Posted on 02/25/2006 8:22:24 AM PST by oxcart
IN a world first, researchers from NSW have discovered the gene responsible for depression.
After 25 years' research, scientists have found that people who carry a particular gene are more likely to suffer depression regardless of their life experiences. The medical breakthrough will have major ramifications for diagnosis and treatment of the disease which affects one in four Australians.
The study, to be published in the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry this week, shows that people who carry a short serotonin transporter gene are predisposed to depression.
Conversely, those who carry a long version of the serotonin transporter gene would be more resilient to whatever life throws at them.
Around 43per cent of the population is believed to carry the short version of the gene.
The breakthrough comes in the wake of a series of recent high-profile cases of depression, including former WA premier Geoff Gallop, the late rugby league legend Steve Rogers and former state opposition leader John Brogden.
Former Australian Olympic swimmer John Konrads and actor Garry McDonald were also sufferers. It is hoped the findings could be used to pre-warn carriers of their susceptibility and take early preventative treatment.
Mr Konrads described the breakthrough as exciting.
"I think it's wonderful to think that people who might have that doubt could confidentially find if they're conducive to depression or not, that would be fantastic," he said.
The serotonin transporter gene, which is responsible for our uptake of "feel good" serotonin and mood control, has been implicated in depression before - but this is the first and most conclusive evidence of its true role.
If pharma companies can find better treatments for depression, they can sell all the pills they want as far as I'm concerned. I'm no commie! :)
Please pity those ignoramuses who say that your depression is your fault. I've known some great people who have struggled with depression and I salute your efforts to make the best of your life even though you sometimes feel like giving up. Please continue to hang in there and know that your family and friends love you, even if some are ignorant about depression. Hopefully this scientific breakthrough will result in a cure.
Regards,
demkicker
There is a strong family history of depression in my family but I haven't succumbed to it, thankfully. I've always held that life is too short, precious to be depressed. It sounds trite but it's rings law like natural law to me. To not enthusiastically enjoy life is imponderable to me.
LOL, almost got my keyboard.
Little known fact:
What surprised scientists more than anything was that upon closer inspection the gene complex resembled a donkey.
The offical pseudonym of the gene is the DNC gene.
Another way to sell pills.
Free will is an illusion,everything you think and do has been programmed into your genes./s
No 25% is not high for AU, if you look at who the Brits sent to Australia in the first place they all probably carried the gene/genes.
In 1788 the first British settlement was made—a penal colony on the shores of Port Jackson, where Sydney now stands.
Kind reply - I take that as a compliment to all who get on with life and who value freedom and responsibility.
The 25% number is some sort of estimate I think. I also think that 25% is about the correct number.
Some knowledgeable observers think recurring and long lasting depression is a sign of bipolar disorder. I believe this also.
God bless you for hanging in there. My dad killed himself and all the pain he felt was multiplied and laid on everyone who loved him, four generations, from his grandparents to his children.
It is a solace to me that I can carry the burden of depression with God's help and the damage done by my father's death will stop in me and not harm another generation.
And may God send you better days, also.
Mrs VS
Is that the one responsible for PIAPS leg syndrome?
The placebo effect?
You supply anecdotal evidence that depression is metabolic. I think long lasting, recurrent, and severe depression is probably bipolar disorder.
The happiness you describe is as incomprehensible to me as my experiences may be for you. A strange world this is.
You mean the criminals? Hmmmm, I guess those genes would carry-on for many generations afterward, right?
Are there any number for it here in the US? 25% is pretty unsettling, IMO.
Congratulations, that's perhaps the first post to me on FR that I haven't had the slightest inkling of what to respond. LOL
You might find this interesting;
http://www.smart-drugs.com/ias-tryptophan.htm
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