DALLAS — By now, doctors know depression is a brain disease. But when it comes to treatment, for a long time, they've relied on trial and error.
"We don't really have good tests to say this treatment is best for you," said Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, Director, Chief of the Division of Mood Disorders, and Director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "That is the major work of the center as part of our research."
Trivedi and scientists at the Center for Depression have developed brain and blood tests to better understand what types of medication or treatment is best for which patient.
"Wouldn't it be nice if you took a 16-year old to a pediatrician... they do a blood test and say, 'Your C-reactive protein is high. Let's avoid this medication but use this' -- then the 'trial or error' process is slowed," Trivedi explained.
How do they do that? One way is through brain imaging.
"Look at their brain scan and learn through artificial intelligence algorithms, what is the signal in the brain circuits?" Trivedi said when someone is put through a brain scanner, doctors can pinpoint circuits in the brain, showing the precise moment a person has trouble navigating emotions. That allows doctors to offer more specific, tailored treatments to help.
The second type of testing is blood tests.
"Stress and inflammation become a major part of depression," Trivedi said. "In those people we found [who] have elevated C-reactive proteins, the traditional SSRI like Prozac... don't work as well. But another treatment works much better."
Cutting-edge developments aimed at demystifying depression.
UTSW is conducting one of the largest studies to date on mood disorders. To participate in their research, fill in this survey on their website.