Antidepressants don't work for you? This could be why
What causes depression has been oversimplified, resulting in drugs that treat stress but not necessarily depression, according to new research.
(Credit: shattered.art66/Flickr)Depression researcher Eva Redei presented research at the Neuroscience 2009 conference in Chicago this week that calls into question two tenets of depression science: that stressful life events are a major cause of depression, and that an imbalance in neurotransmitters triggers depressive symptoms.
For decades, drugs have been developed around these beliefs, leading to antidepressant medications that are actually designed to relieve stress. But stress-related genes have almost no overlap with depression-related genes, reports Redei, the David Lawrence Stein professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. (Full disclosure: Northwestern is my alma mater.)
That means those antidepressants work if you're stressed, but not necessarily if you're depressed.
"This is a huge study and statistically powerful," Redei says. "This research opens up new routes to develop new antidepressants that may be more effective. There hasn't been an antidepressant based on a novel concept in 20 years."
Redei's conclusion is based on studies of rats with behavioral and physiological abnormalities that are found in humans with major depression. Using microarray technology, Redei was able to isolate and identify the specific genes related to depression in the hippocampus and amygdala--regions of the brain associated with depression.
Redei then exposed four different strains of rats to chronic stress for two weeks, and identified which genes increased or decreased in response to this stress in all four strains. She now had one set of depression-related genes and one of stress-related genes.
To test the long-held belief that stress is a major cause of depression, Redei looked for similarities between these two sets of genes. Out of more than 30,000 genes on the microarray, 254 were related to stress and 1,275 to depression. Only 5 were found in both samples.
"This finding is clear evidence that at least in an animal model, chronic stress does not cause the same molecular changes that depression does," Redei says. She is now looking at the genes that differ in the depressed rats so that she can narrow down targets for drug development.
Antidepressants are also often ineffective, Redei says, because they aim to boost the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, whose reduced levels have been associated with depression. But this strategy is now also being called into question.
In the second part of the study, Redei found that the biochemical events that result in depression were starting all the way back in the development of neurons, not in neurotransmitters. She says her animal model of depression did not show significant differences in the levels of genes controlling neurotransmitters' functions. In other words, medications are working as Band-Aids on the effect, as opposed to treatments of the cause.
"If depression was related to neurotransmitter activity, we would have seen that," she says.
Of course, her research depends on whether depression in human brains behaves similarly to depression in rats. "The similarities between these regions of the human and rodent brain are remarkable," she says. "The hippocampus and amygdala are part of the so-called ancient lizard brain that controls survival and are the same in even primitive organisms."
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
To alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
[/Homer]
LOL!
good article.
(Sorry, seeing as this is the ONLY thread that hasn't become an Apple vs Microsoft thread, I just *HAD* to...)
Its plain and simple to me.
clearly a pill isn't going to remove the situation that got you depressed in the first place. it's a pill, not an unraveller and/or rectifier of the past.
the solution lies in bringing someone's thinking round so that they can cope with whatever started the depression in the first place.
as a band aid i'd say modern anti-depressants are very effective. they can override virtually all of the nightmarish effects of depression, and are often the first step in getting someone thinking about anything at all.
of course the danger with such effectiveness is reliance. sorting out the root cause is a much tougher one. you can't undo the past. well i can't anyway.
and here's where i'm struggling with this breakthrough. i mean, clearly addressing things at a neuron level moves us forward. just a little.
seems to me like the best we'll get from it is a different type of band aid though...
I'm honestly not surprised by this finding, I wonder what percentage of the "depressed" population is actually stress related depression versus genetic, maybe a good time to change the diagnosis in DSM-V!
We'll be another millenia to the solution of how that Super-Computer lodged in our heads work ... or why it sometimes malfunctions.
Meanwhile, that'll be $150 for the 50-minutes that I sat here and pretended I really cared why you're depressed.
WHAT ABOUT THE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ABILIFY THAT IS BEING PERSCRIBED AT $500.00 A BOTTLE.
Makes you wonder how many Drs have invested in Abilify stock!
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v06n1/06114per.html
Oh, and those of you who dismiss the value of anti-depressants out of hand are daft. Go back to watching Oprah.
Continious high Cortisol results in panic attacks and eventually prolonged depression. Seritonin inhibitators to treat depression by stabilizing Serition levels are as logical as having patients not urinate so they will mainatin a "stable water level in thier bodies!
The problem with Dr. is they expect every person to react the same way to the same drugs THAT WORKS ONLY IF WE ALL HAVE IDENTICAL DNA
- by Jay-747 November 2, 2009 8:15 AM PST
- Tell me DRs........ HOW DO YOU TELL IF THE MEDS HELP THE MOUSE OR...CAUSE THE MOUSE TO BE SUCICIDAL? Yes he sits in the corner quiety; but is he really happy or just looking for a noose.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(25 Comments)Dr.'s and researchers need to look at CORTISOL levels for anxiety and depression issues! The cause not the effect.
Continious high Cortisol results in panic attacks and eventually prolonged depression. Seritonin inhibitators to treat depression by stabilizing Serition levels are as logical as having patients not urinate so they will mainatin a "stable water level in thier bodies!
Both Cortisol and Seritonin are meant by the body to be used and then regenerated. Sometimes because of extreme or prolonged stress Seritonin levels are over run by Cortisol. There are 3 simple tests for Cortisol. 4 Drs told me the TESTS didnt exist ! My old PRIVATE Dr and google search proved them wrong People with severe depression should get a Cortisol test!
Or spend 3 or 4 / 10 minute sessions over a 10 day period in a suntan booth. The lights will stimulate Seitonin. If you feel better after the Tan Install Grow lights in your house and find a NEW DR!
Beer and alchol is used by and an answer for some people BECAUSE it shuts down Cortisol as does Xanax.
Also if you have a problem with Novacaine not working at the Dentists its because Cortisol is stopping the Novacaine from working until the brain can produce enough Seritonin to let the novaciane work.
YES 90% oif the population is numb from Novacine in 5 minutes BUT 8% take 20 minutes or more and 1-2 % take 60 minutes!
The problem with Dr. is they expect every person to react the same way to the same drugs THAT WORKS ONLY IF WE ALL HAVE IDENTICAL DNA
Beware of any DR that is afraid of questions or gets upset because you seek a second opinion on the net or from another DR.