+- Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum (https://www.scivillage.com)
+-- Forum: Culture (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-49.html)
+--- Forum: Fitness & Mental Health (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-85.html)
+--- Thread: Research Six distinct types of depression identified + How high-fat diet can make you anxious (/thread-16047.html)
Six distinct types of depression identified + How high-fat diet can make you anxious - C C - Jun 18, 2024
Six distinct types of depression identified in Stanford Medicine-led study
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1047906
INTRO: In the not-too-distant future, a screening assessment for depression could include a quick brain scan to identify the best treatment.
Brain imaging combined with machine learning can reveal subtypes of depression and anxiety, according to a new study led by researchers at Stanford Medicine. The study, to be published June 17 in the journal Nature Medicine, sorts depression into six biological subtypes, or “biotypes,” and identifies treatments that are more likely or less likely to work for three of these subtypes.
Better methods for matching patients with treatments are desperately needed, said the study’s senior author, Leanne Williams, PhD, the Vincent V.C. Woo Professor, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and the director of Stanford Medicine’s Center for Precision Mental Health and Wellness. Williams, who lost her partner to depression in 2015, has focused her work on pioneering the field of precision psychiatry.
Around 30% of people with depression have what’s known as treatment-resistant depression, meaning multiple kinds of medication or therapy have failed to improve their symptoms. And for up to two-thirds of people with depression, treatment fails to fully reverse their symptoms to healthy levels.
That’s in part because there’s no good way to know which antidepressant or type of therapy could help a given patient. Medications are prescribed through a trial-and-error method, so it can take months or years to land on a drug that works — if it ever happens. And spending so long trying treatment after treatment, only to experience no relief, can worsen depression symptoms.
“The goal of our work is figuring out how we can get it right the first time,” Williams said. “It’s very frustrating to be in the field of depression and not have a better alternative to this one-size-fits-all approach.” (MORE - details, no ads)
How a high-fat diet can make you anxious
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1048369
INTRO: When stressed out, many of us turn to junk food for solace. But new University of Colorado Boulder research suggests this strategy may backfire.
The study found that in animals, a high-fat diet disrupts resident gut bacteria, alters behavior and, through a complex pathway connecting the gut to the brain, influences brain chemicals in ways that fuel anxiety.
“Everyone knows that these are not healthy foods, but we tend to think about them strictly in terms of a little weight gain,” said lead author Christopher Lowry, a professor of integrative physiology at CU Boulder. “If you understand that they also impact your brain in a way that can promote anxiety, that makes the stakes even higher.”
For the study, published in the journal Biological Research in May, Lowry worked with first author Sylvana Rendeiro de Noronha, a doctoral student at the Federal University of Ouro Preto in Brazil.
In a previous study, the team found that rats fed a high-fat diet consisting primarily of saturated fat showed increases in neuroinflammation and anxiety-like behavior. While evidence is mixed, some human studies have also shown that replacing a high-fat, high-sugar, ultra-processed diet with a healthier one can reduce depression and anxiety... (MORE - details, no ads)
RE: Six distinct types of depression identified + How high-fat diet can make you anxious - Magical Realist - Jun 18, 2024
I have just come out of a 5 day spat with crushing depression where I just laid in my bed all day and talked to my voices. Very odd for me as I am on effexor and recently weaned off olanzipine. Sunday I decided to take an olanzipine which lifted the depression. Monday I visited with my nurse practitioner and she recommended taking the olanzipine on an as needed basis. I would really like to get off that med, but if the depression comes back I will have no choice. Olanzipine blocks dopamine in my brain, and I believe I need that dopamine for motivation and focus. We'll see what happens.