Study Suggests Way to Predict Whom Antidepressants Help

[Guest guest]

(These bastards just will not give up on the serotonin theory!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/health/17depress.html

December 17, 2004

Study Suggests Way to Predict Whom Antidepressants Help

By BENEDICT CAREY

Scientists studying depression reported yesterday that they had found

evidence that a common genetic variation affecting how people manage stress

predicts how much benefit they get from taking antidepressants.

Psychiatrists have long known that about half the people found to be

suffering from depression also show signs of elevated anxiety. Researchers

have tried to explain the correlation, as well as why the same drugs can

relieve both conditions.

In the new study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, doctors

from Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles, treated with

drugs a group of 54 Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles who were both depressed

and highly anxious. (Limiting the study to one demographic group was a

control tool.) They found that 60 percent of the group had a common genetic

variant that helps govern the body's response to stress.

The researchers found that after being treated with antidepressants,

patients with the genetic variation were far less anxious and depressed than

when they began the study, said the lead author, Dr. Julio Licinio of the

Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California.

But anxious, depressed patients who did not have the variation got much less

relief from the drugs, Dr. Licinio said, adding, " This is the first time

we've linked response to antidepressants to a stress-related genetic

variation. "

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[Guest guest]

(These bastards just will not give up on the serotonin theory!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/health/17depress.html

December 17, 2004

Study Suggests Way to Predict Whom Antidepressants Help

By BENEDICT CAREY

Scientists studying depression reported yesterday that they had found

evidence that a common genetic variation affecting how people manage stress

predicts how much benefit they get from taking antidepressants.

Psychiatrists have long known that about half the people found to be

suffering from depression also show signs of elevated anxiety. Researchers

have tried to explain the correlation, as well as why the same drugs can

relieve both conditions.

In the new study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, doctors

from Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles, treated with

drugs a group of 54 Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles who were both depressed

and highly anxious. (Limiting the study to one demographic group was a

control tool.) They found that 60 percent of the group had a common genetic

variant that helps govern the body's response to stress.

The researchers found that after being treated with antidepressants,

patients with the genetic variation were far less anxious and depressed than

when they began the study, said the lead author, Dr. Julio Licinio of the

Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California.

But anxious, depressed patients who did not have the variation got much less

relief from the drugs, Dr. Licinio said, adding, " This is the first time

we've linked response to antidepressants to a stress-related genetic

variation. "

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search |

Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top

[Guest guest]

(These bastards just will not give up on the serotonin theory!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/health/17depress.html

December 17, 2004

Study Suggests Way to Predict Whom Antidepressants Help

By BENEDICT CAREY

Scientists studying depression reported yesterday that they had found

evidence that a common genetic variation affecting how people manage stress

predicts how much benefit they get from taking antidepressants.

Psychiatrists have long known that about half the people found to be

suffering from depression also show signs of elevated anxiety. Researchers

have tried to explain the correlation, as well as why the same drugs can

relieve both conditions.

In the new study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, doctors

from Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles, treated with

drugs a group of 54 Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles who were both depressed

and highly anxious. (Limiting the study to one demographic group was a

control tool.) They found that 60 percent of the group had a common genetic

variant that helps govern the body's response to stress.

The researchers found that after being treated with antidepressants,

patients with the genetic variation were far less anxious and depressed than

when they began the study, said the lead author, Dr. Julio Licinio of the

Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California.

But anxious, depressed patients who did not have the variation got much less

relief from the drugs, Dr. Licinio said, adding, " This is the first time

we've linked response to antidepressants to a stress-related genetic

variation. "

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search |

Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top

[Guest guest]

(These bastards just will not give up on the serotonin theory!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/17/health/17depress.html

December 17, 2004

Study Suggests Way to Predict Whom Antidepressants Help

By BENEDICT CAREY

Scientists studying depression reported yesterday that they had found

evidence that a common genetic variation affecting how people manage stress

predicts how much benefit they get from taking antidepressants.

Psychiatrists have long known that about half the people found to be

suffering from depression also show signs of elevated anxiety. Researchers

have tried to explain the correlation, as well as why the same drugs can

relieve both conditions.

In the new study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, doctors

from Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles, treated with

drugs a group of 54 Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles who were both depressed

and highly anxious. (Limiting the study to one demographic group was a

control tool.) They found that 60 percent of the group had a common genetic

variant that helps govern the body's response to stress.

The researchers found that after being treated with antidepressants,

patients with the genetic variation were far less anxious and depressed than

when they began the study, said the lead author, Dr. Julio Licinio of the

Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California.

But anxious, depressed patients who did not have the variation got much less

relief from the drugs, Dr. Licinio said, adding, " This is the first time

we've linked response to antidepressants to a stress-related genetic

variation. "

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search |

Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top