15 DNA Regions are Factors to Why Depression Manifests, Study Says

Depression has been one of the leading health problems worldwide. Unlike other illnesses, experts have so much difficulty in managing it because of having insufficient information. Good thing a recent study was conducted shedding a light on why it manifests.

After analyzing about 300,000 people, researchers from the company 23andMe found that 75,000 of them had depression. Positive ones were eventually diagnosed and treated. Aside from that, the study also revealed an important clue of why depression attacks.

According to the data gathered, the 15 regions of human genome, which are "located in or near genes known to be involved in brain development," can be associated with the disorder, as reported by WebMD. Because of the study's result, experts said that depression can now be considered as a brain disease cutting out other stigmas associated with it.

"Identifying genes that affect risk for a disease is a first step towards understanding the disease biology itself," said Dr. Roy Perlis, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the study's lead author. He also added that once they were able to find where the problem is really rooted, new novel strategies to treat the disorder will surely be tested. The discovery would be the breakthrough to the possible missing links in medicating depression.

Statistics show depression has been silently attacking people especially with how fast the world is revolving now. In fact, in the U.S. alone, 6.7 percent of the population is said to be affected with major depressive disorder or clinical depression. That is about 14.8 million American adults, as posted by Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

Depression, if left untreated, can lead to several physical and emotional problems, as reported by Heathline. The clinical depression disorder can cause blood vessels to constrict, weakens immune system, short-term memory loss, lasting sadness, weight problems, poor appetite, heart attack and suicide.