Simple blood test to diagnose depression

By Rebecca Coxon

The Telegraph have reported that Japanese scientists have developed a new blood test to diagnose depression, with results apparently available in minutes.

The simple new blood test has been formulated by researchers at Keio University in Tokyo, according to the newspaper, and works by measuring the concentration of phosphoric acid in the blood.

High phosphoric acid levels are believed to be linked to depression after an earlier study was conducted by the medical research group Human Metabolome Technologies (HMT), the masterminds behind this breakthrough blood test.

The study showed that patients with depression had a lower concentration of ethanolamine phosphate, leading the researchers to successfully diagnose 82% of the 31 out of 66 depressed patients who undertook the blood test.

It has been claimed that the test could help improve early detection rates of depression if performed during regular medical checkups. This news comes as a revolutionary new method of diagnosing depression, especially at a time when doctors have been criticised for over-prescribing anti-depressants.

Dr Yoshiaki Ohashi, a board director and chief security officer at HMT, told the Telegraph: "The findings will make it easier for an objective, biological diagnosis of depressive patients. We believe that the use of such a test will make it possible to diagnose patients efficiently at the primary care stage."

According to the newspaper, the depression blood test is expected to be available to doctors within the next two years once clinical tests have been undertaken and an application for health ministry has been approved.