New Revolutionary Blood Test Can Diagnose and Correctly Treat Mental Health Issues

New Revolutionary Blood Test Can Diagnose and Correctly Treat Mental Health Issues
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Doctors now have a new tool that they can use to customize a more effective treatment after researchers created a blood test for anxiety.

Dr. Alexander Niculescu claims that this finding is the most recent in a string of advances the team has made in the use of blood tests to assist in the diagnosis of mental health conditions.

The results can not only be used to identify a problem but also direct treatment and monitor the whole improvement progress.

“The brain and the body are one. They’re interconnected,” the expert explained.

In order to create blood tests for depression, suicide risk, stress, distress, and other conditions, Niculescu, a professor of psychiatry and medical neuroscience from the Indiana University School of Medicine, started this study almost 20 years ago.

Since then, he has followed about 1,200 psychiatric patients and has reached some important conclusions he is finally ready to share confidently with the world.

Dr. Niculescu explains that “A lot of other fields, like cancer, have been ahead of mental health in terms of developing these molecular tests to assess patients properly, match them with proper treatment, monitor disease progression, (as well as) response to treatment. So, we wanted to do something pretty similar for mental health. It is much tougher to do it for mental health because you cannot biopsy the target organ, the brain.”

The intention is to replace the “usual trial-and-error process” used to treat mental health issues with another strategy that is more “evidence-driven” and objective.

About diagnosing mental health problems, he mentioned that “To this day, in routine practice, you must rely on what the patient’s telling you and on your clinical impression. That’s an imperfect way of doing things. You miss things.”

According to Niculescu, these tests may prevent a patient from receiving an unnecessary prescription for addictive drugs.

Apparently, “a lot of people get prescribed opiates, and we ended up with this opioid epidemic.”

Testing may even reveal that over-the-counter supplements will benefit the patient more frequently.

The study ultimately led to the creation of the Life x Mind tracking app as well as the lab and diagnostic company MindX Sciences.

Niculescu claimed that they required a practical method of implementing these blood tests, and as a result, they are now providing seven tests that a patient’s doctor may request.

However, the tests are not financially covered and the equipment is pricey, meaning that many will unfortunately not be able to afford it.

With that being said, Niculescu shared that “my wish and my mission with them for the next year or 2 is to get them reimbursed by Medicare and insurance companies. Then more people can afford them.”

He claimed that primary care physicians typically treat most mental health patients, particularly in the beginning, and that these tests might play a significant role in routine preventive care.

“Just like you’d do your annual blood test for diabetes screening, prostate screening, and everything else,” the doctor pointed out.


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Katherine is just getting her start as a journalist. She attended a technical school while still in high school where she learned a variety of skills, from photography to nutrition. Her enthusiasm for both natural and human sciences is real so she particularly enjoys covering topics on medicine and the environment.

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