clipped from: psychcentral.com According to the lead author on this study, Kamilla Miskowiak, MSc: “Although depression is often related to problems in the chemistry of the brain, recent evidence also suggests that there may be structural problems as well with nerve cells not being regenerated as fast as normal or suffering from toxic effects of stress and stress hormones.”
This led the researchers to evaluate the effects of erythropoietin (Epo), a hormone naturally produced by the kidneys that stimulates the formation of red blood cells and is known as a treatment for anemia.
They found that Epo regulated the emotional responses of those volunteers that received it, similar to the effects of current antidepressants.
Ms. Miskowiak explains that “this finding provides support to the idea that Epo affects neural function and may be a candidate agent for future treatment strategies for depression.”