Hormones, Gender and the Aging Brain: The Endocrine Basis of Geriatric Psychiatry / Edition 1

by Mary F. Morrison

Overview

The significance of hormone action in psychiatry has long been studied, but only recently has this study included the psychiatric effects of hormones on the aging process. Hormones influence a wide scope of states and conditions, ranging from pain tolerance and anorexia to attention, mood, immunity, cardiovascular and cognitive function, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. Written by an eminent team of psychiatrists, psychologists, geriatricians, and neuropharmacologists, this pioneering clinical reference addresses the hormonal basis of mental disorders in older people. This book brings together established information and recent findings in four sections:

An overview of the basic science of neurosteroids

Sex difference and the roles that cortisol, thyroid hormone, and the sex steroids estrogen, progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone and testosterone play in common mental disorders and pain sensitivity

Psychoneuroimmunology in relation to age

Sex differences and hormones in psychotropic drug metabolism in the elderly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521653046
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/04/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	378
Product dimensions:	7.09(w) x 10.04(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Morrison, Mary F. (Univ of Pennsylvania)

Table of Contents

List of contributors; Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. Overview: 1. Summary chapter. The endocrine basis of geriatric psychiatry: an integrative approach John E. Morley; 2. Overview of steroids in the aging brain Loretta M. Flanagan-Cato; Part II. Hormones and Mental Health in the Elderly: 3. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in aging: preclinical and clinical studies John W. Kasckow, Thomas D. Geracioti Jr, Marta Pisarska, Ajit Regmi, Dewleen G. Baker and James J. Mulchahey; 4. The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis Gabriel K. Tsuboyama; 5. Estrogen and depression in aging women Mary F. Morrison and Kathryn Tweedy; 6. The role of testosterone in male depression Stuart N. Seidman and Steven P. Roose; 7. Dehydroepiandrosterone in aging and mental health Owen M. Wolkowitz, Patricia D. Kroboth, Victor I. Reus and Tanya J. Fabian; 8. Sex hormones, cognition and dementia in the elderly Kristine Yaffe; 9. Effects of estrogen on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and cognition: implications for brain aging and dementia in women Robert B. Gibbs; 10. Gender and schizophrenia Laurie A. Lindamer, M. Jackuelyn Harris, Julie Akiko Gladsjo, Robert Heaton, Jane S.Paulsen, Shelley C. Heaton and Dilip V. Jeste; 11. Sex steroids and anxiety disorders Teresa A. Pigott; 12. Gender and hormonal factors in pain and pain inhibition Wendy F. Sternberg; Part III. Effects of Hormones and Behavior on Immune Function: 13. Estrogens, stress and psychoneuroimmunology in women over the lifespan Mary H. Burleson, Susan Robinson-Whelan, Ronald Glaser and Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser; 14. Gender differences in immune function at the cellular level Eva Redei and Suresh G. Shelat; Part IV. Hormones and Gender Differences in Psychotropic Drug Metabolism: 15. Gender differences in psychotropic drug metabolism Bruce G. Pollock; 16. The influence of progesterone on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of gamma-aminobutyric acid-active drugs Patricia D. Kroboth and James W. McAuley; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"It offers plenty of ideas for further research in the area of endocrinology and psychiatry...a useful addition to any medical library." International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

"[A] wealth of information; readers looking for a single reference on 'psychoendocrinology across the adult life cycle' need not look further." Doody's Review Service G

"Clinicians and researchers will value this review of a somewhat controversial area of psychiatry." ASUB Book Guide

