Blood tests could diagnose depression
Currently, for a mental health professional to reach a depression diagnosis he/she has to interview the client, resulting in a process that can be hot and miss due to omissions by client, wrong interpretations by clinician, etc. In Austria, a team of researchers have successfully shown that there is a link between serotonin levels and the depression network in the brain. This means that hopefully in the not too distant future depression can be diagnosed the same way people measure their insulin level with a glucose monitor!
The research has shown that in the blood there is a serotonin transporter protein, this protein allows for for serotonin to be transported into blood platelet cells. Studies have shown that this protein works the same way in the blood as in the brain, meaning that if there is an abnormal rate of serotonin uptake in the blood platelet cells, there is a also a deficiency in serotonin uptake in the brain.
Click below for the complete study. WARNING! there is a LOT of heavy research language in the study, it may be difficult to grasp.