Researchers are developing a blood test for depression
Clinicians are looking for better tools that can help them accurately diagnose depression and determine who needs a prescription to buy Canadian Effexor.
Clinicians are looking for better tools that can help them accurately diagnose depression and determine who needs a prescription to buy Canadian Effexor. Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital have demonstrated early success with a blood test that screens patients' blood for nine potential markers for the disease.
In the past, scientists tried to develop laboratory screens for depression. However, these efforts failed in both sensitivity, which is the ability to detect the illness in people who have it, and specificity, which means being able to rule out the disease in people who are not depressed. They may not have succeeded because these tests usually measured only one marker.
For the new diagnostic, the study team collected blood samples from patients diagnosed with depression, as well as controls. The scientists screened for markers of inflammation, neuron development and other processes.
The success rate was 90 percent for sensitivity and 80 percent for specificity.
"It can be difficult to convince patients of the need for treatment based on the sort of questionnaire now used to rank their reported symptoms," said researcher John Bilello, PhD. "We expect that the biological basis of this test may provide patients with insight into their depression as a treatable disease rather than a source of self-doubt and stigma."
The study is published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
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