Biomarkers for depression – light at the end of the tunnel?
18 FEB, 2014
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New research published this week focuses on an issue central to mental health research – the identification of a physiological biomarker for depression. Scientists in Cambridge looked at teenagers and found that boys with a particular marker were at a significantly greater risk of developing depression later in life than those without it. Cynthia Joyce, Chief Executive of the mental health charity MQ: Transforming Mental Health gives us some context to the research and explains why biomarkers for depression are so sought after.
It is sobering to realise that major research efforts around the world have been unsuccessful in their search for genetic or body fluid measures that might tell us who might be at risk of, much less confirm the presence of depression. The lack of good diagnostic and prognostic markers has stymied efforts to find better treatments and preventive interventions, as well as hindering work to refine our definitions of depression. Our lack of success in this area undoubtedly reflects the complexity of the disorder as well as a deficiency of tools and technologies to help solve the problem.
Read the full article at Wellcome Trust
(http://blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2014/02/18/biomarkers-for-depression-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/)
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