Vasomotor Symptoms and Depression in Women, Part 2. Treatments That Cause Remission and Prevent Relapses of Major Depressive Episodes Overlap With Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Vasomotor symptoms may be
linked to changing levels of
estrogen, which can affect levels of
neurotransmitters and neural proteins
that modulate the risk of depression in
some women, thus serving as harbingers
of oncoming depression or signs
of incomplete recovery from a major
depressive episode (MDE). The
question arises whether clinicians who
normally diagnose and treat depression
should also diagnose and treat vasomotor
symptoms, and if so, how.

Fluctuating estrogen levels can theoretically
create monoaminergic dysfunction
in the brain; when this dysregulation
occurs in the hypothalamic thermoregulatory centers, vasomotor
symptoms may occur (Figure 1).