Two-thirds of Australians with clinical depression have used multiple antidepressants to manage their condition, the nation’s largest study on depression has found.
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“About 30 percent of people say that antidepressants work but a large proportion of those have had trouble with them in terms of side-effects so they’ve had to swap prescriptions a number of times to actually find one that works for them,” [Nick Martin at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute] said.
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“Given our lack of diagnostic methods to predict different responses to antidepressants, or forecast the potential for intolerable side-effects, we are exposing those battling clinical depression, to trial and error, which is often slow to deliver significant benefits,” [Martin said.]
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It is hoped the “groundbreaking” research will lead to the identification of between 50 to 100 genes that influence a person’s risks of developing depression.
“Only then, through cracking the genetic code of clinical depression, will we be able to develop new, and more effective, personalised treatments that target the problem directly,” Professor Martin said.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: The Australian scientists cracking the genetic code of clinical depression
