Researchers localise depression gene
Wednesday 4th January 2012
Doctors and experts in biomedical science jobs have for years been looking into the ways that depression occurs in humans.
Many people can be susceptible to depression after a major tragedy in their lives or, in women, after giving birth to a child. Researchers have long tried to find out why the psychiatric condition is brought on and how it can be treated.
Over the past two decades, research has developed other strategies for describing the biological underpinnings of depression, including volumetric brain measurements using magnetic resonance imaging and the patterns of gene expression in white blood cells.
Now researchers at the AT&T Genomics Computing Centre in Texas have localised a gene they believe plays a major role in the development of depression. The cell, known as RNF123, has not previously been linked to depression. However, it has been shown to affect a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is altered in people with major depression.
Dr. John Krystal, editor of Biological Psychiatry, said: "We assume that the biological measures are closer mechanistically to the underlying disease processes in the brain. Yet, ultimately we are interested in the subjective experiences and functional impairment associated with mental illness."
It was recently revealed that 50 per cent of survivors of breast cancer become depressed but now researchers have found that some women who have won their battle with the disease have significantly benefited from a type of meditation known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The relaxation technique is aimed to improve the patient's emotional and physical well-being and doctors are already seeing the results of this unorthodox treatment.
Jane Armer, professor of nursing at the University of Missouri, said: "Post diagnosis, breast cancer patients often feel like they have no control over their lives. Knowing that they can control something, such as meditation, and that it will improve their health, gives them hope that life will be normal again."
written by James Puckle
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