Saliva samples could predict a boy’s risk of having depression

Many people don’t realise that serious clinical depression is very different to having the occasional ‘blues.’ It is a condition that will affect one in six people at some stage in their lives and make it harder for them to cope with daily struggles.

 

But, new research showed that depression is a condition that could be prevented in boys by looking at saliva samples.

 

UK researchers found that boys with higher levels of stress hormone cortisol and depressive symptoms are 14 times more likely to develop depression later in life than those who had neither trait.

 

Since the results are first evidence of a biological factor that can predict the condition, researchers think that a more ‘personalised approach’ to treating depression in boys can be adapted.

 

Researcher Dr Matthew Owens said: “This could be a much needed way of reducing the number of people suffering from depression, and in particular stemming a risk at a time when there has been an increasing rate of suicide amongst teenage boys and young men.”

 

Although researchers continue to look for the causes of the condition, they have finally found a biomarker clinical depression and are one step closer to a medical breakthrough.