Estrogen Administration Improves the Trajectory of Eating Disorder Pathology in Oligo-Amenorrheic Athletes: A Randomized Trial

Disordered eating behavior and attitudes are common in conditions of functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and exercise-induced amenorrhea (Beals and Hill, 2006; Quah et al., 2009), which are also associated with significant psychiatric co-morbidity, including anxiety and depression. Hypogonadism in these conditions has been implicated in psychological morbidity. Estrogen and progesterone receptors are expressed in appetite regulation centers (e.g., the hypothalamus) and regions regulating emotion and cognition (e.g., the amygdala, ventral tegmental area, insula, and hippocampus) (Campolier et al., 2016; Coyoy et al., 2016; Minervini et al., 2015).

Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - November 15, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Franziska Plessow, Vibha Singhal, Alexander T. Toth, Nadia Micali, Kamryn T. Eddy, Madhusmita Misra Source Type: research