As of: February 5, 2024, 2:04 p.m
By: Laura Knops
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Result of a current study: Certain markers in the blood could soon help to make the diagnosis and treatment of depression easier.
If a patient comes to the doctor with clear organic symptoms, the diagnosis of an illness is not always clear, but it can at least be narrowed down.
Diagnosis of psychiatric illnesses is often more difficult.
However, a blood test could change this in the future.
With the help of biological evidence, researchers soon want to detect suicidal thoughts in people with depression at an early stage - this could also revolutionize therapy.
Detecting depression: Detecting mental illnesses in the laboratory
Depression and other mental illnesses manifest themselves through a variety of symptoms.
The diagnosis is therefore not always clear.
© Panthermedia/Imago
While the symptoms of depression are primarily psychological, scientists and doctors have long understood that depression also has physical causes.
Mental illnesses are complex illnesses that have physical effects on the entire body.
Measuring markers of cell metabolism has therefore become an important approach in researching mental illnesses and developing new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent them, as researchers at the
University of Kiel
report.
A research team from the
University of California San Diego School of Medicine
has now looked at a promising test procedure that starts exactly there.
They found that certain biological evidence was present in the blood of people with suicidal thoughts.
The study was
published in the scientific journal
Translational Psychiatry .
The results could soon personalize mental health care.
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Five biomarkers increased in people with depression
The researchers analyzed the blood of a total of 99 study participants with treatment-resistant depression and suicidal ideation as well as an equal number of healthy control subjects.
Five biomarkers appear to occur more frequently in the patients.
However, these are gender-specific.
“In 100 people who either have no depression or have depression and suicidal ideation, we were able to correctly identify 85-90 of those at highest risk based on five metabolites in men and five additional metabolites in women,” explains Robert Naviaux, a professor at San
Diego School of Medicine.
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“About ten years ago, it was difficult to study how the chemistry of the whole body influences our behavior and mood, but modern technologies such as metabolomics help us listen to the conversations of cells in their native language, biochemistry,” explains Robert Naviaux , professor at the
San Diego School of Medicine
in a press release.
Prospect of new and better therapeutic approaches
While many people with depression improve with psychotherapy and medication, in some people the disease is resistant to treatment.
In these cases, treatment has little or no effect.
The majority of patients with treatment-resistant depression have suicidal thoughts, and up to 30 percent of sufferers make at least one suicide attempt during their lifetime,
UC San Diego Today
reports.
Since many chronic diseases are associated with depression, treatment at the metabolic level could also mean an improvement in these diseases.
“If the results can be used to identify people at greatest risk, it could ultimately help us save more lives,” the researchers said.
According to the scientific magazine
Studyfinds
, the approach could also help research and treat depression and other illnesses:
Early warning: Identifying people at increased risk of suicide could identify people at risk and allow doctors to intervene early.
Personalized treatment: Using the markers researched by scientists, doctors could tailor therapy to a patient's specific needs.
Discovery of new drugs: The new understanding of markers could help to develop new drugs in the future.
The results contribute to a better understanding of the biological basis of depression and to the development of new therapeutic approaches.
Important note: Anyone affected by suicidal thoughts should get help as quickly as possible. An important contact point is the telephone counseling service
Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The trained advisors offer support on the free numbers 0800-1110111 and 0800-1110222.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, our editorial team cannot answer individual questions about medical conditions.