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April 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda TUESDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) — Researchers have developed
a blood test that could one day help diagnose teens with depression.
To create the test, researchers identified 26 potential biological
markers for depression. Then they tested the markers in a small group of
teens and found that a handful of them could distinguish the teens with
major depression from those without depression.
The research was published April 17 in the journal Translational
Psychiatry.
“I think it would be more accurate to diagnose depression with a blood
test,” said study author Eva Redei, a professor of psychiatry at
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The biomarkers now
have to be studied in a larger group of teens, she added.
Currently the diagnosis for depression is subjective and involves
doctors talking with patients about their moods. The evaluation is
especially tricky in teens because this is a trying time emotionally to
start with, Redei said.
Having an objective diagnosis that relies on biomarkers could also make
it an easier diagnosis for teens to hear and ease some of the stigma
associated with depression.
“It would bring this disease into the same family of other serious
illnesses,” Redei said. “It would be much more difficult for somebody to
say, ‘Just snap out of it’ or ‘Get yourself together.'”
Between 17 percent and 25 percent of adolescents and young adults
experience depression, according to study background information. Teens
who develop depression have a worse prognosis, marked by illness,
substance abuse and suicidal behavior, compared to people who are
diagnosed later in life.
The current study involved 28 white and black teens in the Chicago
area. Half of the teens had depression.
The researchers compared the levels of the 26 potential biomarkers in
blood samples from the teens and found that 11 of them were present at
higher or lower levels among the teens with depression.
In addition, they found that 18 of the biomarkers could accurately
predict whether teens with depression also had an anxiety disorder.
In a clinical setting, a screening test for depression would involve a
panel of biomarkers, Redei explained. Some of them would give the doctor a
yes/no answer about whether the teen could have depression and should be
further evaluated, while others could reveal information about the
depression and how to treat it, such as its severity and whether it is
accompanied by anxiety.
“The hope is that not only can these tests identify who is depressed,
but they also potentially discriminate between different types of
depression,” Redei said.
But first Redei’s group has to determine whether their biomarkers are
accurate in a large group of teens representing a range of racial
backgrounds and from different areas of the country. They are now
beginning these studies.
Larger studies will tell us a lot about how useful these biomarkers
could be, said Dr. Sheldon Preskorn, a professor of psychiatry at the
University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. Anytime you test a number
of potential biomarkers on a small group of people you are going to find
some biomarkers that look clinically important, he added.
But having a screen to help identify who has depression could be hugely
helpful, Preskorn said. “This kind of approach is somewhat the holy grail
of psychology.”
There are as yet no biomarkers available for diagnosing depression at
any age.
Redei’s group is also testing the biomarkers in adults. Although it is
too soon to tell for sure, she thinks that some will end up being helpful
for diagnosing depression in adults.
The group originally identified the set of 26 candidate biomarkers by
studying rats with conditions that mimic depression in humans. And like in
humans, the condition in rats is linked either to genetic or environmental
factors.
The researchers looked in these animals at a type of molecule called a
transcript, which is an intermediate molecule between a gene and its
corresponding protein. Differences in the level of transcripts indicate
changes in gene expression.
They found 11 transcripts that were different in the blood and brain of
animals that were bred to be in a perpetual state of depression compared
to normal animals. In addition, they found 15 transcripts that increased
or decreased in groups of rats with environment-induced depression.
Altogether the changes that the researchers found were in genes that
were “most unexpected,” Redei said, adding that, “This just characterized
how little we know about depression.”
The discovery of these biomarkers gives researchers a new list of
targets to pursue as potential antidepressants, Redei said.
Having a reliable blood-based diagnostic for depression could also open
the door to treating people before symptoms appear, Preskorn said. “You
might want to look at high-risk populations, like if you have a family
history of depression.”
This approach is similar to how doctors manage other conditions like
heart disease, Preskorn said. “If you know that a person has high
cholesterol and high lipids, then you don’t wait till the person develops
atherosclerosis to start the statin drug.”
More information
You can learn more about diagnosing depression at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.
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