Researchers develop blood tests that can help measure depression, bipolar disorder

A new study from researchers in Indiana has found a way to test someone’s blood to measure depression and open the door to changes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, who found a way to distinguish from a blood test how severe a patient’s depression is, the risk that they may develop major depression in the future, and the risk of future bipolar disorder.

The study took place over four years and included more than 300 participants.

Researchers watched when the participants were in a high and low mood, and noticed changes in their blood between the two states.

Researchers looked at these biological markers – or biomarkers – in the blood and referred to them as those in another group of clinically severe people with depression or mania. Communities have been found as a way to predict who is ill and who may become ill in the future.

“Blood biomarkers are emerging as important tools in disorders where subjective self-report by an individual, or a clinical impression of a healthcare professional, is not always reliable. These blood tests can open the door to precise, personalized compliance with medicine, and objective monitoring of response to treatment, “says Dr. Alexander B. Niculescu, who led the study and is a professor of psychiatry at the school.

“Through this work, we wanted to develop blood tests for depression and bipolar disorder, to distinguish between the two and match people to the right treatments,” he continued.

Niculescu said the research opens doors for more accurate diagnoses and also helps with the development of new drugs.

“It is part of our effort to bring psychiatry from the 19th century into the 21st century. To help it become like other contemporary fields such as oncology. Ultimately, the mission is to save and improve lives,” he said.

More than 19 million adults in the United States – or about 8% of the population – have had at least one major depressive episode in the past year, reports the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The study was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Niculescu and his colleagues also investigated blood biomarkers that detect suicide as well as pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.