Blood tests offer new hope for people with bipolar disorder Mental Health News

Blood tests using RNA transcripts give new hope to people with depression such as depression on what can be a successful diagnosis of dementia.

A team from the Indiana University School of Medicine launched a blood test in April, claiming it was the first medical response to diagnosing dementia.

“Our research shows that it is possible to test blood for depression and bipolar disorder, which has a therapeutic effect, can differentiate between the two, and link people with appropriate therapies,” said psychologist and geneticist Dr Alexander. Niculescu, who led the research.

“This avoids many years of trial and error, hospitalization, and the consequences. Since this is a very serious matter, we think we can do a lot of good with the tests and other programs we have developed.”

This study investigated the mechanisms that cause mental illness, developing a tool to identify the type of disorder a person has – depression or bipolar disorder.

To conduct the experiment, Dr. Niculescu’s team took 15 years of previous research into how psychiatrists interact with blood-based biomarkers – measurable environmental markers in the form of RNA, DNA, proteins or other molecules.

Every system in the body – the brain, the nervous system, the immune system – has a unique developmental process, says Dr. Niculescu.

“For example, when you have anxiety or depression, there are psycho-neurological processes, hormones and other substances released that affect your blood and your immune system,” said Al Jazeera.

In contrast, the immune system or inflammation can affect the brain.

In the first phase of the study, the team identified a list of RNA biomarkers that can track how they feel over time. After identifying them as a group of independent individuals with severe depression and dementia, they completed 26 biomarkers, which dropped to 12 in experiments.

With these findings, doctors can send patients to a laboratory for blood tests to determine the cause of their symptoms, just as they do for a physical ailment, says Dr. Niculescu.

Biomarkers can also be helpful and supportive because some of them have been found to be sensitive to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), a group of antidepressants. Three others were identified in previous work to be affected by lithium carbonate – a compound used in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

“Depending on which biomarkers are modified [a patient], we have a list of drugs … selected according to their compatibility [the patient’s] natural history, “Dr Niculescu said.

Blood tests conducted by Dr Niculescu and his team are now available as a CLIA test for doctors to start ordering, through a company set up by Niculescu and other experts in the field. CLIA is a series of U.S. government standards for laboratory tests that test human samples to test health or detect, prevent, or cure disease.

But according to Alexander Talkovsky, program director at the Division of Translational Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the United States, there is still research to be done. The main issue is that if the findings are followed by independent researchers alone, they are adding.

This has happened gradually within the research itself, says Dr Niculescu, through a number of experimental and validation methods in independent groups. According to the study, the findings were further developed by independent studies of the genetic authorities who released the study upon completion.

But what if the subject of the study itself is wrong?

Professor Ian Hickie, director of health and program management at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Center, and former director of health care in Australia, says finding one method that works for all patients with a mental illness is unlikely because such problems are. individual and comes from a clinical display at various stages of life.

His team instead connects physiology and biology to human symptoms, not their disease group.

“What systems are disrupted? How are they represented? What are the symptoms that you may notice?” he said. “And [then] What are some of the natural remedies, procedures and other things that improve things … and make you feel better? “

Basically, all of these can be used in conjunction with clinical evaluation for accurate and reliable diagnosis and treatment, he says.

Targeted testing can change early diagnosis

Targeted testing may be particularly important for patients who are experiencing a slow onset of diagnosis.

In particular, it can take years for many of the symptoms to change.

Sydney psychiatrist, Dr. Sonia Kumar, says that bipolar disorder often begins with what appears to be depression, with symptoms that later appear.

In some cases, symptoms may be present but not so severe that the disease is not detected until it has resolved.

If there were natural tests that could clarify these changes and clinical light, says Kumar, physicians could start receiving treatment more quickly, which could reduce the severity of pre-existing conditions.

Researcher Katrin Inci believes that early detection of bipolar disorder not only saved her years of unresolved suffering, but also the seriousness of her condition once it was discovered.

She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 13 and prescribed Zoloft, a type of antidepressant that is well-known for causing mania in bipolar patients.

“[It] it terrified me until I was 19, when I was hospitalized for the first time, ”he says.

After being hospitalized, Inci recovered, and for 10 years experimented with new drugs, looked into bipolar disorder and underwent medical research.

Dr Niculescu says diagnosing trauma problems as depression can help reduce the stigma associated with dementia. [Supplied]

He believed that if he had been diagnosed at the age of 13, his condition would not have been so severe.

Studies show that bipolar disorder is a disorder characterized by bipolar disorder.

“I would have already received treatment … I would have had a few parcels,” Inci told Al Jazeera. “I feel like [fewer] hospitalization, which would have saved me tons of money and tons of time, and tons of pain. ”

Proper diagnosis of dementia such as this blood test may also be the key to reducing stigma associated with mental illness, says Dr Niculescu.

“People will realize that it is just a disease… not a moral weakness, laziness and so on,” he says.

Violet, a Russian artist who loves to share her own name, has been suffering from depression for years.

He is said to have introduced stigma and often feels like a “liar”.

“Sometimes I feel like … I want curiosity or something,” he said. “These are the things you blame the most, even to the people around you … and then you start to wonder what if I’m a selfish person who wants the most attention?”

Data goes a long way to dispel this suspicion, explains Kasia, an NGO worker in Sydney who asked for her name to be used.

He compares his depression to that of an adult when he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a child.

Because the test was performed to diagnose ADHD, he was able to see the results of his psychiatric examination.

He did show me all the scans on my brain and showed me how different my brain was. It was a big day for me, it changed everything, “he said.

Kathmandu psychiatrist, Dr Pawan Sharma, says such testing can solve many of the barriers to care among his patients, especially those from rural areas, where there is little awareness of mental illness.

Most of these patients are unaware at first that depression can be a disease, said an assistant professor in the department of psychology at the Patan Academy of Health Sciences.

“They have come [to physicians] and physical symptoms – headaches, insomnia, loss of energy, heart rate – and them [are then referred] to physicians, “Dr. Sharma said, realizing that targeted testing may give patients something visual to express their feelings.

As it stands now, says Talkovsky of NIMH, Dr Niculescu’s research goes a long way in achieving this and advancing psychiatric research.

“What they are doing represents a very important part of our ability to make writing [for] mental illness, ”he said.

Although still in its infancy, with more and more research, blood tests for this study could be a major part of diagnostic tests, improving the quality of life and improving the lives of millions of people.