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Howard M. Kravitz, DO, MPH (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: A perspective on the role of hormones in mental function with special reference to the aging process is presented in this book. The focus is on the extensive literature, both established information and recent findings, on the hormonal causes and treatment of mental disorders associated with aging and gender differences.
Purpose: According to the editor, this book "enhances our understanding of the role hormones play in the geriatric mental disorders that can threaten our relationships and self" (p. xvi). It would be an understatement to say that the objective of "focusing the scientific community on the endocrine aspects of mental disorders" (p. xvii) was accomplished.
Audience: The intended audience is psychiatric clinicians and researchers. Psychiatric epidemiologists will find this volume useful for conceptualizing subtle and not-so-subtle ways that age and gender confound our understanding of hormonal-related risk factors. Psychiatrists, psychologists, geriatricians, and neuropharmacologists who are authorities in their respective areas contributed to this work. The editor, a junior investigator in the area of sex steroids and mood disorders, accomplished a remarkable task in organizing this volume; little overlap among the chapters is evident.
Features: The 16 chapters are divided into four main parts: an overview of the basic science of neurosteroids; sex differences, aging, and the roles of various hormones and sex steroids in mental disorders and pain sensitivity; psychoneuroimmunology in relation to aging; and influences of gender, hormones, and aging on psychotropic drug metabolism. Basic science and clinical research data are integrated nicely; information relevant to clinical therapeutics is sparse. Readers will gain an appreciation for the complexities involved in research in psychoendocrinology, particularly age and gender variability. Particularly in Part II, chapters could have benefited from more generous use of tables and figures to highlight textual material and to orient the reader. Also, some figures needed clearer labeling (e.g., define abbreviations in the legends). The index was only moderately helpful (e.g., allopregnanolone does not appear in the index).
Assessment: This scholarly compilation of up-to-date review papers has been well integrated into a very comprehensive and informative text on the hormonal basis of psychopathology in adults. However, readers should beware of the misleading subtitle — this book is about age-associated changes but is not specifically about geriatric psychiatry or the elderly. Data are presented that characterize changes and differences over the adult life cycle, from young adult to elderly. Gender-specific findings also are well described, particularly pre- and post-menopausal variations in women. Despite the moderately high price tag, this book contains a wealth of information; readers looking for a single reference on "psychoendocrinology across the adult life cycle" need not look further.

Doody's Review Service

4 Stars! from Doody

A perspective on the role of hormones in mental function with special reference to the aging process is presented in this book. The focus is on the extensive literature, both established information and recent findings, on the hormonal causes and treatment of mental disorders associated with aging and gender differences. According to the editor, this book ""enhances our understanding of the role hormones play in the geriatric mental disorders that can threaten our relationships and self"" (p. xvi). It would be an understatement to say that the objective of ""focusing the scientific community on the endocrine aspects of mental disorders"" (p. xvii) was accomplished. The intended audience is psychiatric clinicians and researchers. Psychiatric epidemiologists will find this volume useful for conceptualizing subtle and not-so-subtle ways that age and gender confound our understanding of hormonal-related risk factors. Psychiatrists, psychologists, geriatricians, and neuropharmacologists who are authorities in their respective areas contributed to this work. The editor, a junior investigator in the area of sex steroids and mood disorders, accomplished a remarkable task in organizing this volume; little overlap among the chapters is evident. The 16 chapters are divided into four main parts: an overview of the basic science of neurosteroids; sex differences, aging, and the roles of various hormones and sex steroids in mental disorders and pain sensitivity; psychoneuroimmunology in relation to aging; and influences of gender, hormones, and aging on psychotropic drug metabolism. Basic science and clinical research data are integrated nicely; information relevant to clinical therapeutics issparse. Readers will gain an appreciation for the complexities involved in research in psychoendocrinology, particularly age and gender variability. Particularly in Part II, chapters could have benefited from more generous use of tables and figures to highlight textual material and to orient the reader. Also, some figures needed clearer labeling (e.g., define abbreviations in the legends). The index was only moderately helpful (e.g., allopregnanolone does not appear in the index). This scholarly compilation of up-to-date review papers has been well integrated into a very comprehensive and informative text on the hormonal basis of psychopathology in adults. However, readers should beware of the misleading subtitle—this book is about age-associated changes but is not specifically about geriatric psychiatry or the elderly. Data are presented that characterize changes and differences over the adult life cycle, from young adult to elderly. Gender-specific findings also are well described, particularly pre- and post-menopausal variations in women. Despite the moderately high price tag, this book contains a wealth of information; readers looking for a single reference on ""psychoendocrinology across the adult life cycle"" need not look further.

Howard M. Kravitz