Relationship among estrogen-induced psychophysiological changes in hypogonadal women

Abstract

Estrogen treatment of 16 hypogonadal women showed lessening of gonadotrophins, vasomotor symptoms, psychometrically measured aggression, and average sleep latency, but more Rapid Eye Movement sleep in a 100-day cross-over, double-blind comparison with placebo treatment. Of eight insomniac subjects, four showed decreased, but four showed increased insomnia scores and sleep latencies. Clinical rank of psychological intactness correlated with sleep latency and with total sleep time during the estrogen condition. Although estrogen altered both physiological and psychological states, such effects were characterized by different time courses and different degrees of consistency among the subjects.