Michelle

I don’t think that is corny at all. I’ve wondered about that myself. After reading one of the medical articles that you can access from this CAH board, "Evidence of genetic advantage in carriers", I’ve tried to find out a bit more especially when one of my nephews was having episodes of mental illness. I know that brother’s children could be possible carriers. My daughter has CAH and also a second cousin. From what I have gathered, there is a connection with some forms of depression and in extreme cases some psychosis. I believe this area begs to be further explored. (I’m ever hopeful that some medical research student may find some posts and be inspired.) Any way, the part from the article on genetic advantage that caught my eye reads:

"Perhaps most intriguing is the possible effects of the carrier state on cortisol homeostasis. One would predict decreased cortisol production in carriers. However, decreases in cortisol cause a loss of negative feedback inhibition to the hypothalamus and pituitary. This, in turn, could increase pituitary ACTH secretion, leading to up-regulation of adrenal steroidogenic enzymes (15). This "turned-on" or "primed" adrenal cortex could secrete cortisol more robustly in response to physiological stimulation and offer a selective advantage by preventing excessive or inappropriate immune responses, such as autoimmune disease (16, 17,18). Thus, we hypothesized that a paradoxical increase in stimulated cortisol concentrations could ensue."

http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/82/7/2097

Peg