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THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Depression may spring, at least in part, from genes on a specific region of chromosome 15, according to new findings from a team of U.S. researchers.
The findings, appearing in two papers, are being made available to other researchers around the world in the hopes of spurring more investigation and, eventually, therapies that might fight depression.
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"We should be able to hone more finely into the gene," said Myrna Weissman, co-author of one of the papers and a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University and head of clinical and genetic epidemiology at New York State Psychiatric Institute, both in New York City. "Then, we can see mutations and develop treatments," she said.
The research is being published in the February issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry and was led by scientists at Stanford University.
According to background information in the papers, about 10 percent to 15 percent of people suffer from severe depression at some point in their lives, and 3 percent to 5 percent have recurrent episodes. Women are twice as likely as men to become depressed.
Studies of families and twins have also revealed that depression is partly a disease of genetics, although no one gene is thought to be responsible. Instead, several genes may be interacting to increase a person's risk. Environmental factors, including psychological trauma, may then tip a person over the edge, so to speak.
Finding specific genes involved in the process is critical, because then, researchers could decipher exactly what the genes do and how they're involved in depression. Therein may lie important clues for treatment.
This would also help scientists understand the environmental factors that can trigger depression, they said.
In one study, researchers examined 631 families in which at least two members had had repeated episodes of severe depression that began in childhood or early adulthood.
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