Thyroid Madness

Apparently, thyroid and adrenal dysfunction could be two major contributors to high depression rates and could as well have a connection with high cholestrol.

T3, the active thyroid metabolite hormone, have numerous receptors all over the body. Thyroid hormones regulate the efficiacy and availability of other hormones and signal substances in the body, for example, it has an important role in regulating serotonine, noradrenaline and GABA. These are three hormones that control mostly anxiety and attention, and one could fairly easily imagine that dysregulation of those could contribute to depression.

Cortisol, a hormone produced in the adrenal gland, regulates stress responses, as well as the activity of thyroid hormones. If you have trouble falling asleep at night, and even greater trouble getting up, cortisol could the problem.

Cortisol is usually highest in the morning and afternoon, but in a lot of depressed people, the fluctuations are absent, or have gone haywire. Some have constantly high cortisol level, and it is believed to be not just a symptom, but a co-cause of depression.

Of course, these changes occur in people who face environmental stress, such as loss or trauma, but within the body, neurological changes can be caused by environmental as well as chemical reasons.