Simple Blood Test Can Identify the Most Effective Antidepressant

Prescriptions for antidepressants are generally a game of trial and error: the doctor prescribes the medication that seems most appropriate, but often has to change the prescription several times until the right drug is found.

A new study, however, has found a simple blood test that can shorten this process. The test, which measures the levels of a specific protein in the blood, provides doctors with an immediate tool to determine the most suitable medication for the patient.

"As of today, choosing our medications is no better than a coin toss," says Dr. Trivedi, head of the depression center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who led the study. "Now we have a biological explanation to guide us to the right treatment." The study examined the CRP levels in the blood of patients suffering from depression, as well as which medication they responded to best. It was found that there is a correlation between CRP levels and the medication that helped the patients.

The importance of finding an accurate tool for identifying the correct medication lies in the grim data indicating that one-third of those suffering from depression do not experience improvement after taking the first medication, and that forty percent of all those who start taking antidepressants stop after only three months, giving up on finding a pharmacological solution for their suffering.