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Link found between PMS and postnatal depression LONDON (April 30, 1998 09:07 a.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - U.S. researchers said on Wednesday that anxiety and distress from pre-menstrual syndrome, postnatal depression and withdrawal from drugs and alcohol may all be related to similar changes in the brain. Scientists at the Allegheny University of Health Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania found the changes are related to the hormone progesterone and the ability of a neurochemical called GABA to ameliorate stress and pain in the brain. GABA dulls the brain circuits that lead to anxiety and other symptoms of PMS and other conditions, but a subunit of a receptor for GABA, called alpha 4, reduces its efficiency. The findings, reported in the science journal Nature, could open a path for new treatments for PMS and other illnesses. "Targeting this increase in the alpha 4 subunit -- somehow acting to prevent it -- may then prevent some of the symptoms of PMS," Dr Sheryl Smith said in a telephone interview. "It could be a useful target in the future for therapeutic intervention," she added. PMS begins with a decline in a woman's level of progesterone during her monthly cycle. The drop in the hormone reduces the level of a progesterone product in the brain that causes a sharp rise in alpha 4. Smith said a similar process occurs in men. A man's progesterone level rises during difficult times to help protect the brain from the effects of stress. When the stress decreases, progesterone levels return to normal, creating the same biochemical domino effect that a woman experiences in PMS. Copyright 1998 Nando.net Copyright 1998 Reuters News Service janet paterson 51/10 - sinemet/selegiline/prozac almonte/ontario/canada - [log in to unmask]