When doctors determine the best medication for a person with depression, they generally rely upon little more than guesswork and patient self-reports, due to insufficient medical evidence. Research out of UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSMC) previously suggested that such practices were insufficient, and a new study, published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, provides additional diagnostic information that may change the way depression is treated.
The research team drew upon a large body of research that links low levels of inflammation in the body with depression. They say a blood test for an inflammatory biomarker, known as C-reactive protein (CRP), can significantly improve the success rate of two common antidepressants for depressed patients.
Lead author Madhukar Trivedi, a professor of psychiatry at UTSMC and director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care, says doctors typically pick an antidepressant for their patients in one of three ways: personal experience; matching the perceived benefits of one drug with a certain type of patient’s needs; or having the patient pick a drug by ruling out the unwanted side effects of other drugs. “There isn’t a strong evidence base to support one way [of choosing an antidepressant] over another,” he tells mental_floss.
Trivedi says that because many doctors are pressed for time and overloaded with patients, they don’t thoroughly address a depressed patient’s needs. “If you have diabetes, the doctor spends a lot of time explaining that it’s a serious illness—there are consequences for ignoring it, and there are treatments you need to do. In depression, that does not happen as much. Patient engagement is not that strong,” he says.
Trivedi led a landmark study more than a decade ago that revealed how serious the medication problem is: Up to one-third of depressed patients don’t see an improvement in their first month of medication,…
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