Scientists have developed a blood test for anxiety
Researchers have developed a blood test to determine a person’s risk of developing anxiety, while also providing insight into its current severity and best course of treatment.
The test, based on biomarkers strongly associated with the mood disorder, can also predict if a person is likely to get more anxious in the future and how other things, like changes in hormones, might affect their anxiety, according to a research published in Molecular Psychiatry.
And now that the team, led by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, has validated the test, the startup MindX Sciences is already creating the blood tests for physicians to use.
“Many people are suffering from anxiety, which can be very disabling and interfere with daily life,” says psychiatric neuroscientist Alexander Niculescu from Indiana University School of Medicine.
“Having something objective like this where we can know what someone’s current state is as well as their future risk and what treatment options match their profile is very powerful in helping people.”
This recent study made use of techniques that members of the team developed in earlier research, leading to the creation of blood tests for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and pain.
Testing blood samples is a convenient, objective way to learn about what’s going on in our bodies and brains. Diagnoses that rely heavily on self-reporting or observing behaviors can be challenged by difficulties in communication or variations in symptoms. By measuring quantities of a protein, enzyme, hormone, or some other molecule strongly associated with a condition, specialists have one more tool to make an informed decision.