Last week at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London, research conducted by the Mayo Clinic was presented on genetic blood tests for people who do not respond well to antidepressants. From Medical News Today:
"Four out of 10 people with depression have a genetic abnormality that prevents them responding to anti-depressant medication. The research showed that a quarter of those with a genetic abnormality produce a liver enzyme that either stops Prozac working or causes unpleasant side-effects.
Since 2003, the Mayo Clinic has offered genotyping to patients who either report significant side-effects to antidepressants or have no response."
The article stated that genotyping for depression has become widely known in the USA following publication of the autobiography "Mommies Cry Too" by Carolyn Brink in 2006. (I actually don’t agree with that statement — I don’t think many health organizations are doing that type of genotyping at all.) Brink was diagnosed with severe postpartum depression shortly after the birth of her first child. But her treatment with three different antidepressants made the depression worse and led to suicidal feelings. She says the Mayo Clinic saved her life when the genotyping test showed that the antidepressant medication she was taking became toxic in her bloodstream due to her low metabolism rate for this type of medication. To learn more about Carolyn Brink, go here.
I’m curious to hear back from some of the experts who read this blog (you know you’re out there) about their thoughts on genotyping for treatment-resistant depression.
This is a surprise to hear, given the vast data that shows genes are not static. So what if women are found to have a resistant gene? Are they then defective? How are they treated in light of this new data?
DNA is actually very fluid and changes when exposed to nutrients. Simply taking a bite of food changes DNA. This idea is becoming more well understood, but some researches are still barking up the wrong tree.
I like the idea of neurological testing to see what neurotransmitters are doing! When one is very low, others heighten to try to compensate and achieve balance in the body.
It's very likely that some meds do not work because in most cases docs are not able to measure brain chemistry before deciding which treatment to use. Some professionals treating PPMD's do look at a neurotransmitter panel before deciding a course of treatment. More info can be found on this type of test at neurorelief.com. I am not affiliated with this company, but I'm very interested in this approach.