Thaindian News

Washington, April 10 (IANS) Scientists have developed an indicator that may serve as an early warning system to detect symptoms of suicidality.
While anti-depressants have worked in helping people overcome major depression, a small minority taking these drugs are known to experience a worsening of mood and even thoughts of suicide.

No clinical test currently exists to make this determination and only time can tell before a psychiatrist knows whether a patient is getting better or worse.

Now, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have developed a non-invasive biomarker that may serve as a type of early warning system.

Aimee Hunter, assistant research psychologist in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry, and colleagues report that by using quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG), a non-invasive measurement of electrical activity in the brain, they were able to observe a sharp reduction of activity in a specific brain region in individuals who proved susceptible to thoughts of suicide, within 48 hours of the start of treatment.

Prior research, Hunter said, has shown that eight to 14 percent of depressed patients develop thoughts of suicide while taking the most common forms of depression drugs, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

Although reports have suggested that SSRIs are to blame, no firm link between these drugs and thoughts of suicide has been established.

This study suggests, for the first time, a link between worsening suicidality and specific changes in brain function while on these medications.

The researchers treated 72 people suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) with one of two SSRIs, fluoxetine or venlafaxine, or with a placebo.

Among the 13.5 percent of participants who got worse, the researchers found a sharp drop in brain activity within 48 hours of the start of medication. The drop occurred in the midline and right-frontal sections of the brain, areas known to control emotions.

Eight of the 35 participants taking a placebo (22.9 percent) also had increased thoughts of suicide. However, the placebo participants did not show the precipitous drop in brain activity within the first 48 hours, said an UCLA release.

“This is the first study to show a change in brain function after the start of medication that appears to be linked to the subsequent development of worsening thoughts of suicide during anti-depressant treatment,” Hunter said.

These findings were published in the April edition of the peer-reviewed Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.