biologically produced change in the body connected with a disease or
health. Biomarkers unique to a specific condition, disorder or disease
are best in order to avoid possible false positives. For example
C-reactive protein (CRP) is considered a non-specific test/marker for
inflammation. It is not however, specific enough to diagnose a
particular disease, although it does serve as a general marker for
infection and inflammation. CRP has been correlated with depression,
autoimmune disease, infection, arthritis, cardiovascular disease. As
well, CRP levels can be elevated in the later stages of pregnancy as
well as with use of birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy
(i.e., estrogen). Higher levels of CRP have also been observed in
people who are obese.
ABC NEWS/=A0Blood Test May Help Diagnose Depression
A blood test may eventually help diagnose depression, according to a
new study published in the journal=A0Molecular Psychiatry.
=A0In the=A0study, which was =A0funded by Ridge Diagnostics, the firm that
developed the blood test,=A0=A0researchers at Massachusetts General
Hospital=A0in Boston analyzed the levels of nine biomarkers that could
distinguish patients who had a major depressive disorder from those
who did not.
The biomarkers analyzed=A0were associated with inflammation, neuron
development and stress response in brain structures. The blood test
results were then scored on a scale that researchers created for the
study.
=93Traditionally, diagnoses of major depression and other mental
disorders had been made based on patients=92 reported symptoms, but the
accuracy of that process varies a great deal, often depending on the
experience and resources of the clinician conducting the assessment,=94
Dr. George Papakostas, lead author of the study, said in a statement.=94
Adding an objective biological test could improve diagnostic accuracy
and may also help us track individual patients=92 response to
treatment.=94
The pilot study included 36 adults who had been diagnosed with major
depression, and 43 healthy control study subjects.=A0 The test
accurately pinpointed depression in=A0 90 percent of previously
diagnosed depressed patients.
Many patients deny they are depressed because of the stigma associated
with=A0depression, said Dr. Harold Koenig, a professor of psychiatry and
behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center, so the test
could be useful in taking away the shame of the disease and getting
more people=A0 treated, he said.
But a blood test diagnosis=A0can come=A0with a big downside.
=93[Some] patients might truly have depression and have a negative test,
and then their symptoms might be discounted by family members and by
health professionals, since depressive symptoms or emotional feelings
are entirely subjective and there =A0is no way to verify these
symptoms,=94 said Koenig.=A0 =93This could place a huge burden on patients
who are already suffering, and be told that they really don=92t have
depression because they had a low score on a less than perfect test.=94
The biomarkers could also be influenced by other disease patterns,
said Cynthia Kuhn, a =A0professor of pharmacology at Duke University
Medical Center.
=93It will be important to see if [the blood test] can discriminate
depression from related disorders,=94 said Kuhn. =93It is unlikely that
the blood test alone would be appropriate.=94
It is=A0important that physicians focus on patients=92 symptoms, along
with biologic and genetic factors, said Dr. Carol Bernstein, associate
professor of psychiatry at=A0the=A0New York University School of Medicine.
=93Patient-centered care should be exactly that and outside of specific
diseases that have clear genetics =85 medicine cannot be reduced to
simple tests,=94 said Bernstein. =93Disease states are complex and
depression is no exception.=94
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