A four-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will help researchers determine how the stabilization of ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone may help lower symptoms associated with suicidality among females with longstanding thoughts of suicide.
A four-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will help researchers determine how the stabilization of ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone may help lower symptoms associated with suicidality among females with longstanding thoughts of suicide.
While estradiol and progesterone rise and fall over the course of the menstrual cycle, the hormones plummet to their lowest levels just before and during menses. Suicide attempts occur most frequently either right before, during or right after menstrual bleeding in women.
“In most women, stable estradiol and progesterone are associated with feelings of well-being and calm,” said Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, assistant professor of psychiatry in the UIC College of Medicine, and principal investigator on the grant. “In our previous research in females with chronic suicidality, stabilizing both estradiol and progesterone protected women against increased depression and thoughts of suicide around menses and may have mitigated the negative effects of withdrawal from these hormones. In this study, we want to investigate the mechanisms by which hormone stabilization may protect against suicide.”
Read more at University of Illinois at Chicago
Photo: Tory Eisenlohr-Moul. CREDIT: Jenny Fontaine
