Taking The Gamble Out Of Antidepressants

…and other items from this week’s health news:

Melancholy, blood, and signs

Sounds like it could be a headline for our Halloween edition, but no!

The problem: as it stands, major depressive disorder often requires a prolonged trial-and-error process with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and potentially other kinds of antidepressants, meaning many patients spend many weeks or months on medications that don’t improve their symptoms.

The solution: researchers (Dr. Eleni Tzavara et al.) have found that a blood-based circular RNA marker known to its friends as “CDR1as” can predict how people with major depressive disorder respond to sertraline (most doctor’s go-to first-try antidepressant, despite it having a famously high hit to miss ratio).

• How it works: CDR1as is an RNA enriched in the brain that is stable in blood, crosses the blood–brain barrier, and is sensitive to synaptic activity and neuronal receptor signaling.
• What they did: Dr. Tzavara and her team measured baseline CDR1as levels in whole blood from two independent cohorts in the EMBARC and ANTARES studies before treatment with sertraline, and compared future responders with non-responders.
• What they found: baseline CDR1as levels differed between people who later responded to sertraline and those who didn’t, and changes in CDR1as after treatment were linked to long-term remission. Further, CDR1as predicted response and remission with SSRI treatment, but not with placebo or bupropion, suggesting the marker may be specific to serotonin-based therapies.

So, this may mean a lot of people will no longer have to suffer for longer while potentially getting adverse side effects for a medication that won’t work for them specifically!

Read in full: A blood marker could predict how people respond to antidepressants

Related: Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!

Soon, more American women will have cardiovascular disease than not

A newly-released statement from the American Heart Association warns that by 2050, nearly 60% of women in the US are projected to have high blood pressure, more than 60% obesity, and over 25% diabetes, all key contributors to heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke.

Not only that, but it isn’t just tied to the nature of an aging population (as the US population is), but rather, nearly one in three women aged 22–44 are expected to have some form of CVD, diabetes in this group is projected to rise from 6% to nearly 16%, and more than one third are expected to have high blood pressure.

❝One in every three women will die from cardiovascular disease—maybe it’s your grandmother, or your mother or your daughter❞

~ Dr. Stacey E. Rosen, President of the American Heart Association & Executive Director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health

Read in full: American Heart Association warns 60% of US women will have cardiovascular disease by 2050

Related: Heart Health vs Systemic Stress

“Not addicted, but”

In the category of “I could quit anytime” beliefs, you would think that something that results in episodes of abdominal pain paired with screaming and vomiting would be something quickly desisted. Of course, we might still choose to take it if it were somehow necessary for life, or perhaps if it bestowed us with particularly impressive superpowers.

But for a mostly recreational drug whose main medical uses are primarily against pain and against anxiety, those benefits seem moot when the result is pain and screaming and vomiting.

But according to research, analyzing 188 million US emergency visits found Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome cases rose from 4.4 per 100,000 visits in 2016 to 33.1 per 100,000 in just 4 years.

The reason for the rise: while cause and effect hasn’t been proven, scientists believe it is due to the much higher potency of THC available these days, compared to the much lower-strength cannabis products available previously.

The cure is simple: stop taking cannabis.

The outcome, however? Well, mostly people don’t do that.

Read in full: Screaming, vomiting, and daily weed: The rise of “scromiting” among chronic cannabis users

Related: How Much THC Is Safe?

Take care!