Pittsburgh researchers single out genes for major depression

I chose to blog about a major problem in today's world known as depression. I found an article that studies the genes and the interactions that may cause depression. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh wanted to find certain genes that would increase a person's chances of developing depression. The study was done with 81 families that had known depressive disorders. The scientists are trying to gain as much knowledge on depression as possible because it is a very serious disorder. Depression affects 10% of the population, and with more knowledge comes more effective treatments and drugs. Previous studies have shown that between 40% and 70% of depression risks are due to genetics. There have always been issues with discovering the actual genes because they believe that many genes are involved. These scientists believe that the difficulty is due to the fact that many genes may cause depression, and it actually depends on the combination of the genes and the individual that leads to the development of depression. They feel they need to perform this study because people with depression are found to live a shorter lifespan. The study itself found that there are small regions on chromosomes where these genes reside. This is what seems to bring on the actual depressive behaviors. Genetics also has a lot to do with depression in gender. It is believed that due to the differences in gender, depression is more likely in women than in men. There is a gene known as CREB1 that has to do with the regulatory protein known as CREB. This protein is known to have a lot to do with different factors in the body and is thought to be the cause of many depressive disorders, as well as other psychiatric disorders. They have identified 18 new genetic regions that may have a great deal to do with CREB and the influence it has on depression. They believe that identification of susceptibility genes could greatly help the early diagnosis and treatment of depression. This could really help the human lifespan. I have learned a lot from this article. I knew that depression was genetic, but I was not aware that the cause is due to more than one gene. I was interested in this article for personal reasons. I know what it is like to have depression and not understand the direct cause. I did not know about the protein CREB or the gene CREB1. It was very interesting to learn about the genetic regions and how much of the population is actually affected by depression. Magen Deane