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Overview
- Part II Hormones and mental health in the elderly
- 3 The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in aging: preclinical and clinical studies
- 4 The hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis
- 5 Estrogen and depression in aging women
- 6 The role of testosterone in male depression
- 7 Dehydroepiandrosterone in aging and mental health
- 8 Sex hormones, cognition, and dementia in the elderly
- 9 Effects of estrogen on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and cognition: implications for brain aging and dementia in women
- 10 Gender and schizophrenia
- 11 Sex steroids and anxiety disorders
- 12 Gender and hormonal factors in pain and pain inhibition
- Part III Effects of hormones and behavior on immune function
- Part IV Hormones and gender differences in psychotropic drug metabolism
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Gonadal function declines with age in both men and women. The sequelae of female gonadal hypofunction are well characterized and substantial: a growing body of evidence implicates female hypogonadism (i.e. reduction in circulating estrogen) in the pathophysiology of mood disorders, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, and heart disease in aging women (Paganini-Hill & Henderson, 1994; Tang et al., 1996; Grady et al., 1992; Robinson et al., 1994). Such knowledge, and the relative ease of estrogen replacement, has led to productive therapeutics research with important public health implications.
But there is no parallel characterization of the male hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis. Although it is now known that testosterone (T) secretion declines substantially with age (Araujo et al., 1998; Villareal & Morley, 1994; Dai et al., 1981; Field et al., 1994), the medical and psychiatric sequelae of normative gonadal hypofunction and the potential therapeutic implications are mostly unexplored. Moreover, since hypogonadism commonly presents as a neuropsychiatric symptom complex, delineation of the role of the HPG axis in the psychiatric problems of aging may be of particular relevance. For example, the suicide rate in elderly white males triples from the sixth decade to the ninth decade; in elderly women, it remains unchanged after age 40 (Meehan et al., 1991). It is possible that this difference is related to untreated hypogonadism among men.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Hormones, Gender and the Aging BrainThe Endocrine Basis of Geriatric Psychiatry, pp. 114 - 143Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000