// Cortisol, ovulation, CBT. /
"Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid in women with FHA, as opposed to women who were ovulating normally, showed increased levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress. Chronic elevation of cortisol levels heightens the risk for other health burdens, such as depression or osteoporosis, but chronic cortisol increases can often be reversed with behavioural therapy.
In a pilot study, Professor Berga's team randomised 16 women with FHA into two groups. One group received cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for 20 weeks; members of the other group were observed. "A staggering 80% of the women who received CBT started to ovulate again, as opposed to only 25% of those randomised to observation", said Professor Berga. "Neither group gained weight nor showed significant changes in their levels of leptin, a hormone involved in regulating body weight and metabolism. This study underlines the important contribution that lifestyle factors play in determining overall health and reproductive health in particular. To reverse stress-induced ovulation, it is not enough simply to address metabolic sources of stress."
Professor Berga told the conference that the recovery of the stress and ovarian axes appears to occur independently of major metabolic changes such as an increase in leptin or thyroxine (a hormone that affects how cells use energetic compounds). Since CBT caused a drop in cortisol and a rise in TSH, it may be that the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis, involved in the regulation of metabolism, recovers, but only later."
In a pilot study, Professor Berga's team randomised 16 women with FHA into two groups. One group received cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for 20 weeks; members of the other group were observed. "A staggering 80% of the women who received CBT started to ovulate again, as opposed to only 25% of those randomised to observation", said Professor Berga. "Neither group gained weight nor showed significant changes in their levels of leptin, a hormone involved in regulating body weight and metabolism. This study underlines the important contribution that lifestyle factors play in determining overall health and reproductive health in particular. To reverse stress-induced ovulation, it is not enough simply to address metabolic sources of stress."
Professor Berga told the conference that the recovery of the stress and ovarian axes appears to occur independently of major metabolic changes such as an increase in leptin or thyroxine (a hormone that affects how cells use energetic compounds). Since CBT caused a drop in cortisol and a rise in TSH, it may be that the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis, involved in the regulation of metabolism, recovers, but only later."