Could a blood test help detect severe depression? – WebMD



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What is "exciting" about new discoveries, he says, is to suggest that LAC could help identify people with a more severe subtype of depression.

"In psychiatry, we lack substances that can serve as diagnostic markers.

Brennan, who was not involved in the study, also pointed out that this is not a proof that LAC supplements will help severely depressed people.

"Current evidence is mixed," he said. "It's possible that this is a target for treatment, but it's far away."

In the future, said Brennan, treatment trials could include only depressive patients who have particularly low LAC levels.

James Potash, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, agreed:

"It may be better to focus on these patients because they might have the best chance of responding [to supplements]"said Potash. In the study

he said that research like this is important because, with a better understanding of the "biology of depression", more refined treatments can be developed.

For now, Potash said: the proven treatments we have. There is good evidence for various treatments, not just antidepressants. "

The most commonly used antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which act on serotonin, a" chemical messenger "in the brain, but the drugs are not effective for the entire body. depression

Depression differs from one person to another – just like his biology, said Brennan. "So it's too simplistic to give everyone the same treatment," he said.

Rasgon stated that LAC indirectly affects serotonin, so the link between the amino acid and depression does not rule out any role for serotonin, she notes. 19659002] "Depression is very complicated to treat," said Rasgon. "We learn that there are so many different pieces to this puzzle, it's another piece that falls into place." [19659002] The study was published online July 30 in Acts of the Academy National Science

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Sources

SOURCES: Natalie Rasgon, MD, Ph.D., Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Brian Brennan, M.D., Medical Director, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Institute, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Mbadachusetts, and Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston; James Potash, M.D., M.P.H., Professor and Director, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; July 30, 2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online



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