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New Blood Test Could Diagnose Depression


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http://www.iflscience.com/brain/new-blood-test-could-diagnose-depression

 

Interesting. What are your thoughts?

 

 

 

Someone commented 

 

Guest  a day ago

The serotonin theory of depression has been debunked so many times it's not even funny to read these sort of stories anymore. As someone who's depression becomes severely worsened by nearly every serotonergic antidepressant available it really bothers me that people still buy into this BS theory.

 

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I'm not sure what to think. I like the prospect of being able to have something definitive, but I think MI is so complex that it may not be possible to pinpoint the exact causes for every individual for a long time. But, then, what do I know?

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I'm not sure I understand the comment you have quoted about the serotonin theory of depression being debunked, and why you thought that was the important thing to quote here.

Many people respond well to serotonin-based antidepressants, though clearly not everyone does. Because the serotonin theory of depression is arguably incomplete, that doesn't mean people will not benefit from supplemented serotonin to help treat symptoms of depression.

Perhaps the test for this kind of biomarker would include sorting out who would likely benefit from SSRIs and who wouldn't.

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I'm relieved that they have a test (Using MRI *I think) that proves mental illness exists.   

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-brain-scans-diagnose-mental-illness/

 

My TDoc said most of the people she worked with were quite happy (Relieved?) when this was written up *that they weren't trying to fix a non problem.

 

I think it will be great if they can make some science out of meds.   Are they really working?   Is the dose really correct?    So much of what we take is "How this works is not understood"  Which I find rather horrifying.

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Light, I followed the link and it didn't seem to say to me that serotonin is not a player.  I assume that's your point? I did find this is just from cursory looking on-line but this is way premature.  Maybe someone has already posted this info?

"The latest hope as a psychiatric rescue drug is called MI-4, and news of its promise was reported earlier this week at the San Diego meeting of the  Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Scientists also have identified the drug as Ro-25-6981.

"In the test tube, MI-4 was found to simultaneously increase the availability in the brain of three neurotransmitters that play a key role in depression: serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine."

I did find this interesting:

"MI-4 was found during a 'virtual screening,' in which a computer model is used to find agents that act on known targets, in this case, for depression drugs."

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fast-antidepressant-not-ketamine-20140501,0,2180858.story

Edited by Will
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I'm not sure what to think. I like the prospect of being able to have something definitive, but I think MI is so complex that it may not be possible to pinpoint the exact causes for every individual for a long time. But, then, what do I know?

 

I agree - I've been seeing alot of these science posts about testing for MI's lately and it's confusing me, also why it's SO important( how do we know. all these questions we have for these so called tests) MI is'nt clear cut..

 

I'm not sure I understand the comment you have quoted about the serotonin theory of depression being debunked, and why you thought that was the important thing to quote here.

Many people respond well to serotonin-based antidepressants, though clearly not everyone does. Because the serotonin theory of depression is arguably incomplete, that doesn't mean people will not benefit from supplemented serotonin to help treat symptoms of depression.

 

 

Sorry i did'nt know i did someone wrong. I was quoting that because i was reading through the comment's of what people had to say ( example making a thread here )

It's what's confusing me - everybody is different, with MI and medication, and such - It' just annoys me with these so called test's, that they are throwing MI in with other health related illness's (imo only)

 

Light, I followed the link and it didn't seem to say to me that serotonin is not a player.  I assume that's your point? I did find this is just from cursory looking on-line but this is way premature.  Maybe someone has already posted this info?

"The latest hope as a psychiatric rescue drug is called MI-4, and news of its promise was reported earlier this week at the San Diego meeting of the  Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Scientists also have identified the drug as Ro-25-6981.

"In the test tube, MI-4 was found to simultaneously increase the availability in the brain of three neurotransmitters that play a key role in depression: serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine."

I did find this interesting:

"MI-4 was found during a 'virtual screening,' in which a computer model is used to find agents that act on known targets, in this case, for depression drugs."

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fast-antidepressant-not-ketamine-20140501,0,2180858.story

 

Yeah i think that was my point haha  :blush:  Interesting thanks for the link - reading now

Edited by Light
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