Depression is a frequent and potentially fatal pathology: 10% of depressed people die of suicide, according to data from the National Institute of Health (Inserm). But according to a new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, a simple saliva sample could help identify people who will develop a severe form of disease.
By measuring the level of cortisol, a stress hormone, in 1,800 adolescents aged 12 to 19, the researchers observed a link between a high level of this substance and signs of mild depression, which would lead to a 14-fold increase in risk of suffering from clinical depression in adulthood. In girls, it is only multiplied by four. Doctor Carmine Pariante, professor of biological psychiatry quoted by the agency The Associated Press (AP), states that “the individual’s sex-specific hormones, androgen in males and estrogen in females, may respond differently to cortisol, which may explain the difference in risk factor between boys and girls.”
Professor Joe Herbert, lead author of the study, says the test is a whole new approach to depression, which affects more than 350 million of people in the world. “No longer need to rely only on what the patient describes, we can measure inside him, in a way,” he explains to AP.
