Spot stress flags to avert depression

• Autores: Catherine de Lange
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2957, 2014, pág. 15
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • A few globs of spit and a survey could be all that's needed to identify teenage boys with a high risk of developing depression. That is the upshot of a study finding that teenage boys with high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as depressive symptoms, are 14 times more likely to become depressed over the next few years than teens who have neither. It is the first biological flag to predict the risk of an individual going onto develop depression, says Barbara Sahakian at the University of Cambridge, one of the study's authors. The finding could change the way schools deal with the condition. For example, teens could be screened for cortisol and those at risk provided with targeted treatments. It could also lead to drug treatments for depression that lower cortisol levels.